Celebrating the Spark of Theater: The Max Awards 2025
Max Awards 2025 Wrap-up: 'Casting Lear' Secures Best Show Title, 'Afanador' Sweeps with Five Awards
Pamplona, the city of passion and joy, played host to the thrilling XXVIII edition of the Max Awards. The vibrant world of theater came alive once more, celebrating another chapter in the eternal dance of performances.
This theater season (2024-2025) brought forth two productions that truly captivated the audience - 1936 and Vania x Vania. However, the night belonged to the ground-breaking Casting Lear, which clinched the award for the Best Theater Show.
Casting Lear, a play conceived and directed by the talented Andrea Jiménez, took the theater community by storm. The modern interpretation of William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, King Lear, offered a unique blend of timeless drama and contemporary relevance. The show won praise from both audiences and critics alike, and it also bagged the Public's Prize at the Fiot Corballo Awards this year.
"It's a tribute to the theater and the delicate balance between fiction and reality required to create an encounter that wouldn't otherwise happen," said Andrea Jiménez about her creation.
Meanwhile, the dance work Afanador, inspired by the photographs of Ruven Afanador, took home a total of five awards, including Best Dance Show, Musical Composition, Stage Direction, Costume Design, and Lighting. Colombian photographer Ruven Afanador must be elated to see his vision become a reality through this production.
Enric Auquer, a rising star in the realm of national acting,struck another memorable chord by winning the Best Actor award for his role in El día del Watusi. The actor, who was previously nominated for the prestigious Goya Awards in 2024, paid tribute to theater as the most poetic and transformative force in his life.
Actress Ágata Roca also added another laurel to her résumé by winning the Best Actress award. Her compelling performance in L'imperatiu categòric served as a powerful demonstration of dramatic artistry.
The imperatiu categòric unfolds the story of a middle-aged philosophy professor undergoing an existential crisis. She finds solace in the unusual solution of committing a murder, posing profound questions about ethical boundaries and the harsh realities of the world.
Natural order of things, another standout production of the season, saw actress Maria Campos and Alfonso Aguilar garner recognition for their exceptional performances, marking an unusual occurrence of the best actor and actress awards going to artists associated with the same project.
Campos, an advocate for more dance programming in theaters, expressed her love for the art form in her acceptance speech, while Aguilar paid tribute to the ballet, emphasizing the need for more recognition and support.
As the laughter and tears echoed through the night, the Society of Authors and Editors (SGAE) looked to the future, contemplating where they will host the next edition of the awards. The answer came in the form of Mérida and its Roman Theatre, a historic landmark standing proud for over 2000 years. The excitement for the 2026 edition is palpable, with plenty of anticipation surrounding the cultural celebration.
[1] The Directors' Cuts: "Casting Lear" - An Interview with Andrea Jiménez [3] Granada Theater Magazine: "The Radical Approach to Shakespeare's King Lear: Andrea Jiménez's 'Casting Lear'" [5] Backstage: "DUO Receives Max Awards for Adaptation of 'Casting Lear'"
Winners List:
- Best Theater Show - Casting Lear
- Best Dance Show - Afanador
- Best Musical or Lyrical Show - Farra
- Best Street Show - Fugit
- Best Show for Children, Youth, or Family - Christmas Tale (encapsulating Dickens)
- Best Revelation Show - Contra Ana
- Best Theatrical Authorship - Itziar Pascual for Pepito, a life story for children and grandparents
- Best Revelation Authorship - Ester Guntín for Quiso negro
- Best Theatrical or Choreographic Adaptation or Version - Andrea Jiménez and Juan Mayorga for Casting Lear
- Best Musical Composition for a Stage Show - Juan Cristóbal Saavedra, Enrique Bermúdez, Jonathan Bermúdez, Gabriel Georgio González, and Roberto Vozmediano for Afanador
- Best Choreography - Guy Nader and María Campos for Natural order of things
- Best Production Work - La Fam Teatre for Ambulant
- Best Stage Direction - Marcos Morau for Afanador
- Best Scenic Space and Video Scene Design - Víctor Peralta for Thauma
- Best Costume Design - Sílvia Delagneau for Afanador
- Best Lighting Design - Bernat Jansà for Afanador
- Best Actress - Ágata Roca for L'imperatiu categòric
- Best Actor - Enric Auquer for El dia del Watusi
- Best Female Dancer - María Campos for Natural order of things
- Best Male Dancer - Alfonso Aguilar by Natural Order of Things
The ground-breaking production, Casting Lear, received the award for the Best Theater Show due to its unique blend of timeless drama and contemporary relevance, averaging rave reviews from both audiences and critics. Meanwhile, the dance work Afanador, inspired by the photographs of Ruven Afanador, was celebrated as the Best Dance Show, offering a diverse range of award categories that captured the breadth of entertainment available in the theater world.
