Agrigento hosted the final event of the national contest entitled ”One, No One and One Hundred Thousand” from 15 to 18 May. The event, which was first launched in 2017 to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Luigi Pirandello, was also extended to Italian schools abroad in agreement with the MIUR. The competition is part of the programme entitled “Italy, Cultures and the Mediterranean,” which the Foreign Ministry is implementing in 2018 through its network of embassies, consulates and cultural institutes. The programme comprises language, cultural and scientific projects designed to promote the wide variety of cultural and social identities that make up the Mediterranean area.
Many schools met the challenge and signed up for the contest for the best production of original short plays based on one of Pirandello’s short stories. The students from public schools in Athens, Barcelona, Istanbul competed against their peers from the “Lycée Cité scolaire internationale Europole” in Grenoble, the “Collège des Hauts-Grillets” in Saint Germain-en-Laye, France, and the national college “G. Baritiu” di Cluji-Napoca” in Romania.
The Committee awarded the following prizes:
1st Prize for drama writing and performance to the College Les Hauts Grillets in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France for “Dono della Vergine Maria”;
2nd Prize for drama writing to the students of the Italian School in Athens for “La diagnosi”;
3rd Prize for stage performance to the “Lycée Cité scolaire internationale Europole” in Grenoble for “Rimedio: Pirandello” and 3rd Prize for drama writing to the Public High School ”Imi” in Istanbul, for “Marsina stretta”.
A special prize was awarded to Robert Apa, a student from the National College “G. Baritiu” in Cluj-Napoca, for “Tradimento”.
Delegations of students and teachers from Athens, Istanbul, Saint-Germain and Romania attended the final celebration. Every school that entered the contest was given a certificate of attendance by a Representative of the Directorate General for Cultural and Economic Promotion and Innovation. A special mention was awarded to the “Collège des Hauts-Grillets” of Saint Germain-en-Laye, France, and to the National College “ G. Baritiu” in Cluji-Napoca, Romania, for providing the best interpretation of the Contest’s 2018 theme – “Italy, Cultures and the Mediterranean”, through the Pirandello’s works and playwriting. The school will be given the opportunity to illustrate its work and stage it at an event that the local Italian Consulate or Italian Cultural Institute will organize for this purpose before the end of the year.
