René Fernández and Las Estaciones Nominated for the 2026 Unima Cuba Awards.
The jury for the 2026 Unima Cuba Awards was composed of Erduyn Maza, Norge Espinosa, Arneldy Cejas, Marilyn Garbey, theater scholar Isabel Cristina López Hamze, and Nevalis Quintana.
National Theater Award winner René Fernández Santana and the puppet show «A Trace in the Stars,» by Teatro de Las Estaciones, have been nominated for the 2026 Unima Cuba Awards, which will be presented during the 16th International Puppet Festival, scheduled for the end of this month in the city of Matanzas.
The «Master of Youth,» Fernández Santana, actor and founding director of Teatro Papalote, was selected in the Personalities category, along with fellow nominees Maribel López Carcasés and Julio Cordero.
As for the performances, the chosen work is «A Trace in the Stars,» directed and designed by National Theater Award winners Rubén Darío Salazar and Zenén Calero. It is an adaptation of the poetry collection «Asteroid B612» by acclaimed writer José Manuel Espino Ortega, which pays homage to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s «The Little Prince.»
Also nominated are the shows *The Darkest Night in the World*, by the group Los Cuenteros; and *The Golden Pilco*, by the Cienfuegos Puppet Theater.
The jury for the 2026 Unima Cuba Award was composed of Erduyn Maza, Norge Espinosa, and Arneldy Cejas, president, vice president, and secretary general of Unima Cuba, respectively; Marilyn Garbey, president of the Performing Arts Section of UNEAC (National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba); and theater scholar Isabel Cristina López Hamze, professor at the University of the Arts. Nevalis Quintana, secretary of the Children’s Theater Section of UNE (National Union of Writers and Artists), attended as a guest.
Written by Marían Elena Bayón.
