La Princesa del desert is Rodolf Sirera's first play for children, written as part of the Theatre in Schools campaign (1985-1989) run by the Ministry of Culture of the Generalitat Valenciana. As the author wanted his play to be performed in Valencian schools, he brought proposals for staging it to Manel Cubedo, the director of this educational campaign. This play is notable for the great richness of the situations and the variety of theatrical techniques: acting, puppets of different types, masks, shadows and projections. It was performed by the pupils, supervised by their teachers, in several Valencian schools.

The wanderer Nabíh tells a child, Hassan, how the merchant Abdul found on a dead man’s body a bottle from which emerges a genie. This genie, in turn, tells the story of the dead man, a fallen king, father of Fatima, a princess who is said to have taken refuge among the desert dwellers because of the fratricidal war. The king's supporters are looking for Fatima to offer her the throne, and discover that she is Laïla, Hassan's mother. However, she renounces the throne to become the princess of the desert. Other stories are added to this main plot.