National Theatre closes season with 7 premieres

TIRANA, July 12 – The National Theatre closed its 10-month artistic season with the stage of seven premieres, among which four international and regional co-productions, registering a record number of premieres during the past 20 years.
The National Theatre which also celebrated its 65th anniversary of foundation this year was decorated with the highest “Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu” order and had seven of its artists also decorated.
The premieres were also successfully staged in regional and international festivals, receiving critical acclaim and even prizes, such as the “Allegretto Albania,” a play written by Stefan Cepaliku and directed by Altin Basha, which recently won the first prize in Germany’s Wisbaden festival.
Among the most successful premieres was also the “Force of Habit” written by Thomas Bernhard and directed by Christian Papke, which was staged in cooperation with the Austrian Foreign Ministry on Bernhard’s 100 birth anniversary.
Another premiere receiving critical acclaim was also Luigi Pirandello’s “Six characters in search of an author” staged in the frame of Italian-Albania great season of events.
The sixth premiere staged at the National Theatre was the “Wrong Dinner,” a play based on Ismail Kadare’s novel under the same title, dramaticised by Fatos Haxhiraj. The play tells the story of a mysterious dinner in the German occupied southern town of Gjirokastra in 1943 between a German commander and his Albanian university friend, a doctor in Gjirokastra.
The season’s last premiere was “Permanent Collection,” a play written by Thomas Gibbons and brought to Tirana by US director and actor Clarence Gilyard with the support of the US embassy in Tirana.
The play, a show of political and artistic themes, underlined the important role of art in solving racial and class distinctions in every field of life.
The National Theatre also organized the fifth edition of the young directors’ festival selecting six directors who had their projects financed.
Meanwhile, the Albanian drama competition was won by Jonila Godole with “Sandman” play, which will also be printed in 11,000 copies in German.
Data show some 26,300 spectators watched the theatre’s 103 performances during the September 2009- June 2010 period.
The Theatre was financially supported in its projects by the Culture Ministry and third parties. The number of sold tickets was 16,200.
The National Theatre’s next season with open next September with a tight calendar of events.