Albanian Drama Competition Announces Winners

The Albanian drama competition has announced its winners for the 2010 edition. An international jury of five members awarded last Monday playwright Julia Ruvina the first prize for her “Njeriu i Reres” (Sand-man) drama. The Euro 3,500 prize was funded by the Austrian Embassy in Tirana which will also make possible the drama’s translation into German and the publication of 10,000 copies expected to be distributed along with the Austrian cultural magazine “Buhne.”
The second prize went to playwright Stefan Capaliku for his “20 vjet, 2 jave, 2 dite” (20 years, 2 weeks, 2 days) drama, who was awarded Euro 700 by the Albanian Ministry of Culture.
Some 20 theatrical pieces were presented in the “Let’s talk about borders” competition, an initiative of the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs, the Austrian PEN Club and the Albanian Ministry of Culture.
The jury was composed by Albanian critic Mark Marku, director Andonis Filipi, the director of the Neukollner Oper Berlin, Christian Romer, playwright Gerald Bauer and Christian Papke, who was the competition’s initiator six years ago. Last June, Papke directed the “Force of Habit” by renowned Austrian playwright Thomas Bernhard at the National Theatre in Tirana.