National Theatre to stage three premieres in new season

TIRANA, Jan. 10 – The National Theatre will stage three international premieres during the new January-July season this year. The first premiere to be performed on the stage of the National Theatre in Tirana is Amadeus, a drama by Peter Shaffer directed by Albania’s Altin Basha scheduled to be staged on February 24. Written by British dramatist Peter Shaffer, Amadeus combines fiction and history to detail the final years of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The play also focuses on Antonio Salieri, an older composer who, propelled by jealousy, plots the tragic downfall of his rival, Mozart.
The second premiere at the National Theatre will be Arthur Miller’s The Crucible scheduled for April 2011. In writing The Crucible, US playwright Miller went to the source of the Salem Witch Hunts by reading the recorded transcripts of the trials.
Set in the village of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible tells the story of what happens when the town’s Pastor, Reverend Parris, spies his young daughter, Betty, and a group of other girls from his church, dancing in the woods.
The third and final premiere expected to be staged at the National Theatre this season is Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The famous love story and tragedy, directed by Italy’s Carlo Bruni, comes as a co-production with the Italian Institute of Culture in Tirana. It is expected to have its premiere by the end of next May.
The National Theatre says it is also negotiating with the British Council in Tirana to bring a British director to stage another masterpiece by Shakespeare for the second theatrical season.
The second season of the 2010 at the National Theatre brought only one premiere in December. Nje Tablo Absurde (An absurd painting), written by Albania’s Ferdinand Hysi and directed by Milto Kutali will also be staged this weekend at January 14 and 15 at 19.00.
The play brings back memories of artists who worked under communism pressure often doing what they did not want to in their art because of censorship and risk of imprisonment for modern trends.
Last July, the National Theatre closed its 10-month 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 last year, was decorated with the highest “Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu” order and had seven of its artists honoured.