Russian state theatre to open Butrint Festival

TIRANA, July 13 – Russia’s Vera Komissarzhevskaya state theatre of St. Petersburg will open the 11th edition of the Butrint international theatre festival, organizers have said. The Russian troupe will stage on Saturday July 17, Shakespeare’s “A summer night’s dream” directed by Bulgaria’s Alexander Morfov.
This year’s 11th edition of the Butrint international festival will bring on stage six troupes competing at the ancient amphitheatre of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Butrint situated in the southernmost district of Saranda.
Sunday will bring on stage Skopje’s Albanian Drama Theatre with Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt,” directed by Slobodan Unkovski.
Poland participates with the Nikoli Theatre of Krakow, performing the “Chopin night” on the 200th birth anniversary of the Chopin, the word famous composer of Polish origin. The musical is directed by Russia’s Nikolai Veprev.
Hungary and Romania are participating together with Romeo and Juliet, a musical staged by the Budapest and Bucharest operetta theaters. The musical, adapted by G곡rd Presgurvic and directed by Hungaria’s Miklos Gabor Kerenyi, will bring on stage 70 artists.
The festival’s final night on July 23 will feature two versions of Sophocles’ Electra, one by Romania’s Radu Stanca National Theatre and another by the Albanian National Theatre.
Translated into Albanian by Laert Vasili and directed by renowned Andonis Filipi, the ancient Greek tragedy will bring together some of the best Albanian actors such as Luiza Xhuvani, Roza Anagnosti, Bujar Asqeriu etc
Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan war, the tragedy is based on the character of Electra, and the vengeance that she and her brother Orestes take on their mother Clytemnestra and step father Aegisthus for the murder of their father, Agamemnon.
“The ancient theatre of Butrinti resurrected after 2500 years with the International Festival, which took the emblem Butrinti 2000,” said the festival’s director Alfred Bualoti.
Dozens of international professional troupes from Switzerland, England, Italy, France, Greece, USA, Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine, Spain, Hungary, Netherland, Sweden, Macedonia, Kosovo, Germany have performed in the festival’s previous editions bringing together some 2000 actors.