TIRANA, April 5 – In the context of the Education Through Culture project, 50 high-schooler actors, from all over Tirana’s suburbs to its most central Blloku area, and more than 3000 spectators filled the National Theatre stage through the newly-founded drama clubs in Tirana’s high schools.
It was the first time the National Theatre, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, organized the TK-RIN ART 2018 Theatre Festival during the last days of March, enabling students to express what they had been practicing on in an arena filled with talent, ideas and youth energy.
During the five festival days, capital youth watched amid standing ovations the shows prepared by drama club actors – the crowning results of intense, month-old, theoretical and practical work with students from the Sami Frasheri, Harry Fultz, Sander Prosi, Petro Nini Luarasi, Abdulla Keta and Ismail Qemali high schools.
The project’s artistic directors – Armand Bora and Gjergj Mena – created a drama club for its high school and, together with a professional young director for each school, went through auditions and selected the most talented actors to perform.
Minister of Culture Mirela Kumbaro said this is a pilot project expected to be implemented on a national level next year, based on its success.
Tirana’s Mayor Erion Veliaj participated in the award distribution ceremony, thanking the event’s organizers for thinking of something that doesn’t just add value to the city’s cultural life, but also educates the youth.
“The fact that for the first time so much attention is paid to the youth, that everyone is doing a bit more than what their duty requires to give back to the new generation of Albanians, be it in this theatre or another stage, deserves all the respect and gratitude,” Veliaj said.
Students put on stage literary works from global and Albanian renowned authors such as Bertolt Brecht, Ismail Kadare, Carlo Goldoni, Eduardo de Filippo and Federico Garcia Lorca, while other students were also trained in other theater sectors such as direction, screenplay-writing, costumography, make-up artists, as well as special theatre audio-visual training from National Theatre employees.
Three awards were distributed for Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Theater Play, which was won by Petro Nini Luarasi High School.
