The National Theatre of Albania ( sq, Teatri Kombëtar) was the main theatre in
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
,
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
. In March 2020, the National Theatre of Albania was selected by
Europa Nostra
Europa Nostra (Italian for "Our Europe") is a pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage, representing citizens' organisations that work on safeguarding Europe's cultural and natural heritage. It is the voice of this movement to relevant intern ...
among the
7 most endangered monuments in Europe,
as an exceptional example of
modern Italian architecture from the 1930s and one of the most prominent cultural centers in Albania, facing impending threat of demolition. On 17 May 2020, the National Theatre building was demolished.
History
![National Theater of Albania](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/National_Theater_of_Albania.jpg)
The first theatre play in Albania was organised in Gjirokastër in 1874. The first theatre building ''Salla e Kolegjit Severian'' with 450 seats was built in Shkodër in 1890, by the Order of Jesuits.
The National and Experimental Theater Complex was a historical artifact that witnessed many events related to the creation of the Albanian theater, but has also served as the stage for artistic, academic, and political events in post-World War II Albania.
The complex presented various historical layers of interventions that attested to different architectural and engineering styles and approaches of the time. It represented an important stage in the history of urban planning and modern architecture, especially after the long Ottoman period that did not include such concepts of urban planning.
The National Theater building started as the Italian-Albanian Circle named "Circolo Scanderbeg". Until its demolition, it was the first construction of a cultural and sport complex that preserved its cultural function. The materials and techniques applied in this construction were considered innovative for Italy and beyond at European level.
After its opening, the "Savoy" Theater, known in the 1940s as Kino-Theater "Kosova", became the centre, where the most important cultural institutions would be established in post-war Albania. Given these historical facts, this architectural complex was part of the country's cultural and national identity.
The innovative materials — most specifically a material called "Populit" panels, a new material composed of mineralized wood fibers with high strength concrete, was thermally and acoustically insulating.
— and techniques applied in this construction were not only used in Albania, but were also considered for Italy and beyond at European level.
After its opening, the "Savoy" Theater, known in the 1940s as the Theater of Kosovo, after 1945 (at the end of World War II) as "the National" and "National Theater" in modern times, became the center where some of the most important cultural institutions would be established in post-war Albania. Given these historical facts, this architectural complex is part of the country's cultural and national identity.
The interventions of 1950–1954 proved the engagement of some of the most prominent architects after World War II in the country, such as A. Lufi, S. Pashallari, and others. Also, the presence of working groups of Soviet architects like D. Vasiliev shows the impact of Soviet neoclassicism on the increased volume of internal courtyard closure, which remained in good shape until the building's destruction.
Engineers and architects engaged in additional projects and structures (after 1945) and the solutions they apply demonstrate not only their care for the harmonization of the structures of the different phases, but at the same time these interventions prove to us today the political changes in the country by applying techniques and materials different from those of the autarchy period.
The complex was a turning point on the monumental axis, as it is the first rationalist object after a period of neoclassical construction. It is also one of the first rationalist buildings in Albania. The facility was first realized with prefabricated elements and innovative materials at the time, not only in Albania but also beyond. The cultural and sports complex is also the first facility with the pool still existing in the atrium. Scholars classify it as a rationalist building with the influences of Sant Elia and De Chirico's futurism and paintings.
It was later called the Kosovo Movie Theater ( sq, Kinema Teater Kosova). The inauguration and naming to Professional Theater of the State ( sq, Teatër Profesionist i Shtetit) occurred on 24 May 1945. Later the theater was called Popular Theater ( sq, Teatri Popullor). It held that name until June 1991 when it was called 'National Theater'.
Protest and demolition
![Police_perimeter_facilitating_the_demolishing_of_the_National_Theater_of_Albania](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Police_perimeter_facilitating_the_demolishing_of_the_National_Theater_of_Albania.jpg)
In 2018, the
Albanian government
Albania is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic, where the President of Albania is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Albania the head of government in a multi-party system. The executive power is exercised by the Government a ...
, under Prime Minister
Edi Rama
Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama, 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and current Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairm ...
, decided to demolish and replace the theater with a new building designed by
Bjarke Ingels Group
Bjarke Ingels Group, often referred to as BIG, is a Copenhagen and New York based group of architects, designers and builders operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development. The office is currently involved in a ...
. The National Theatre was relocated to a temporary modern venue named ArTurbina located on Sami Frasheri Street in Tirana.
Plans of the authorities for a new building for the national theater were criticized by artists, professionals and citizens, which led to
protests
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
and also the declaration of the historic building as one of the 7 Most Endangered Heritage Sites in Europe by
Europa Nostra
Europa Nostra (Italian for "Our Europe") is a pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage, representing citizens' organisations that work on safeguarding Europe's cultural and natural heritage. It is the voice of this movement to relevant intern ...
.
National Theater is considered one of the most significant monuments of autarchy period in Albania at the beginning of 20th century
Regardless of constant protest by Albanian artists together with the political opposition, the demolition of the National Theatre of Albania started approximately on 4:30 am of the 17th of May 2020. The area was overrun by the State Police as they forcibly evacuated every person in the area protesting and detained many artists and high members of the Albanian opposition. Soon after the demolition started, people started gathering in the main boulevard just before the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Theatre to protest its demolition. This protest led to numerous other detainments due to the prohibition of gatherings and protests as per COVID-19 restrictions by the Government.
Playwrights
Theatre Directors
Actors
*
Agim Qirjaqi
Agim Qirjaqi (27 January 1950 – 28 March 2010) was an Albanian actor and television director. As an actor his filmography was extensive, while as a director his output was limited to some television work. He worked with a number of prominent ...
*Ahmet Pasha
*
Anastas Kristofori
Anastas is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname:
* Benjamin Anastas (born 1969), American novelist, journalist and critic born in Gloucester, Massachusetts
* Jonathan Anastas, Los Angeles-based advertisi ...
*
Andon Qesari
Andon Qesari (27 June 1942 – 13 February 2021) was an Albanian actor and stage director. He made a handful of films as an actor, and was also known for his work in theater. The government of Albania
Albania is a unitary parliamentary const ...
*
Bujar Lako
Bujar Lako (1 June 1926 – 15 December 1996) was an Albanian actor.
Filmography
References
External links
*
People from Korçë
20th-century Albanian male actors
21st-century Albanian male actors
Albanian male film actors
Albani ...
*
Antoneta Papapavli
Antoneta Papapavli (17 February 1938 – 13 September 2013) was an Albanian actress. She has usually played the roles of ladies, rich women, mountaineers, directors and mothers throughout her work as both a film and theater actress.
Personal li ...
*
Besa Imami
*
Drita Haxhiraj
*
Drita Pelingu
Drita Pelingu (3 December 1926 – 3 October 2013) was an Albanian actress, academic and director. She was awarded the title of Merited Artist of Albania.
Pelingu died following a long illness on 2 October 2013, aged 86, in Tirana
Tira ...
*
Edi Luarasi
*
Edmond Budina
Edmond Budina (born 21 March 1952) is an Albanian actor, director and writer.
Biography
Budina was born in Tiranë, Albania. After finishing Albanian Art Academy in 1974, he began acting in the National Theatre of Albania
The National Theatr ...
*
Elia Zaharia
Elia, Princess of Albania (''née'' Zaharia; born 8 February 1983) is an Albanian actress, former singer and wife of Leka, Prince of Albania. They married on 8 October 2016 in Tirana.
Early life and education
She was born on 8 February 1983 in T ...
*
Fatos Haxhiraj
*
Ferial Alibali
Ferial Alibali (née Meçule; 10 January 1933 – 14 May 2011) was an Albanian stage actress who performed more than 100 roles during her acting career. She was one of the founders of the Aleksandër Moisiu Theatre in Durrës. Two years later, ...
*
Genti Deçka
*
Gjon Karma
*
Ilia Shyti
Ilia may refer to:
Science and medicine
*''Apatura ilia'' or lesser purple emperor, a butterfly
*Ilium (bone) (plural: "ilia"), pelvic bone
People
* Ilia (name), numerous
**Ilia II, the current Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia
Places
*Ilia, ...
*
Laert Vasili
*
Lazër Filipi
*
Loro Kovaçi
*
Luan Qerimi
*
Kadri Roshi
Kadri Roshi (4 January 1924 – 6 February 2007) was an Albanian actor. He was named a People's Artist of Albania
The People's Artist () was an honorary title for outstanding art performers of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, whose ...
*
Sandër Prosi
Aleksander "Sandër" Prosi (6 January 1920 – 24 March 1985; rup, Sandãr Prosi) was an Albanian film and theater actor and violin player. He was given the People's Artist of Albania award by the Albanian government. He is considered one of th ...
*
Margarita Xhepa
Margarita Xhepa (born 2 April 1932; rup, Margarita Gepa) is an Albanian actress, best known as one of the great ladies of Albanian cinema and theater. She continues to play in recent films such as Firdus in Bolero ne vilen e pleqve, based on ...
*
Marie Logoreci
Marie Logoreci (born Çurçija; 23 September 1920 – 19 June 1988) was an Albanian film and stage actress. She started her career as a singer in Radio Tirana (1945), before making her breakthrough appearance as an actress in the film The Great ...
*
Ndrek Luca
*
Mihal Popi
*
Ndriçim Xhepa
*
Neritan Liçaj
*
Pavlina Mani
*
Reshat Arbana
*
Robert Ndrenika
Robert Ndrenika (born 10 January 1942) is an Albanian actor and former politician. He was honored with the People's Artist of Albania award in 1988. He was active in films, but also in theater and television performing hundreds of leading and Su ...
*
Roland Trebicka
*
Roza Anagnosti
Roza Anagnosti (born 27 October 1943) is an Albanian film and stage actress, and the wife of director Dhimitër Anagnosti. She is known for ''Fijet që priten'' (1976), ''Mësonjëtorja'' (1980) and ''Detyrë e posaçme'' (1963).
Life and care ...
*
Pjetër Gjoka
Pjetër Gjoka (3 August 1912 – 12 May 1982) was an Albanian film and theatre actor.
He started his theatre activity with the amateur groups in Shkodër in 1929. In 1947 he started to work as a full-time actor in the National Theater of Alban ...
*
Prokop Mima
*
Shkëlqim Basha
*
Sulejman Pitarka
*
Viktor Gjoka
*
Violeta Manushi
Violeta Manushi (6 March 1926 – 26 July 2007) was an Albanian actress. She was honored with the People's Artist of Albania. She is best known in Albania for her portrayal of Teto Ollga (Auntie Ollga), a symbolic character which followed her ...
*
Yllka Mujo
Yllka Mujo (born 15 October 1953) is an Albanian actress, especially known for her roles in Albanian movies during the communist regime. For her acting merits she was given the title Merited Artist of Albania.
Life
Yllka Muji (or Mujo) comes ...
Shows
*''Our Land'' ( sq, Toka Jonë)
*
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
( sq, Hamleti)
*
The Mayor ( sq, Prefekti)
*
Intrigue and Love
''Intrigue and Love'', sometimes ''Love and Intrigue'', ''Love and Politics'' or ''Luise Miller'' (german: Kabale und Liebe, ; literally "''Cabal and Love''") is a five-act play written by the German dramatist Friedrich Schiller. His third play, ...
( sq, Intrigë e Dashuri)
*''The Fisher's Family ( sq, Familja e Peshkatarit)
*''The Mountains' Girl ( sq, Cuca e Maleve)
*''
A Bridegroom at Fourteen'' ( sq, 14 vjec dhender)
*''After Death ( sq, Pas vdekjes)
*''The Auditor'' ( sq, Revizori)
*
King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...
( sq, Mbreti Lir)
*
Arturo Ui
''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (german: Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui, links=no), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago ...
( sq, Arturo Ui)
*''
Korçë
Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some ...
's Karnivals'' ( sq, Karnavalet e Korçës)
*''The Foreign Herth ( sq, Votra e huej)
*
The Fox and the Grapes
The Fox and the Grapes is one of Aesop's fables, numbered 15 in the Perry Index. The narration is concise and subsequent retellings have often been equally so. The story concerns a fox that tries to eat grapes from a vine but cannot reach them. ...
( sq, Dhelpra dhe rrushte)
*
Bernarda Alba
''The House of Bernarda Alba'' ( es, La casa de Bernarda Alba) is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as a "rural trilogy". Garcia Lorca did not include ...
( sq, E Vërteta e Spanjës”(Bernarda Alba))
*''The Lady of the Inn'' ( sq, Zonja e Bujtinës)
*''Artan'' ( sq, Artani)
*''Everybody's Roof'' ( sq, Çatija e të gjithëve)
*''The Second Face'' ( sq, Fytyra e dytë)
*“Njeriu që pa vdekjen me sy”( sq, Pas vdekjes)
*
The General of the Dead Army ( sq, Gjenerali i Ushtrisë së Vdekur)
*''The seven people from Shale'' ( sq, Shtate Shaljanet)
*''The house on the Boulevard'' ( sq, Shtëpia në Bulevard)
*''The Lady from the City'' ( sq, Zonja nga Qyteti)
*''On the Trash'' ( sq, Mbi Gërmadha)
*''The servant of two Sires'' ( sq, Shërbëtori i dy zotërinjve)
*''The Big Flood'' ( sq, Përmbytja e madhe)
Theatres throughout Albania
Albania holds other theatres in
Vlora,
Durres,
Shkoder,
Fier
Fier (; sq-definite, Fieri) is the seventh most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Fier County and Fier Municipality. It is situated on the bank of Gjanica River in the Myzeqe Plain between the Seman in the north, the Vjos ...
,
Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...
,
Berat
Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier.
Berat is located in th ...
and
Korce
Kujtim Spahivogli National Experimental Theater of Albania ( sq, Teatri Kombetar Eksperimental “Kujtim Spahivogli”)
Located in Tirana besides the National Theater, its venues are used by mainly young artists with several successful performances throughout the year.
Children's Theatre ( sq, Teatri i Kukullave)
The theatre is situated in the center of
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
. The Albanian name literally means "The Puppet Theatre". The building used to serve as the
Albanian parliament
The Parliament of Albania ( sq, Kuvendi i Shqipërisë) or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a ...
before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Another professional Children's theatre is in
Korçë
Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some ...
, under the
A. Z. Çajupi theatre.
See also
*
List of theatres in Albania
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
{{Tirana
Tourist attractions in Tirana
Theatres in Albania
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
Theatres completed in 1939
Buildings and structures in Tirana
7 Most Endangered Programme