The 7th edition of the Prishtina International Theater Festival “Burbuqe Berisha” will take place from 22th to 28th May.
Established in 2017, Prishtina International Theater Festival (PITF) was established to showcase high-quality performances from around the world, improve international collaborations, and promote Kosovo’s artistic and cultural heritage.
The 2023 festival programme will showcase seven theatre performances from Spain, Croatia, Turkey, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo.
The festival opens on 22nd May with the play Rusalka, which is presented by the Mala Scena Theater from Croatia and directed by Ivica Šimić. The play will be performed following the festival’s opening ceremony.
The second night, on 23rd May will see Bu Productions from Turkey perform the play Boxes, directed by Balım Kar and Semih Değirmenci. On May 24th, the National Experimental Theater of Albania, “Kujtim Spahivogli”, will present the play Now You See Her, directed by Klaudia Pirolli.
On 25th May, the National Theater of Kosovo will present Club Albania, a new comedy based on After Death, written by Albanian writer Andon Zako, aka Çajupi, and directed by Fatos Berisha. The festival continues on 26th May 26th with a version of Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs by the Drama Theater Skopje in North Macedonia, directed by Dimche Nikolovski. On 27th May, Spain’s Antzoki Theater will perform Fireworks – Sparks of Life, directed by Tony Casla.
The festival will conclude on 27th May with the ODA Theater in Kosovo and their performance of Arbri, directed by Lirak Çelaj and depicting a man’s gradual loss of memory. An awards ceremony will take place following the final performance in which a a professional jury alongside two separate student and media juries will award prizes for the best play, and for the best actors/actresses.
The festival was established at the AAB Theater “Faruk Begolli,” which is located within the AAB College in Pristina. As with last year, this edition is named after the Kosovar director Burbuqe Berisha, who served as the festival’s artistic director before, and died two years ago. The current director of the
festival is Doruntina Alshiqi.
Further reading: review of Club Albania
Further reading: review of Arbri
Flamur Dardeshi is a freelance writer based in Tirana. He has contributed in the areas of translation, analysis, and poetry. His main fields of interest are literature, cinematography, and theatre.
