The second edition of FemFEST will take place in Tirana between 4th March to International Women’s Day on 8th March.
Created by BASH ART in 2022, FemFEST aims to increase awareness of women’s rights and promote women’s contribution to the arts in Albania. As in its first year, the FemFEST programme will feature theatrical performances, music, exhibitions, installations, and panels exploring issues related to women’s rights.
The festival will open on 4th March with a staging of The Vagina Monologues, by Eve Ensler (now known as V), directed by Altin Basha, which will be staged at the National Theater.
On 5th March, audiences will have the opportunity to see Doruntina Basha’s Stiffler, a play about the way female sex workers, which is directed by Kushtrim Koliqi and will be staged at the National Experimental Theater. Later that evening the play Perfect Strangers, directed by Erion Isai, will be shown at the National Theater.
On 6th March, there will be a chance to see Sex, thank you, just to try, directed by Merita Smaja. This will will be staged at the National Experimental Theatre. At the National Theatre later that evening there will be a performance of The Couple directed by Altin Basha.
Stiffler.
On 7th March, the play The Marriage Contract directed by Driada Dervishi will be staged at the National Theatre.
On 8th March, International Women’s Day, the final day of the festival, the Red Shoes installation will be unveiled in the main square in Tirana. There will be a performance by the group Haveit and the festival will conclude with a performance of the National Theatre of Kosovo’s new play The Women (Gratë) directed by Nastazja Domaradzka and featuring an all-female cast and creative team, which will be staged at the National Theater.
Under the executive directorship of Ilirjana Basha, one of the initiatives of this year FemFEST will be the support and promotion of young women’s dramaturgy – their works will be published with the intention of being staged. The income from the sale of tickets, meanwhile, will be used to fund four scholarships for the best female students at the University of the Arts in Tirana.
Main image: The Women
Further reading: review of The Women
Further reading: review of Stiffler
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.
