Macedonian Theatre

The beginnings of the play in theatre lie in the Dionysian Bacchanalia held throughout Ancient Macedonia. The god Dionysus, through play, came among the people disguised as a male goat or bull and freed them from their difficulties, concerns, and problems. Archaeological finds in Macedonia confirm the view that classical dramatic art, in all stages of its development, left traces of its presence in Macedonia, as well. The figurine of the goddess Maenad dating from the 6^th century B.C. discovered near Tetovo (hence the name of this archaeological find — Tetovo Maenad), the red-figured hydria from the 5^th century B.C. unearthed near Demir Kapija, the red-figured vessel (4^th century B.C.), on which Dionysus and a group of maenads are depicted, are all kept in the Archaeological Museum of Skopje as convincing evidence of the presence and wide acceptance of theatre play among the population of Ancient Macedonia. Four antique theatres have been discovered in Macedonia in Stobi, Heraclea, Ohrid, and Scupi.

The founder of Macedonian dramatic literature and theatrical activity in the Macedonian language was Jordan Hadzi Konstantinov-Dzinot. In the middle of the 19th century, this outstanding Macedonian revivalist created the possibility, through a number of dramolets (short plays), for a new spiritual expression of Macedonian — in other words, he created the Macedonian theatre. In December 1874, the first performance of the Veles Theatre Amateurs, A Failed Merchant or a Death Sentence was presented in Veles. A few months later, a drama section was formed in Veles within the framework of the Spark Association for National Education. Soon the second premiere was performed, this time the play The Most Suffering Genevieve, where, for the first time in the history of the Macedonian theatre, a role was played by a woman — T. A. Kolarova. Until then, female roles were played by men.

Bitola has had a regular theatrical life since 1918, when the Military Theatre of Tosa Jovanovic became the City Theatre of Bitola. Due to financial difficulties, the Bitola theatre's work was continually interrupted until August 1924, when, by an official act of the Ministry of Education, it was proclaimed a state institution under the name City Theatre. In April 1926, Skopje and Bitola theatres were united within a single theatre institution, under the common name the Skopje-Bitola National Theatre. Only a year later, the Skopje theatre separated from Bitola, and the theatrical group from the latter town was dismissed. In fact, Skopje artists were not in need of a theatre building any more — the new Skopje Theatre by the Vardar River had been completed. After many problems and obstacles from 1932 to 1937, the theatre in Bitola operated as Good Field Theatre. Its members included many fine artists, who remained devoted to the theatre, including Petar Veljanovski, Pavle Pavlovski, Boris Boslakovski, Petar Zezoski, and Vele Goco, as well as young Dimce and Aco Stefanovski.

In November 1944, immediately after the liberation of Skopje, the first professional theatre in Macedonia was established. The artists, mainly members of the military Koco Racin Cultural and Artistic Group, composed the ensemble of the new Macedonian National Theatre. These men and women included Petre Prlicko, Todor Nikolovski, Ilija Dzuvalekovski, Meri Boskova, Kiro Kjortosev, Todorka Kondova, Ilija Milcin, Krum Stojanov, Cvetanka Jakimovska, Toma Kirovski, Dobrila Puckova, Stojka Cekova, Boris Stefanovski, Vukan Dinevski, Darko Dameski, Dragi Kostovski, Dragi Krstevski, and Aco Jovanovski. The first manager of the theatre, Dimitar Kjostarov, and actors Petre Prlicko and Ilija Milcin were engaged as directors. Other theatres were staffed by the following artists [actors]: Bitola: Dusan Naumovski, Kosta Dzekoski, Aco and Dimce Stefanovski, Petar Veljanovski, Petar Stojkoski, Olga Naumovska, Ljubisa Trajkovski; Prilep: Mirko Stefanovski, Nada Gesovska, Dimitar Gesovski, Kiril Zezoski, Cane Nasoski, Rampo Koneski, Pravda Ilic; Stip: Aleko Protogerov, Ilija Arev, Ruza Ikonomova, and Toma Gagovski; Veles: Boris Beginov, Nikola Dimitrov, and Olivera Nikolova; Strumica: Stojan Gagov and Aleksandar Dumov; Kumanov Gjoko Nikolovski and Petar Tasevski; Tetov Panta Nikolic, Ace Cvetkovski, Pance Kamdzik, and Ubavka Slavuic; Turkish Drama Company of the Theatre of Nationalities: Erdan Maksut, Mustafa Yashar, Ekasa Kaso, and Atila Klince; Albanian Drama Company of the Theatre of Nationalities in Skopje: Mark Marku, Bajrush Mjaku, Sefedin Nuredini, Silvana Bajcinovci, Liman Nijazi, and Teuta Ajdini.

The number of non-professional and amateur theatre companies throughout the Republic is considerable. In the 1990-91 season, the Bitola theatre staged 13 plays with a total of 146 performances, attracting a combined audience of 56,500. During the same season, the Kumanovo theatre presented only four works with a total of 31 performances for a combined audience of 6,630. Five works were performed by the Prilep theatre 90 times, for the enjoyment of 23,330. In the same season, the Skopje theatres staged 60 plays and 531 performances before a grand total of 193,481 patrons of the arts. The Strumica theatre performed seven plays 61 times and attracted 17,621. The theatre in Titov Veles presented four plays for 85 performances before a total audience of 30,450. Finally, the Stip theatre had five premieres in that same season with 75 performances and a grand attendance of 19,450.

From 4th June to 10th June 1965, the First Festival of Professional Theatres of the Republic was held in Prilep, organised by the Association of the Drama Artists of Macedonia. The festival was named in honour of the founder of the drama and theatre life on this territory, Vojdan Cernodrinski. Since that day, the finest works of Macedonian theatres are presented each year at the festival in Prilep. The Vojdan Cernodrinski Theatre Festival played a crucial role in upgrading the quality of the Macedonian theatre, at the same time stimulating both contemporary Macedonian drama literature and the polyphony of the theatrical play.

In May 1976, a group of young enthusiasts founded the Open Youth Theatre Festival (MOT) in Skopje. More than 250 theatrical performances have been presented at this festival so far, most of them by alternative, experimental theatre groups engaging young writers and actors. In former Yugoslavia, the Open Youth Theatre was a festival in which every one wished to take part and to display their talent! For several years now, the Open Youth Theatre has been an international festival: to date, guest performances within its framework have been given in Skopje by groups from the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, the United States, France, the Soviet Union, Russia, Spain, Japan, Poland, Italy, the United Kingdom, India, and other countries. Recently, the Open Youth Theatre became a member of the Brussels Informal European Theatre Meeting (IETM), a network of 250 world theatre festivals, institutes, and companies. Within the framework of the Open Youth Theatre, a Macedonian National Centre of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) was established, and at the 25th ITT World Congress in Munich in 1993, it was received as a regular member of this theatre association.

Drama takes a notable role within the framework of the Ohrid Summer Music and Theatre Festival, with theatre projects specially prepared for this international event. Only three years after beginning the first musical performances at the Ohrid Summer Festival, in 1964, As You Like It by Shakespeare, directed by Dimitar Kjostarov, was peformed, soon followed by the collage Laughing Is Not a Sin produced by Ilija Milcin and Toma Kirovski. Both were performed by members of the Macedonian National Theatre.