ONE FLEW OVER THE KOSOVO THEATER
By Jeton Neziraj
A farce on the preparation of a play to be performed for the celebration of Kosovo’s forthcoming declaration of independence . . . Dialectical and para-national . . . the play demystifies the effects of politics on art.
—Ana Tasić, Politika, Serbia
A sweeping performance that spanned weeks and led to a debate in the media about the relationship between art and politics.
—Thomas Hahn, Theater Heute, Germany
Seriously political theater, full of laughter and joyful glee in recognizing and mocking the government’s stupidities and bureaucratic violence . . . a healthy and cheerful POLITICAL COMEDY . . . one which every theater in the world would wish for.
—Goran Cvetković, Radio Belgrade 2
This is not a play which criticizes Kosovo’s statehood . . . rather it questions the significance of statehood, which should represent some sort of freedom and opportunity for its citizens and not additional lies and more misfortune.
—Zlatko Paković, Danas, Belgrade
The intertwining of real and fictional elements sheds new light on how ordinary people see the independence of Kosovo, and the new false patriotism that stemmed from it, as a cover for lucrative interests.
—Nemanja Cabrić, BIRN, Belgrade
A powerful denunciation . . . of a system of government in Kosovo that has taken on the form of an EU protectorate.
—Anna Maria Monteverdi, La Republica, Italy
Following a sudden visit from a state secretary, actors from the National Theater of Kosovo, haunted by existential worries, stop their rehearsals of Waiting for Godot to work on a new “national” drama – this, to open the very day that Kosovo will declare independence.
The Nezirajs show . . . the mask of civility and the face of patriotism . . . in their true genre, as a farce, and at the same time, in their natural setting, as a comedy of the absurd. — Zlatko Paković, Danas, Belgrade
The Qendra Multimedia production of this play has been performed in a number of European cities, such as Skopje, Tirana, Ljubljana, Bern, Belgrade, and Modena.
ABOUT JETON NEZIRAJ
For Jeton Neziraj, not only Kosovo but the entire world is a madhouse. With loving mockery, he looks through the bars at the people inside.
—Wolfgang Kralicek, from the introduction to Six Plays by Jeton Neziraj
The Kafka of the Balkans.
—Jakob Hayner, Theater der Zeit, Germany
Jeton Neziraj is the former artistic director of The National Theater of Kosovo, and the founder and current director of Qendra Multimedia. He has written over twenty-five plays which have been staged, translated, and performed throughout Europe and the United States.
