Kadare and the Theater

Abstract

The transformation of a literary work into other artistic and cultural dimensions is always intriguing and challenging. This transformation is frequent in cases when a certain literary work is brought to the theater through dramatization and staging. A constant debate among theater, film and literature artists is that of dramatization and staging of a literary work in the form of a theatrical performance or some other artistic medium. The arguments and counterarguments are numerous and are usually based on personal experiences or on the outcome and quality of a play or film emerging from the dramatization of a literary work. Perhaps due to the low output of theatrical productions in Kosovo or lack of creative ideas, the dramatizations of literary works into a theater plays are rare in Kosovo’s stages. In spite of cases being sporadic, some attempts at theatrical productions deriving from dramatization of literary works do exist and the most serious among them are those based on the literary works of authors such as Ismail Kadare, though not always possessing the qualities that characterize the original works. By approaching Ismail Kadare’s work from a different angle, that of its dramatization and staging for theater, I aim to contribute to the recognition of the Albanian literature in another dimension, namely that of playwriting and theater. This will be achieved by illuminating the principal and fundamental issues of the relationship between the literary work and the theater, focusing on the particular potential Kadare’s work has for staging.