Director

Zoja Buzalkovska is a renowned Macedonian directress, who has directed plays in many Macedonian theatres, and recently also in theatres in Russia. Between 1994 and 1998, Buzalkovska studied for and received a degree in direction from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts of Skopje's “Ćiril i Metodije” University, and also graduated from the Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Law (1990 - 1997). She currently works as a Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Department of Theatre Acting, in Skopje. She has so far directed the following plays: “Oedipus Tyrannos Sofocleus”, based on Sophocles’ original text “Oedipus Rex”, “The Lover”, based on texts by Caryl Churchill, David Ives and Harold Pinter; Jana Dobreva’s “Sand Puzzle“; "Mk - The Twilight Zone" at the Bitola National Theatre (Macedonia); "Romeo & Juliet now" at the Kumanovo Theatre (Macedonia); Jasmina Reza’s “Art” at the “Točka” Cultural Centre in Skopje; Dostoevsky’s "The Meek Girl"; Kirjakovska’s "How to Become a Tzar", Grigori Gorin’s "To Forget Herostrat!", and Yeton Neziray’s "The Bridge" at the Children’s Theatre Centre.

 Performance

Naz is a little boy who lives in an unnamed country, somewhere in Asia. His lives a carefree life with his family, and is especially attached to his father, who often tells him magical stories about Sinbad the Sailor. Unfortunately, their idyllic life is cut short by the outbreak of war, which forces the family to flee their home, and end up in a huge, dark and grim refugee camp. The play follows the adventures of our hero, Naz, who keeps trying to escape from the refugee camp, and get to a “better world” – the world of his older brother, who lives in London. In this attempt, he will go through a long “odyssey”, during which the stories of his father will help him find his way to himself and others, and give him the necessary courage to face the cruel reality. This drama, a superb production by the Children’s Theatre Centre of Skopje, reveals a very important truth, which does not apply to children only: never give up, even in the worst of circumstances – and you will succeed. “Boy with a Suitcase” is not only a play about dreams, about life’s expectations, about hope, promise, imagination, about logic that is based on fairytale, on illusion - but also a play about money, terrorism, crime, poverty, desire and survival. A blend of the perspective of the child world, and the cruelty of the adult world, is what makes this play very valuable, both for children and their parents.

Theatre

The Children's Theatre Centre began work in 1999 with a short-term project aimed at lessening the effects of stress among child refugees from Kosovo. The project lasted five months, and was carried out in the heat of the “refugee crisis” in Macedonia. During this period, around twenty projects for children and teens were implemented with the help of refugee artists, as well as of artists from Macedonia and abroad. They worked together in refugee camps and centres, bringing children and teens together for dramatic activities that gave them unique opportunities to laugh, but also to express creatively all the difficult experiences that they had been through. Through the power of theatre as an artistic tool, and as a way to generate a discussion and promote new ideas, the Children’s Theatre Centre decided to continue working and address all children in Macedonia, thus bringing together artists from around the country. Today, the Children’s Theatre Centre is an important landmark on the cultural and social map of Macedonia and the surrounding region, offering children and teens a host of performances and different forms of education.