Discussion

As Smoki Musaraj writes in her book Tales from Albarado, “Albania embraced shock-therapy reforms with unflinching enthusiasm,” and these reforms naturally extended into the arts — including, inevitably, the theatre. I would argue that the National Theatre and cinemas were among the most affected institutions. Beyond the eagerness for land development (read: the transformation of the National Theatre’s public grounds into private high-rise real estate), the institution became entangled in a complex process of transitional reform. Repeated artists and public protests emerged in response to efforts to dismantle not only the building, but also the very concept of the National Theatre as a cultural and institutional entity, framed by official discourse as an outdated and ailing structure. Yet even today, a sustainable environment for its proposed alternative—private entertainment companies—remains absent.


The historical building of the National Theatre—intrinsically linked to the theatre’s mission and ensemble—was demolished under arbitrary circumstances, a stark demonstration of state power exercised in contradiction to democratic principles. While this demolition stands as the most visible result of (neo)liberal intervention, the (neo) liberalisation of the National Theatre involved a broader set of mechanisms, many of them offshoots of neoliberal policy. These include the withdrawal of state support and the push toward self-financing, benefiting from Ponzi-like schemes, and privatisation tactics whose long-term consequences have often been underestimated or forgotten in the rush of contemporary history. Even when the painful destruction of the building is addressed, these deeper processes are frequently overlooked. This paper, therefore, seeks to examine these dynamics through the lens of the unmaking and remaking of theatrical art and institutions in post-socialist Albania.