The problematic behaviour of theatre in late twentieth-century Macedonia

Abstract

The aim of this study is to expose and analyse theatrical development in times of political transformation of Macedonia, including theatre in times of war and post-war development. The study will look into the transformational role the theatre had and the artists who helped it – whether they were individuals or groups of artists. The thesis will note the rise of the National Theatre, the importance of political theatre and postmodern theatre all of which arrive at the same time on the Macedonian stage, including theatre under socialist pre-text and theatre preceding the first socialist Republic of Macedonia. It will conclude with a discussion on dealing with the aftermath of the Balkan war, more specifically with the functionality and policies of the national institutions as the cultural engine of the country and globalization and Europeanisation of Macedonia. I will set the parameters of Macedonia’s history from ancient to contemporary times in Chapter 1. In the second chapter I will discuss the role of theatre in the Communist system under the greater political and social structure of Yugoslavia. Chapter 3 is an overview of the Balkan war and the new theatrical identity of a democratic Republic of Macedonia. The final chapter concludes with post-war theatre, the effect of globalization and the National Theatre’s role along with theatre festivals as the new cultural engine of a twenty-first-century Macedonia.