»The performance is full of humor that runs between childish exuberance and bitter satire and yet, to its great credit, sympathy and poetry are never left on the wayside«

(Dorian Waller, Der Standard, Austria)

“The play is by Jeton Neziraj. The text formally reminds of Brecht: strong positings and reductions, but also a politically accusing tone. In contrast, in an anti-Brechtian manner, the production by Blerta Rrustemi Neziraj relies on the audience’s sympathy with the small girl, violin and accordion accompany the evening atmospherically. Six boxes on wheels keep on producing new spatial constellations”.

(Torben Ibs, Theater Heute, Germany)

Video: Yll Citaku /// Ass. costume designer: Amber Givens /// Photo: Armin Bardel /// Stage manager: Adelina Berisha /// Lighting technician: Skender Latifi /// Translation: Andrea Grill (German), Ajkuna Hoppe (English), Shkelzen Maliqi (Serbian) /// Design: Agon Ceta /// Produced by: Qendra Multimedia, Prishtina /// Running time: 60’ min /// Language: Albanian, Roma and German /// Existing subtitles: German, English, Turkish and Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian

About the play:

On central focus of this musical tragicomedy of the absurd is a Roma family, which was forcedly expelled from Germany to Kosovo. Found in a new reality, this family will have to face the challenges of the recently newborn state. A Roma girl, Madeleine, one day falls in a hole opened by a construction company. And while the girl in coma fights for her life, her father, striving to pursue justice, faces bureaucratic officers, businessmen, policemen and embassy workers. This is a political drama about chaotic post-war Kosovo, but, before all, it is a drama about unwanted Roma in Europe. Away from those common stereotypes about Roma, away from that exoticism which usually accompanies Roma topics, “Yue Madeleine Yue” is an intelligent drama that excellently reviews the emotional process that thousands of Roma people from Europe undergo, yielding to violent processes of repatriation.

Selected reviews:

[eng] »Autumn crocus« – A Roma family tries to find their footing again in post-war Kosovo. During the war, they fled to Germany and lived there for many years. Then they were pushed out and have now returned to their home. The focus is placed on the girl Medlin, who falls into an excavation pit on a poorly lit street and is fighting for her life. On the search for justice, her father encounters corrupt businessmen, frustrated workers and sarcastic bureaucrats. »Yue Medlin Yue« is a tragicomedy composed of political innuendos and passionately absurd scenes. Six actors and two musicians create a satirical-comical tearjerking contemporary nightmare on the stage using just a few props. After the war in Kosovo in 1998-1999 and its declaration of independence in the year 2008, the country is still searching for its identity today. Jeton Neziraj, born in 1977 in Kaçanik, is one of the leading theatre authors and most active artistic protagonists in Kosovo. He studied theatre studies at the University of Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, and worked as artistic director of the National Theatre for three years till 2011. Jeton Neziraj has written numerous screenplays and more than 15 theatre plays that have been shown in Kosovo and in other European countries and the U.S. In 2002 he founded the company Qendra Multimedia, which he heads to this day. (euro-scene Leipzig)

[eng] “Under the direction of Ann-Elisabeth Wolff, the Euro-Scene takes up the cause of presenting new trends from Eastern Europe. Qendra Multimedia has come with „Yue Medlin Yue“ from Europe’s youngest state Kosovo with which Wolff has scored a coup whose relevance has been hard to beat: While parties were discussing the abolition of visa liberalisation for the Balkan countries, „Yue Medlin Yue“ shows the fate of a Roma family that has to remigrate from Arnsberg to Pristina after the Nato bombings. The play is by Jeton Neziraj. The text formally reminds of Brecht: strong positings and reductions, but also a politically accusing tone. „Auschwitzsoap“ is right beside aphorisms like „We are humans here, no gypsies“. With the help of the example of the accident of the small Roma girl Madeleine Neziraj and his company run through the every day racisms towards Roma in Kosovo from A to Z. The corruption of the local authorities and elites comes up as well as Germany’s refusal of responsibility. In contrast, in an anti-Brechtian manner, the production by Blerta Rrustemi Neziraj relies on the audience’s sympathy with the small girl, violin and accordion accompany the evening atmospherically. Six boxes on wheels keep on producing new spatial constellations. The characteristic text style is facing the will to grotesque, which prevents from sliding into mere agitprop theatre. Racism is rather shown from an internal perspective than attacked. The dramatic climax is the Roma mother reading out a Christmas card by Madeleine’s best friend from Arnsberg, for the spectator a brutal clash of the European worlds of both children”.(Torben Ibs, Theater Heute, 1/2013)

[german] [german] Die Euro-Scene unter der Leitung von Ann-Elisabeth Wolff hat sich auf die Fahnen geschrieben, neue Tendenzen aus Osteuropa zu präsentieren. Aus Europas jüngstem Staat Kosovo kam Qendra Multimedia mit „Yue Medlin Yue“. Damit landete Wolff einen Coup, der an Aktualität nicht zu überbieten war: Während die Parteien über die Aufhebung der Visa-Freiheit für die BalkanLänder diskutieren, zeigt „Yue Medlin Yue“ das Schicksal einer Roma-Familie, die nach den NatoBombardements aus Arnsberg nach Pristina zurückkehren musste. Das Stück stammt von Jeton Neziraj. Der Text erinnert formal an Brecht mit seinem starken Setzungen und Reduktionen, aber auch in seinem politisch anklagen-dem Tenor. „Auschwitzseife“ steht neben Sentenzen wie „Wir sind Menschen hier, keine Zigeuner“. Am Beispiel des Unfalls des kleinen Roma-Mädchens Madeleine dekliniert Neziraj mit seiner Truppe die Alltagsrassismen gegenüber den Roma im Kosovo durch. Die Korruption der lokalen Behörden und Eliten kommt ebenso zur Sprache wie die Verantwortungsverweigerung Deutschlands. Die Inszenierung von Blerta Rrustemi Neziraj setzt dagegen antibrechtisch aufs Mitgefühl des Zuschauers mit dem kleinem Mädchen, Violine und Akkordeon untermalen den Abend stimmungsvoll. Sechs Boxen auf Rollen produzieren immer neue Raumkonstellationen. Dem Duktus des Textes steht eine formale Strenge und der Wille zur Groteske gegenüber, was ein Abgleiten in bloßen Agitprop verhindert. Der Rassismus wird aus einer Innenperspektive mehr gezeigt als angegriffen. Als dramatischer Höhepunkt verliest die RomaMutter eine Weihnachts-karte von Madeleines bester Freundin aus Arnsberg, was die europäischen Welten der beiden Kinder für den Zuschauer brutal aufeinandertreffen lässt. (Torben Ibs, Theater Heute, 1 / 2013)

[Croatian] “Na »Zoomu« je gostovala i predstava »Yue Madeleine Yue« kosovskog autora Jetona Neziraja, u režiji Blerte Rrustemi Neziraj i produkciji Qendra Multimedije iz Prištine. Riječ je o tragikomediji s elementima apsurda, koja govori o romskoj obitelji koja je nasilno preseljena iz Njemačke na Kosovo. Zaplet nastaje u trenutku kad Madeleine, romska djevojčica, jednog dana padne u rupu novootvorene građevinske tvrtke. Dok se djevojčica u komi bori za život, njezin otac, u nastojanju traženja pravde, suočen je s birokratskim procedurama iz kojih ne vidi izlaz. Suvremenim scenskim izričajem, kroz niz kratkih »kadrova«, ova predstava društveno angažirano progovara o položaju Roma, kritički se dotičući i Europske unije, samo deklarativne demokracije, bešćutnosti korporacija, novih deportiranja Roma i rasizma. U predstavi se tako, između ostalog, može čuti rečenica: »Kad je riječ o Romima, njemačka demokracija zvuči mi kao neonacistička njemačka demokracija«. Vrhunac ironije je što je romska djevojčica dobila ime po bivšoj američkoj državnoj tajnici Madeleine Albright.Tragediju Roma u suvremenoj Europi utjelovili su glumci Adrian Morina, Anisa Ismaili, Fisnik Sykaj, Kujtim Paçaku, Fitore Broqi i Bajram Kinolli. Predstava je svjetsku premijeru imala u Beču, gostovala je Beogradu i Rijeci, a u studenom će biti prikazana i u Leipzigu. (Novi List, Croatia)

Schedule:

Austria (world opening): 24th of February 2012/ Volkstheater – Vienna, Austria
25th of February 2012/ Volkstheater – Vienna, Austria
Kosovo:: 21st of May 2012 / National Theater of Kosovo, Kosovo
Serbia:: 23rd of May 2012/ CZKD, Belgrade, Serbia
Croatia:: 07 September 2012/ ZOOM Festival, Rijeka, Croatia
Germany:: Germany: 9th of November 2012/ euro-scene Leipzig, Germany
10th of November 2012/ euro-scene Leipzig, Germany
China:: China: 11 – 18th of October 2013, Shanghai International
Experimental Theatre Festival, 7th edition, China

For booking:

Please contact Jeton Neziraj, at: [email protected]+377 44 186 3893

Reviews/Critics/Articles:

#derStandard AUSTRIA
#Theater Heute GERMANY
#Wiener Zeitung AUSTRIA
#Wiener Zeitung AUSTRIA 2
#Balkansunflowers review
#Balkan Insight review
#Theater of one world article

Tech rider +

Stage/Light.pdf
Leaflet.pdf

This performance is produced in the framework of the project “EU support for the implementation of RAE strategy” - EU SIMRAES financed by the European Union, managed by EU Office in Kosovo and implemented by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society - KFOS.
Co-financed by:
Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans
The Olof Palme International Center