Flower Sajza, National Experimental Theater of Tirana “Kujtim Spahivogli"

Review by Ana Bateva

The Tears of Albanian Mothers

​Flower Sajza brings to life the memory of the communist regime in the Tepelena camp in Albania through a raw, documentary theatrical form. The personal stories of survivors are woven into the performance, finding symbolic expression in the stage elements.

With a minimalist approach, the soil—primal and eternal as a source of life—appears as a womb rooted in both fertility and the consciousness of suffering and death. In turn, water symbolizes purification and renewal, bringing an element of hope; it flows and changes, yet retains traces of the past, a “memory of water” that cannot be erased.

The symbol of collective pain is embodied by the women, the main narrative figures. The tragedy of the mothers who lost their children in the camps is among the performance’s most emotionally impactful elements. The intense, static stage presence of actresses Rajmonda Bulku and Adriana Tolka further transforms the narrative into a poignant memorial for the deceased and forgotten. 

Given the performance’s basis in fact, the collaboration with the Institute of Studies on Crimes and Consequences of Communism (Albania) is a strong choice. However, in balancing so many factual and stage elements—multimedia, microphones, poetry, song, and even an impressive moment of physicality by actress Valentina Myteveli—the director, Endri Çela, seems at times unable to unite them into a cohesive narrative.

Yet, despite the blurred boundaries between documentary and theater, the performance resonates deeply. Personal suffering evolves into a collective experience, as the lessons of the past become a call for compassion and empathy.
 
Flower Sajza is produced by National Experimental Theater of Tirana “Kujtim Spahivogli” and it was part of the program of the Kosovo/Albania Theater Showcase, which took place in Tirana, the end of October 2024.