A life in the theater/ The Grand Master, Koço Qëndro celebrates his 97th birthday

2024-05-15 19:08:00, Kulturë CNA

The "Great Master" of the theater stage, Koço Qëndro, celebrated his 97th birthday this May 15. For Korça and Albania, he is the oldest actor, icon and great fortune of the city. The artist has raised whole generations of spectators, since the 1950s when he started his long career on stage, with hundreds of roles, as well as in variety, giving endless laughs to the public.

Cna TV brings the story of the master, his impressions on stage, his relationships with other artists, the most beautiful memories of this long artistic journey.

Koço Qëndro experienced an adolescence different from today's generations, between the fiery years of 1943-1944. He dreamed of becoming a teacher, but as soon as he turned 15, he became a partisan. A stint of several years in the army, then being discharged due to an operation.

A life in the theater/ The Grand Master, Koço Qëndro celebrates his

"A whole life, 97 years. In adolescence, young people imagine what they will become, and I liked books, history in particular. But I spent my adolescence in those fiery years of war, and surprisingly, I dreamed of I used to be a teacher, but those years also included me. I started looking at sneakers, binoculars, necklaces like all my friends. The years 1943-1944 were very fiery years which have left a great and unforgettable impression on me. After my youth and military duties, I was released from the army because I had an operation, I was discharged as unfit to serve in the army and the waves of life threw me here in Korça."

It is incredible for Koço Qendron to become a professional actor in the city of Korça. He never thought he would get this far. For the "Great Master", Korça has a bright history of theater, while he expresses himself quite happy that he became a contemporary of those who laid the foundation stones in Korça art.

A life in the theater/ The Grand Master, Koço Qëndro celebrates his

"I never even thought that a day would come for me to become a professional actor, and where? In the city of Korça, in Little Paris, on the Korça stage with excellent traditions. It's a word of mouth to say, to become actor where? The history of the Korça theater is a bright one, for which I was a contemporary of those who laid the foundation stones in the Korça art filiz, a beautiful popular saying says that "The filiz finds it difficult to grow tall under the shade of the oaks", that the oaks do not leave and indeed with those actresses and actors that I had the good fortune to collaborate with since the 1950s, they were real actors and had some characteristics that left a tremendous impression on me."

Këndro has very special memories in his roles on the theater stage of Korça. Piro Mani, one of the most prominent personalities in the history of Albanian theater, one of the masters of directing, was the very man who activated Koço Qendron in the theater. The play that brought Qëndron back to the stage was Twelfth Night, a work by Shakespeare, with the difficult role of Sir Endrju Eguiçik.

"To tell you the truth, Piro Mani became the reason that activated me in the theater. I have many roles in the theater. First, Piro Mani commissioned me to play "Twelfth Night" by Shakespeare. It was a very interesting event, that one year before to perform this work, we sat in a cafe where the town hall is now. There Piro told us "be brave, we will perform Shakespeare next year". The theater has two premieres to give, and Piro is thinking about next year?! When the next year came, he shared the lyrics of "Twelfth Night". Everyone in the theater was worried about whether they would have a role or not. I was there at the end. Piroja made a resume of all the roles, so that no actor would be left without a role first, second, third, fourth. When the next role came, Sir Endrju Eguiçik will be Koço Qëndro. It hit me like a bomb, I called out and got up. Who spoke said Piroja. I sat down to kick him out. I asked for the word saying "with director's permission?". "How's your job?" - told me. I said "Thank you to the director, the artistic council and you for trusting me with such a role." He asked me what to say to this. I answered "They graduated from high school here, let one of them do it, let me be there from the end." He told me NO."

If the citizens would hear the name of Koço Qendro, they would immediately remember "Kopraci", Moliere's work with the character of Harpagon, a character that Qendro played so skillfully. The play "Kopraci" returned after 42 years on the stage of the Korca theater, when Qëndro was 92 years old. That year, Koço Qëndro very skillfully, thanks to the power of acting and spirituality, brought the character of Harpagon in one of the most successful images. This work was entrusted to the master Dhimitër Orgocka.

A life in the theater/ The Grand Master, Koço Qëndro celebrates his

"The same is true for Kopraci's work. These big roles are very difficult, it is lucky for the actor to have such roles on stage. You have to think carefully when you take it on, it was very difficult for me. He trusted me with this Dhimitër Orgocka, whom I met when he came in shorts, left the stage with white hair. It was difficult for me for two reasons, the first was that others had played this role, the unforgettable Dhimitër Trajçe, while Zef Jubani played it in Shkodër. Now I shouldn't have played it because they played it very well. It was a role that you have to be on stage for two hours, I felt like I was in the field of Korça and Moliere was at the top of Morava and told me "come on, come on.", everyone was enthusiastic because I entered with flesh and spirit to cope with this role, they told me that I was good at the rehearsal and on stage I was fine."

Sokrat Mio, the actor considered as his teacher, or even the person who should definitely get confirmation for the interpretations of the roles. At the time when he would rehearse on stage for various works, Qëndro eagerly awaited a positive sign from Mio, who would break away for a few minutes to see the actor and then leave, leaving him anxious and worried about the interpretation of his. Koço Qëndro still remembers the sentence that gave courage to the actor, without forgetting to mention the support that the audience gave him in every show.

A life in the theater/ The Grand Master, Koço Qëndro celebrates his

"And playing tragedy on stage and making people laugh is very difficult." - he told me. They encouraged me, at every show believe me. Throughout my life, this remains, I have many roles, I have roles in pop, theater, cinematography, but my two roles remain Sir Egui?ik from "Twelfth Night" and Harpagon from "Kopraci".

The entire house of Koço Qëndros carries a lot of history, with decorations, certificates of appreciation, theater books and photographs on every shelf, the artist's photos on the walls. Korça is lucky to have among it one of the icons of the theater, the great master of the stage, the artist with a pure soul and the citizen so beloved. CNA wishes the master on this 97th anniversary, to have a long life and expresses his thanks for what he has given in his artistic career, leaving a mark in Albanian history. / CNA