Natalija Popovska, MA candidate, Junior Assistant at INI

The Theater on the Macedonian Ground - Encyclopedia / Faculty for Drama Arts - Skopje, Institute for Theatrology, 2002

                Following the multi-year research of the theater tradition on the Macedonian ground, the Institute for Theatrology at the Faculty of Drama Arts has prepared a CD ROM, “The Theater on the Macedonian Ground - Encyclopedia”, which presents excellent possibility for everybody who wants to acquire general understanding of the history  and the importance of the theater in Macedonia.

                 In this presentation, my intention is to explain what exactly the CD ROM offers and to emphasize its importance.

                 The main menu consists of 10 titles which contain about 3,500 pages of text, organized in about 6,000 encyclopedia units, more then 2,500 photographs, 30 minutes of video records, 30 minutes of tone records, 3-D model: reconstruction of the theater in Heraklea Linkestis.

                 The data presented in this CD ROM are according to the primary archive sources, with several incompletely reconstructed moments, which is due to the lack of data, and not to the negligence of the authors. It contains complete bibliography of works from the theory of the theater art in Macedonia, with all its segments, then list of funds and collections of documents and photographs.

                 The Story Through the Centuries is the first title, which refers us to the begging of the theater art, to its deep, magic roots reflected in the numerous rituals and ceremonies, which respect and follow up with discipline the basic theater matrix, articulating its basic elements. The different archaic traditions for the millenniums in the past substantially contribute to the theater tradition, are articulated and made known right here on the Balkan. That means that the age of the meta-theater traditions overcomes the 25 centuries of history of the so called European theater phenomenon, which started in 534 B.C. with Thespis -  the father of the tragedy. This is the thesis which is especially emphasized by the authors, everywhere where the text allows.

                 The following four titles, Festivals, Theaters 1913-1944, Theaters 1945-2001, Education present the institutions through which the theater and the education of the staff for all disciplines of the theater are being realized.

               The seventh title is Authors, which provides an alphabetical summary of the biography and the works of all Macedonian theater authors, with a possibility for search according to the first and last name and category.

                 From 1927 to 2001 under the title Performances, all performances which have been played in the theaters in Macedonia are documented. The search could be done according to the name of the performance and according to the institution.

                 An interesting title is the title Chronology where the information covers the period from the year 4000 B.C. until 2001 A.D. Using a comparative method, the authors present the historical and cultural events  and processes, with a special emphasis of the events on the Macedonian ground, which influenced the different expression forms of the theater, the role of this type of art in different societies, the treatment, the ups and downs. In this part, it is also insisted on the mythological and poet arguments for the beginnings of the theater, which have developed with a different intensity and quality, in order to achieve continuous theater life.

                 The Dictionary contains the basic theater concepts, explained by easy understandable definitions. The use is very simple, and the search could be done according to the first letter or by alphabetical order.

                 By clicking on the 3-D model, the reconstruction of Heraclea Lyncaestis opens up, and with the option “more”, the criteria for the overall picture for this important place of the cultural history of Macedonia is satisfied. The video record of  Stobi, is a visual support of the text for the historical and cultural description of the ancient city of Stobi.

                This CD ROM could be easily installed on a PC with the minimum instructions provided. In order to use  it , it is necessary that you have PC with a Pentium processor, minimum 64 MB RAM, CD ROM devise, 30 MB free disc space; Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or newer version.

                 Finally, the CD ROM “Theater on the Macedonian Ground” is attractive for education and fun.

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© Hi-story magazine, issue 1, June 2003; web-design: "Vertikala - Progressive Ideas and Technologies", Skopje