Florinda Mazreku a life in the Puppet Theater | Actress since school days.

Florinda Mazreku (Manushi) Veteran actress of the Puppet Theater. He holds the title "Great Master" He was born in Tirana from an emancipated family. In 1974, she appeared in front of the Albanian film audience in an episodic role of a sympathetic partisan in "War Paths". And that's it! But, on the contrary, she has a whole life in the theater institution of puppets, a veteran of this theater has in her career about 300 interpreted characters, "Kacamisri", "Miushi", "Water girl", "Octopus", "Three piglets", "Qerosi defeated the Catalan" and many other beloved characters for a generation that grew up and was educated with the actresses of the children's theater. From the time he started at a young age, still a teenager, until he retired, he recorded about 41 years of career and artistic activity without interruption. The Puppet Theater for Florinda has been like a part of her family. Regardless of her retirement age, based on her experience, she felt that she had to give even longer in this institution, but…. As in any other artistic institution, it has become fashionable now that experienced actresses, regardless of the honor that is given to them, are left in oblivion when the time of retirement comes, even though they are seen as still able to give to the new generation of acting. In 1971, a studio dedicated to the artistic side, and finding new talents from the working class or from schools, was opened near the People's Theater. Florinda was an active child from a young age. In eight-year-old school, she was engaged in various artistic activities, singing, reciting, doing ballet, and even often went to the circus to learn. At the age of 15, he gave a competition to enter the theater studio mentioned above. Before her, without knowing the importance of great actors, Kadri Roshi, Sandër Prosi, Sheri Mita, Prokop Mima and other luminaries of the theater were in a jury. It will be precisely the great Sandër Prosi who will include her in his training group for actresses. I will call myself lucky, because even art students rarely had the luck to meet or work with actors of this caliber, while these children they had lessons with them, the same as in acting school. Gaining experience from them was an asset that no one can get and that is worth a lifetime. With the group of S. Pros and Sh. Mites stage the part, "The man who saw death with his eyes", where Florinda is given the main role and with partners, the names that will leave their mark on the stage and our screen: Roland Trebicka and Sokol Angjelin. It was her first show. There will be many emotions when the great director Mihallaq Luarasi will ask her to play in one of his parts, the role of one of Orpheus' sisters. The third show that will remain indelible in his memory was "The Prefect"! It was a miracle to perform with the greatest actors!

She was expected to continue her higher studies in acting. But they were five children, and a poor family. Florinda would have to sacrifice and start working at the age of 18, immediately assigning her to the Puppet Theater. An episodic role will be the first in this theater anyway, less than two weeks from the first day. The outstanding theater director Lavdie Toro, who had finished school and specialized in Romania, especially for puppets, will be her teacher. At the same time, she continues high school at night in the electrical department… Her interpretations have been very original, skillfully conveying emotions through puppets to the little spectator. In the roles he performed, he was a perfectionist, working a lot with the details. He even assigned the places on the stage in advance. Obsessed with the doll, she treated it like a child, took care of the doll's hair, the details of the hands. For Ms. Mazreku, it was the most beautiful part, when the children or parents came to meet her after the show! It was the biggest reward for him! It was the time when the passion or love for work went to that point, so that there were many cases that, even with a high temperature, he stayed on stage. The actress Mazreku had many special features such as mimicry, the adaptability of her voice to each character, her plasticity, but of course she did not lack discipline at work and above all the great passion she had for the doll, as well as the appreciation for the tastes of the public. It can be remembered that she was the only actress of the puppet theater who knew how to use the marionette, a very difficult puppet to manage, but she knew how to use it in the theatrical pieces "The Three Little Pigs" or "The Qerosi defeated the Catalan". In addition to the wide activity in the Puppet Theater, Florinda Mazreku (Manushi) was also active in a film of Kinostudio "Alhqiperia e Re" in 1974 in "Shtigje te lufte" as Manushe in the role of Kanani's fiancee. "I adore children, I feel more beautiful among them than among adults! They don't know the devil yet, to say things in their eyes, they dream of your characters. On the Puppet Theater stage, an actor can play up to three characters within a play; so you are available to the director. And not all the characters are played with the same tone of voice. I was the first actress to involve the audience with the stage and the show, inviting children to be part of the show and go on stage. I remember today, with humor, that when I played the role of the mouse, I came in sneezing, I addressed the children, why they didn't say to me: Health! So I invited them to join the game. Details like these, which require improvisation, I have often used, even in big shows, in outdoor settings in cities or in concerts where we were invited. This created rapprochement with the public, makes the atmosphere warmer. I have never considered income as primary, like many others, not that it is not necessary or valuable, but it is not an end in itself. I had and I have as my main goal, that the children receive the right message" would be her words at the end of a long career. ____________________ Albanian cinematography in activity since 2013 The information in the construction of this text was taken from an interview the actress herself gave to the "Albanian Free Press" in 2018. logos are taken from "Albanian Free Press"

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