Actor and Character | How Zef Jubani`s Harpagon was realized”!

HOW ZEF JUBAN’S “HARPAGON” WAS REALIZED

Zef Juban was a great theater artist, and not as a result of school or the Academy of Arts. He was “graduated” and protected with the legacy of his hometown, trusting his own talent and experience. Zef Jubani is the immortal actor, the one who played the character of Moliere’s “Miser”. He gave this character the spirit of time and beyond time.

The people’s artist, Zef Jubani, gave exceptional importance to the deep knowledge of the character he interpreted and the ideo-emotional memory which was the baggage of life’s impressions.

Born in Shkoder on December 2, 1910, in a characteristic alley of an old quarter of the city that still preserves the high surrounding walls, as in the stories of Koliq.

February of the year should come, in 1952, when Zef Jubani would excel in the role of Harpagon in Moliere’s well-known comedy “The Miser”, one of the most prominent roles performed by him, a role that gives him the identification as the Albanian Harpagon. This play was played about 70 times, and every time it was performed, the actor Zef Jubani imposed himself on the audience, with a magical, potent and electrifying force that only this rank of actor could possess.

But how did actor Zef Jubani manage to embody the role of Harpagon?

During the whole time that the great artist was preparing the role of Harpagon in Moliere’s “The Miser”, he felt worried because he still had not solved the character well. He worked and worked a lot, until the late hours of the night, how to solve the figure from the outside.

Jubani had tried almost every way but was never satisfied. At that time, Zef had an old woman of about 100 years old at home who called her “Dada”. She followed him during the work he did at home until late at night. One night, while Zefi was working, the lights went out.

It remains alone on the ground, standing in silence. Suddenly the door of the room opens and Dada enters, bent over, with a candle in her hand, with a tired face full of wrinkles, which the candle deformed. Her silhouette on the wall had a frightening appearance, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing depending on the vibrations of Dada’s hands.

Zefi gets up immediately and walks in front of her without speaking, looks at her silently without speaking for a few seconds, with a feeling of admiration. Bringing Zef` the light of illumination to continue his work, this noble old woman did not realize that she was bringing him something else, a greater light of success.

Zefi jumps up with joy, grabs the old woman by the waist with both hands and lifts her up, spinning her several times and shouting:

I found it!!! I found it!!!

Then he sat her down and said: “Thank you, Dad”!

The surprised old woman looks at him without understanding anything. At this time, the lights are turned on, but Zefi immediately turns them off, saying to the old woman:

– Please repeat the entrance once more, grandmother, enter with a candle in your hand. And she, without understanding anything, enters again….

The next day, Zefi presents the solution to the director Lec Shllaku. Zefi himself then comes out. A mighty cry of “help” is heard (part of the comedy text) and a crouched Harpagon, leaning on a half-stick, with a grim and strange face, utters the words of the text and wanders about the stage altogether. free.

The director was enthusiastic. Zef Jubani had already triumphed completely, thanks to his great talent and persistent work.

“Migjeni” theater, after “The Miser” wonderful show in those years, did not put him back on stage. The great success of that show and the interpretation of Zef Juban was difficult to repeat. With this role, Zef Jubani had created an unrepeatable legend by any Albanian actor.

Researcher and critic Josif Papagjoni explains the reason: “The actor must possess a series of rules and technical skills to make up the face, to give it expressive – typifying power, expressive ability, according to the character of the role he plays.

Through shading tones, beards, wigs, drawing, moustaches, hair color, making up wounds, eye effects, teeth, sculptural make-up, makeup, swelling of certain places on the face, lightening and darkening, aging or rejuvenation, etc. the actor manages to transfigure his face and adapt it as much as possible to the role as the most concrete example of Zef Juban’s Harpagon….”.

The people’s artist, Zef Jubani showed later that the triumph with this role of Harpagon was not a coincidence, but the fruit of his talent, perseverance, research, tireless work, sacrifice to achieve the result of a high level, things that are missing from today’s actors and artists, who, as a point of view, have the money, the money, the work to pass the queue, without getting tired…….

If with Harpagon he was able to secure immediate glory for himself, with the gallery of his national roles, Zef Jubani left the theater a valuable asset from which we are all honored. He excelled, but also other actors of the past were successful because they saw with the same artistic conscience all the roles given to them by the directors.

Jubani passed away on December 1, 1958, in the arms of his friends and colleagues, where he had gone to follow the preparations (although not well from the health side) for the performance of the first Albanian opera that was to be performed that night.

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Albanian Cinematography in activity since 2013

Reference: “Memory of a city” – albas 2020 / Xh. Bushati / zef jubani, p.251 / book “Acknowledgments” I. Alibali and personal notes (P. Bj.)

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