Liri Armiri – Dhimitri (1927 – 2018) Actress of the first generation in the Puppet Theater. From Ira Armiri 2020! At the end of this year, it will be 70 years since the creation of the Puppet Theater in Tirana, the first professional troupe of its kind in Albania. Many commemorations or ceremonies were also held virtually this year, and the Albanian Cinematography website is the right place to remember the many artists who contributed to Albanian art, including those of the puppet theater. I would be pleased to present below a profile of the actress Liri Armiri (Dhimitri), my mother, among the first generation actresses who with their talent, dedicated work and passion pave the way for other generations, enabling the puppet theater to gain citizenship in Albanian culture. He was born in Fier, on April 18, 1927. He was the third child (Viktoria, Pali, Liria, Vlashi), in a simple family, father Llazi was a craftsman, and mother Theodhora was a housewife. He grew up in an environment where the artistic inclination was not lacking. Her mother had an ear for music and sang beautifully. Her brother Pali had a tendency in visual arts and he took that direction in life. Freedom that early showed stage tendencies. He was chosen to recite in front of the town hall for the national holiday, despite the fact that he was very young. For the needs of the family during the difficult times of the war, he started working early and was also active in the anti-fascist movement. The liberation of the country coincided with other difficulties, her father died soon (a death that affected her a lot). In order to make ends meet, in addition to her education, she continued to work in a tailor's shop as a student. He always worked with dedication, he valued his work a lot. He learned a lot from this profession and whenever he needed knowledge, he used it for the benefit of the work he did later. Meanwhile, he was active in the amateur artistic life of the city. He was active in the dance group, choir, recitals and theater. He took part in the District Theater Olympiad, held in Tirana, and in folklore festivals. She was a student with very good results, and in the conditions of great needs, she was appointed a teacher at school No. 4, Fern. In 1950, the family moved to Tirana, and the work as a teacher continued here, in the 8-year-old schools "Luigj Gurakuqi" and "Vasil Shanto". After a short period of work in the administration of the Ministry of Education and Culture, in the conditions when cuts were made in the ministry, she asked to move to an artistic institution, distinguishing the puppet theater that had just been created, based on her tendencies (which in the child liked to imitate the sounds of animals) but she also had little stage experience in Fier. But admission to the theater was not done simply because you wanted to. He would pass an audition in front of a commission made up of Pandi Stillu, chief director of the People's Theatre, Naim Frasheri, actor of the People's Corporal, and Drita Kallamata, an actress in the Puppet Theatre. As he describes himself, in the monograph written by the actor Lorenc Pepa, "I tried in several cases as a child, adult roles, as an old woman, a witch, animal roles, as a bear, a fox, etc., and I won. That's how I started the difficult but beautiful path of the Puppet Theater actress". The first roles were not easy, and not from the ones he liked, roles of witches, bears. Where the attempt to realize them simply by imposing the voice, only that it would damage the latter. Something else was needed, the skill of the actor, which had to be learned in school. Thus, he continued his studies without leaving work in the drama department at the "Jordan Misja" Artistic High School, the only one that offered such an opportunity. These studies, which lasted 5 years, gave him the opportunity not only to deepen the general culture, but also to focus on professional subjects, master actor, stage speaking, but also art history. He completed these studies with very good results, in all subjects. The desire to continue studies without leaving work, at the Higher Institute of Arts, Department of Drama, when the latter was opened, was not fulfilled, like other colleagues. However, as he remembered himself: "this artistic culture that I received helped me a lot in my profession as an actress, especially in terms of interpreting the role, while working at the desk, for interpreting and using the voice correctly". 
In the realization of the roles in the puppet theatre, there are two components that go hand in hand, the stage interpretation and the movement of the puppet, in sync with it. This was the essence that she understood very well from the beginning. Movement is important, it gives life to the character, without it the viewers would not understand who he was. She kept this in mind in her work, she also asked her colleagues, and when she gained experience, it was the first thing she noticed. I remember that there were times when he saw beautiful, proper movements, he said about the actor that he cried, on the contrary, the performance was good but the puppet… Not infrequently he saw this as a kind of negligence, the actor paid more attention to the performance, and with little movement. "I worked a lot with the doll. "Many times I took him home with me to perform the movements that the director wanted, even to move them forward, and I succeeded in that," she recalled. And her colleague Lorenc Pepa confirms this result in the monograph written by him: "I myself am a witness of this. I have followed the roles of Liris with attention and pleasure. From the hall, I immediately understood who Liris's doll was. Her movements from the level, walking, turning, bending, etc. were such that you remembered that you were actually dealing with living characters". And here he singles out the role of the snake in "The Lost Egg", where it seemed that a real snake was moving on the screen. Her puppet was synchronized with her performance but also with the other characters. If there was no text, her doll accompanied the conversation of other characters. One of the difficult roles she remembered was the fox in the part "The Rabbit and the Fox". In one scene the fox had to sing and dance, at one time it had to move its head to appear to be singing, to move its body as if it was dancing. He had to try some types of movements to add a broom in his hand, which enabled him to perform the role properly. This is how he realized roles that specifically required great mastery in the use of puppets, such as the singing squirrel in "Liar Pipiruqi", the fox or the snake mentioned above, as well as a technical puppet that had to be mounted on a pole, in the part "War Day". . This is how colleague Zija Grapshi evaluated this aspect: "It was a special pleasure to work with an actress like Liria. You didn't have to explain the doll's movements. It was enough to tell her that the character is like that, has these characteristics, has this age, and she herself would then think and work out what movement she would give the doll". She cared not only for the best interpretation of the role, but also for the doll she would use. This is how he would give his opinion from the beginning of the work, with the painter Toni Shiroka for the drawing, to continue with the technician Osman Ishmaku, (when the doll was created in clay, props and clothing) with whom he would exchange ideas on how to make the doll more good, suitable for the movements he had to perform. She didn't dare to pick up the needle, after the doll was finished, to add any small detail, she never lost her sewing skills. That's how he took care, that the doll was well maintained, even after many shows or tours, it looked like new. Among the outstanding roles, in a 24-year career, we can mention: In the play "Dhembi i ri" the role of the bear Dasha In the play "Hirushja" the role of Cinderella In the play "Kozeta" the role of Mrs. Termalier In the play "Iliri" the role of the mosquito In the play "The Bloody Throne" the role of the Queen in the play "Uncle Veriu" the role of the stepdaughter in the play "The Rabbit and the Fox" the role of the fox in the play "The Good Soldier Shvejk" the role of Mrs. Myler in the play "Snow White" the role of the Queen the part "Ponço" the role of Laura In the part "Kesulkuqja" the hen of the nursery In the part "Pipiruqi the liar" the role of the fairy and the dancing squirrel In the part "Gjergj Elez Alia" the role of Tringe, as a doll and as a person In the part "Three cats" the role the goat mother In the play "Brave bullet soldier" the role of the dancer In the play "Day of war" the role of the pioneer In the play "Mira e Mirusha" the role of the little girl In the play "Linda's Mistakes" the role of Linda In the play "Lili Mirili" the role of a kindergarten child In the play "The victory of the bees" the role of the worker bee In the play "Who entered the bag" the role of the cunning fox In the play "The beauty of the earth" the role of the Beauty of the Earth In the play "The lost egg" the role of snakes etc. 
In addition to them, he also played roles in children's shows on Radio Tirana. In her work in the theater, she collaborated with her colleagues, since working for a show is group work, to achieve the important goal of a beautiful show, which would be liked and applauded by the viewers. It was common and necessary to exchange opinions, advice, or find solutions together. Theater actresses such as Drita Kallamata, Rina Toro, Bardhyle Nase; Eleni Plasari, Zija Grapshi, Xhavit Xhepa, Xhavit Sallaku, Sami Jahja, Pleurat Armiri, etc. with serious work, they were always an incentive to perform her roles as well as possible. 
He learned a lot from them in his beginnings, from the experience they had or their special qualities (he always remembered the beautiful voices of Bardhyla or Leni). Likewise, she also had support from the directors, Llazar Verria, Selman Vaqari, Pleurat Armiri (who was also her husband). in the written part directed by him "Lost Egg". To continue further, Lavdie Toron. 
She herself did not dare to explain the use of the puppet to the younger actresses, she kindly took the puppet herself and demonstrated the correct movement. He supported talented young people, especially Eva Pellumbi and Florinda Mazreku, who had outstanding data for the puppet theater. She also contributed to the first district director's course, for the use of puppets. They were impressed by how patiently and kindly she worked with the trainees in this direction, because she was convinced that they should clearly understand the importance, since in the future they would direct their actresses in the realization of roles in the theater. 
Working in the puppet theater was challenging, the stage performance was all live at the beginning without sound aids, while using the puppet (which had a lot of weight from the materials used for it), numerous performances everywhere in Albania, even in the deepest villages, where the journey was also made by trucks. The artists took on this challenge and succeeded, and so did Liria. The art of puppetry and working for children gave him complete satisfaction. Even after retirement, he was part of the artistic council for several years, where he continued to contribute to the theater. For her activity in the Puppet Theater for the realization of roles of high artistic quality, she was decorated with the order "Naim Frasheri", of Kl. II. She stood out for the realistic interpretation, for the movement of the doll, her truth and reliability, so her colleagues would remember her as Lorenc Pepa said: "in the roles that were perfect in every point of view". 
She died on December 17, 2018. This was a portrait of an artist with values but also of a woman who lived her life with desire, passion and faith at every moment, until the end. when the forces left him. A woman who always lived beauty, who appreciated every bit of beauty, or created it, in the profession but also at home, in arranging, cooking, embroidering, or sewing. He appreciated the beautiful creations and good artists of every time or style. In recent years, he had vision problems, but God gave him excellent hearing until the last moment, to hear music or new artists, regardless of the language in which they were singing and that he could not see. This is a great lesson that I appreciate a lot. 11.10.2020 Published on the page "Albanian Cinema" – Facebook on 17-12-2020 Ira Armiri PLEASE NOTE: This article and the photos are the absolute copyright of the Armiri family © Copyright protection
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