A sad news rang out this Thursday morning in our country. Albanians woke up to the news that the star of the Albanian stage, Margarita Xhepa, has closed her eyes forever.
In her long artistic journey, Margarita Xhepa played hundreds of roles, gave life to characters from literature, drama and history. Every role she played showed the life of Albanians and every stage movement she made was a reflection of the difficult life of thousands of citizens.
Through films, she came to us as a mother full of pain, a heroine woman, but also a simple one who carried the history of her people on her shoulders.
And today, in this pain that has gripped us all, we return to her roles:
From 1950 she was active as a probist artist at the People’s Theater (today the National Theater) and at the same time studied at the Artistic Lyceum, Drama branch.
She has created over 150 roles in theater, among which we can mention: Majlinda in the film “Majlinda”, Dafina in Lumi i demurt, Filja in Cuca e maleve, Zonja Mëmë in Kush e solli Doruntinaën, Nëna in Përballë vete etc.
She has been equally successful in roles of world dramaturgy, such as Ophelia in Hamlet, the second daughter in King Lear, the nanny in Romeo and Juliet, Queen Margaret in Richard III, by Shakespeare.
Other roles from world dramaturgy include Clea in The Fox and the Grapes (Figereido), Lena in Uncle Vanya (Chekhov), Lady Milford in Louise Miller, Mrs. Berling in The Inspector’s Visit (Priestly), Mrs. Loman in Death of a Commissioner, Anna Andreyevna in The Inspector, Marcella in The Gardener’s Dog, Mashenka in Mashenka, Sheila in The Morality of Mrs. Dulska, or Nanny in Sophocles’ Electra, under the direction of Greek director Dimitri Mavrikis, at the National Theater of Greece in Athens.
In addition to her roles in theater, she has also performed 32 roles in cinema, working with most Albanian directors.
Margarita Xhepa has been part of the films “The First Years”, “Traces”, “The Last Winter”, “Bloody Land”, “A Boy and a Girl”, “The Passionate One”, “General Gramophone”, “The Circle of Memory”, “The Years of Waiting”, “The Warm Hand”, “The Stones of My House”, “Spring Did Not Come Alone”, “Concert in 1936”, “The Last Sunday” and “Dear Enemy”.
In 1997, she starred in the Greek film “Farewell”. The film was awarded the Grand Prize at the International Mediterranean Film Festival in Thessaloniki, while Margarita Xhepa received the Honorary Prize.
