The director of the National Theater Altin Basha was dismissed from his post during a government meeting. Basha had resigned a few days ago and today’s government decision is only the formalization of the decision, following a scandal involving the abuse of theater funds. The initial denunciation was made by the show Piranjat, which revealed how invoices were manipulated, while Altin Basha had employed his wife in the institution he himself directed.
In 2022, Altin Basha was appointed director of the National Theater by decision of the Council of Ministers. In these two years of work, it seems that he has ensured that he not only gives to the theater, but also takes a little from it. For example, in the case of the play “Wojcek”, approved by the artistic board in March 2023, directed by the Japanese Kuniaki Ida. For this play, Altin Basha has hired his wife, Iliriana Basha, as a set and costume designer.
This is an open conflict of interest, but the couple of artists have camouflaged it in the best possible way, because according to the documents, Iliriana Basha has not received any payment for her work, in short, she has done volunteer work. However, in the performance file it turns out that Mrs. Iliriana has requested 12 million lek for the actors’ costumes, even though the theater has a wardrobe that could be used. But the costume designer seems to have not used anything from the wardrobe and as a result the actors’ costumes were paid almost 11 million lek. But the biggest surprise lies in the prices of the costumes. 500 thousand lek were paid for the male actors’ overcoats, while in some cases 270 thousand lek were given for the actresses’ dresses.
One of the Basha couple’s collaborators, tailor Musa Fisniku, said that he made the costumes for the show in question and that for an overcoat that the National Theater paid 500 thousand lek, he gave it to “Piranja” for 200 thousand lek. But it doesn’t end there. For this show, Altin Basha also hired two people from his circle of trusted people, such as Ervis Saliasi and Benada Shuta. These two people worked for Altin Basha’s show “Fustanella”, the first as a moderator and the second as a screenwriter. Benada Shuta was hired in the show “Vojçek” as a make-up artist, but in the meantime, Shpresa Vasili, a former make-up artist at the National Theater, who has now retired, told “Piranja” that she did the make-up for this show alone. Benada Shuta also has a registered activity at the National Business Center, where it is written that she works in these fields as a screenwriter, assistant director, organizer and executive producer, so she does not appear anywhere as a make-up artist. But despite this, she has received four million lek as a make-up artist for the play “Vojçek”.
Meanwhile, Altin Basha seems to sometimes reach out to the Experimental Theater “Kujtim Spahivogli Memory”. Despite being the director of the National Theater, he has put the play “E kuqe” on the experimental stage and has received 24 million lek in funds for this play. His wife, Iliriana, has not been absent here either as a set and costume designer. “Piranjat” asked the Experimental Theater for the complete file for this play, specifying the names of all employees, budget additions, costs for costume design and props, but this information was not made available. The play “E kuqe” had only two actors, Gentian Zenelaj and Urim Aliaj, and a staff of almost 13 people was made available for it, including a costume designer and assistant costume designer, a set designer and assistant set designer, a director for audiovisual effects, and a lighting director. Despite the fact that these names are made public for each play, the Experimental Theater does not provide this information, citing the fact that it does not have the authorization to provide confidential information, leaving room for suspicion that something is being kept secret by Altin Basha and Gjergj Prevazi, the director of the experimental theater.
Meanwhile, in a confrontation with “Piranhas,” Altin Basha gave almost no answer, requesting an official meeting at the National Theater. While his wife Iliriana Basha denied having benefited from the costume funds for the play “Vojçek.” Among other things, she said in outrage: “For this face, I and Mr. Altin Basha have worked hard, because we have three children and instead of going somewhere else and living like kings, we have chosen to live in this dirty, despicable country and never steal a single cent from us, never lift a finger from us, because we want to raise those children well.”/lapsi.al
