"Gogoli" - the show that encourages children to talk about their fears and problems

The show directed by Mentor Berisha has Owl and Keta as characters. The owl has many unreasonable absences. The arguments against the teacher have been exhausted. His friend tries to understand the reason for the numerous absences. When she learns that he is afraid of gogol, she tries to help him to leave behind this fear and attend lessons. This event takes place in the children's show "Gogoli" in the theater "Dodona"

When the curtains of the "Dodona" theater go up, the children are introduced to Bufi (Afrim Muçaj). He rolls around playing with the yo-yo. He didn't go to school. No one knows the reason for the eight unreasonable absences, which are increasing. Not even his friend Keta (Hayat Toçilla). She doesn't understand why he is missing so much. He tries to find the real reason for Bufi's absences. This is how the narration for the play "Gogoli" under the direction of Mentor Berisha begins. The premiere of the play with text by Arian Krasniqi was given on Saturday at 12:00.

It is the second time that the director Mentor Berisha makes a show for children. For the first time, he received such a task in 2016. Then he performed the play "Buna and Tuli". He told KOĖN that his work has been facilitated by the fact that he has been making animations with children and holding trainings for children in the field of animation with the non-governmental organization "Molla e Kuqe". In particular, he teaches them the "stop-motion" technique. A technique that he also used in the show "Gogoli". It often made the characters move slowly.

"Besides the visual part of the attractive game, there are also some messages that we send to children, mainly in the educational part: the unreasonable absence from school that appears time and time again in Bufi. Normally, the main message is that everything that children have inside them should be shown, discussed with friends, friends, parents, so that these obstacles and problems can be overcome or solved in the easiest way" , said Berisha. He also took care of the scenography, where it is worth emphasizing the part with butterflies and the lighting trees.

After the insistence of Keta, her friend, Bufi reveals the real reason for absences from school: the fear of gogol. For the actor Afrim Muçaj, who plays the Owl, this is the first play for children as actors. He was also part of the children's show "Buna and Tuli", but then he was a puppeteer.

According to the actor Muçaj, a great deal of work has been done and special care has been taken to build the role and the show in general.

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"I have done the shows for adults several times and I have created a stability in front of an adult audience, but what we had today is a big job in psychology, to be careful about children, because we can influence both badly and good. We worked so hard so that the show has a positive effect on children", he said.

Majta Gashi, the 5-year-old who had seen the premiere of the play, has said with conviction that she is not afraid of Gogol. Even like Keta, she would have protected her friends. Jora Gashi, who is two years older as she gives a summary of what she has seen, has shown that the show has taught her not to lie.

"I liked that that kid never missed school, and that boy lied to his friend, said he was sick, my grandmother died, and lied to the teacher three times," she said.

The various lies that Bufi uses during the show to justify his absences have also caught the eye of 8-year-old Nina Pllana. It is even Bufi, the one who, according to her, made the show the most attractive with his gestures. However, he also had Keta's prudence and her seriousness towards the school in his heart.

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"I liked the show that that girl always went to school. And that boy pissed me off when he lied to that chick", Pllana said while adding that the message of the show is not to lie and not to be afraid, since the gogol doesn't exist.

Violeta Alidema made the costumes for this show, Altin Asllani made the music, and Skender Latifi made the lighting design. Stage technicians were Albert Gashi, Bedri Maloku and Fadil Bekteshi. The show was performed by the non-governmental organization "Red Apple" and was supported by the Municipality of Pristina and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. This is the second premiere for children of the "Dodona" theater this year. The first premiere was in May. That month, the play "Lira and Titi" was performed under the direction of Bashkim Ramadan and text by Alba Loxha. The show was a call to respect children's right to education,