Paradise Green Fringe 2009

Haqif Mulliqi’s “Four Epaulets” is possibly one of the greatest anti war drama’s ever written in and not only in Kosovo. “Four Epaulets” is written in 1981, ten years before the devastating wars in former Yugoslavia, but the nationalistic politicians never read it, consequently they created the worst hell after the second world war. Over twenty eight years after its publication, its relevance is astounding as ever, proven with a marvellous production of Alternative Theatre Kosova and City Theatre of Mitrovica. The drama is played by two well-known Kosovo Albanian actors, who will bring in front of you the fate of two Generals, from two rival armies, who lost everything. Throughout the show there are anti-war messages, stated by Generals who are left in destruction and while blaming each other, reveal the worthlessness of the war/wars they went through. The performance is in Albanian language with English subtitles, with, occasionally, difficult moments to follow the show and read, which can be annoying. This, yet, a minor problem, in an unquestionably appealing performance, that addresses such a subject as the war, is a performance worth seeing.