The theatre is my bridge connecting Skopje and Istanbul

MK TR GR GR

If you take a look at the list of actors performing on the stage of the Turkish Theatre in Skopje, one name will be quite surprising to see. Among all Turkish names and surnames the name of Macedonian Biljana Jovanovska is certainly unusual, but this actress is also connected with Turkey in a particular way. Her father Gjore Jovanovski was a football player and later coach in Turkey (playing for two teams: Ankaragucu and Samsunspor), so Turkey became her love and destiny.

biljana - balkanot

Biljana enrolled at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU) in Skopje so that she can practice and improve her knowledge of the Turkish language, also she has been part of the Turkish theatre ensemble for several years now.

– Turkey has been a part of me ever since my birth. Because of my father’s job, we often moved from Macedonia to Turkey and back, so I grew up getting to know the two cultures and languages simultaneously. When I decided to enroll in the FDU , it was natural for me to choose classes in Turkish in order to learn the language much better. – says Jovanovska.

biljana - zad scena na balchak

She says she loves the melody of the Turkish language and when she visits Turkey she turns into a different person because of the delicacy of the language.

I love the shells people sell in the street because you can eat standing. I love Turkish tea, also joyful people in the streets fascinate me. – says Biljana.

biljana - do balchak

She graduated in June 2011with the play “A long journey into the night” mentored by Ph.D. Eljesa Kaso. Nowadays her relationship with Turkey is not only maintained through daily rehearsals and performances in the theatre located in the Old Bazaar in Skopje, but also by acting in Turkish series.

– During the filming of “Farewell Rumelia” and “Last Summer in the Balkans” I gained discipline to get up at 6 am and be ready for a film shoot no matter what kind of night I had had before. I learned to quickly learn the text, because the series is shot at light speed and we have to adjust if we want to be part of it for a longer period of time. – ends Biljana .

Srebra Gjorgjievska