Practice-Based Research of Scriptwriting

Goran Stefanovski was a member of the Practice as Research Group in the Department of Media. His research projects fitted in very well with the work and research agenda of the group: “Practice-based research within the Department of Media is undertaken by practitioners to generate new or enhanced knowledge and understanding within or across Media-related disciplinary areas. Practice-based research activity may be undertaken with a view to generating exhibitions, performances, events, films, videos, compositions and broadcasts; that is to say, research outputs and outcomes with an application beyond the educational sector. Alternatively, practice-based research might be undertaken to theorise contemporary practice.”

From 2002 when he joined Canterbury Christ Church University until his death in 2018, Goran wrote and oversaw the production of several new plays for the theatre. Between 2002 and 2004 he researched dramatic materials in collaboration with director Sandy Maberley and Theatre Mélange in London. Stefanovski was sponsored by the Arts Council as an artist in residence with the Theatre.  His play Everyman (An immorality play) was commissioned and produced by Theatre Mélange in 2004. It went on a UK tour and a British Council sponsored tour to the Republic of Macedonia.

Goran Stefanovski also wrote the play Духот на слободата (“The Spirit of Freedom”), which was produced by the National Theatre in Bitola and published in the literary and art magazine Културен Живот, 2, 2005 in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, ISBN 0047-3731.

In 2005 there was a stage production of the play Hotel Europa by COLLECTIF 12, at the Comédie Française Studio Theatre in Paris, directed by Catherine Boskowitz. This coincided with the publication of the book of the play Hotel Europa, (English and French edition, translated into French by Séverine Magois), éditions L’Espace d’un Instant, Paris, France, 2005, ISBN 2-915037-16-7. Hotel Europa was a play/performance script produced in the year 2000 as a huge European project with 9 directors and 35 actors from various European countries. It went on a European tour for six months and was shown at all major theatre festivals with huge popularity and critical acclaim. It was the product of two years of solid research both into the social and political dimensions of its subject matter and also into the strategies of the different fabrics of writing, which varied in every scene.

For many years Goran was a member/selector of the International Theatre Festival “Neue Stücke Aus Europa” (New Plays from Europe) organised by Theaterbiennale des Hessischen Staatstheaters, Wiesbaden, Germany.

In 2006 he wrote a new full-length play The Demon of Debarmaalo, which was commissioned and produced by the Dramski Teatar, Skopje.  It has so far had six more productions all over Europe. Stefanovski was to write five more new plays over the next eight years, all of which were to be performed in numerous theatres in Europe and in the United States over the following twelve years.

His film work included membership of an international jury for feature film scripts organised by Cinelink in Sarajevo in 2003. The same year he collaborated on the feature film script of Walter and Virginia, which went into production in the summer of 2005, directed by Suzanne Osten in Stockholm. In 2007 he collaborated on the writing of a feature film script, Frau Einstein, produced by Hammer Productions, Novi Sad. The same year Stefanovski wrote the script for the short film “What do you want?” based on an etching and interview with Nick Burton, edited by Andy Birtwistle, both colleagues at the University.

In 2014 До Балчак (“To the Hilt”), Goran’s screenplay for a feature film, finally came to cinemas. It had originally been written in 1987 and had two revisions in 2001 and 2011. It was produced by Triangle Film, Skopje, and directed by Stole Popov. Goran Stefanovski gave several presentations to the Practice-Based Research Centre, School of Media, Arts and Design at Canterbury Christ Church University, based on his research on a variety of projects. The following four are available on YouTube: