“WHEN I WAS A STUDENT” WITH THE ACTRESS ZAKLINA STEVKOVSKA: WE PREPARED EXAMS TOGETHER, WE SHARED EVERYTHING AS ONE FAMILY

– Of all the registered candidates, only I was accepted. I jumped from joy when I came out of the barracks of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDA). At the entrance exam, my music helped me the most, with which I introduced myself in one part of the exam and, of course, my naive honesty when I told them that I had not had any connections, so I was not registered until then – recalls our actress Zaklina Stevkovska. Then began her transformation into what she is today – a professional actor in the Comedy Theater. “Do not expect a film version of the story of Zaklina, such as the fact that I have always dreamed of becoming an actress and dreamed about it,” Zaklina warned us.

When Zaklina Stevkovska is mentioned, many first think of her vocals combined with her white guitar and the gigs she has been making for three decades in bars in Skopje. However, she is a professional actor with a long-acting career behind her and is considered one of the most specific actresses who have ever appeared on our theater stage. Zaklina started her professional career in the theater in Kumanovo, where she worked from 1995 to 2007. Then she spent 5 years as part of the ensemble of the Macedonian National Theater, and now she is part of the theater “Komedija”.

In the section “When I was a student”, which we create in cooperation with Fakulteti.mk, we returned to the faculty lectures, socializing, challenges.

Founder of the first female band “Charm”

Mandolin Orchestra, choir, recitation section, drama section, sports … Ever since she was a little girl, Zaklina wanted to try on literally everything, until in her high school days she “slammed” deep into playing the guitar and was only interested in music. She is the founder of the first female band “Charm”, a feature that adorns her privately, as evidenced by the fact that she enrolled in the FDA.

– I was born in Skopje and then we lived in Pajko Maalo, and later for unexplained reasons for me, I grew up in different Skopje neighborhoods. I was a great elementary school student and I was very active in all the possible sections that existed. However, when I enrolled in the high school of economics, then “Boris Kidrich”, I was only interested in music and guitar. With two other friends we formed the first female group “Charm” and started performing, something I still do. I remember being released from classes to go to a gig because we were famous and well-known in our school.

– Although today I am a professional actor and I work in a theater, I do not have a story like that where I grew up wanting and dreaming about becoming an actress. It came quite by accident. I loved music very much, but as a profession I was attracted to journalism. I had little experience writing about the then “Young Fighter”, so I decided to try my luck and apply for the entrance exam for journalism studies, but I was rejected. From that moment I started wandering around several faculties, Philosophy, Philology, and when I finally decided that I should enroll in the Academy of Music, a chance meeting gave me a different life path for acting as a profession.

She submitted the documents in the third enrollment period

After many unsuccessful attempts to enroll in a university, Zaklina began intensive preparations for the entrance exam to the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, without anyone knowing that she would try to enroll in acting studies.

– There have never been actors in my family, so I thought I might need FDA connections. But no matter what, I was determined to give it a try. I submitted the documents in the third enrollment period, although they returned them to me over the counter three times with the explanation that the student quota was full. However, I was persistent and waited to be told the date of the exam. I appeared confidently and bravely in front of the commission and at one point I felt like I had fallen from the sky.

– My new chapter had begun. I entered the class of Professor Milchin with 13 other students. And today, when I remember my student days, a smile appears on my face and I feel good in my soul. Those were very carefree days, filled with socializing, laughing to tears in acting classes, stage movements, stage speech. Those were my favorite subjects. We prepared exams together, ate together and shared everything, as one family. To this day, we socialize, love and respect each other. By the way, I really liked the subject Gymnastics with acrobatics. I had the only 10 in that subject, otherwise I finished with an average of 9.

We decided to copy Marxism and we all failed

The first play in which Zaklina played professionally was “Visit of the Old Lady” in 1993 at the Macedonian National Theater. At the FDA she was part of the so-called “experimental class”, ie 2 years with Professor Milchin, then with prof. Slobodan Unkovski and finally with prof. Ljubisa Gjorgievski.

– I remember an incident when no one wanted to learn Marxism. Somehow it seemed unnecessary, and we had to take it at the Faculty of Philosophy. We decided to copy and we were caught, so the whole group failed the exam. Today, when I see young students at a FDA exam, tears and memories always come to me. I always remember the first lesson when a professor said a few welcome sentences in the style: “It does not matter if you come out of this faculty only as good actors, or even if you do not have to work as an actor. The most important thing is to come out as good people and learn a lot more about life, to rejoice in it, because life is a theater.”