THEATRE IN BULGARIA 1989–2015
by Prof. Nikolay Iordanov
“Theatre in Bulgaria 1989–2015” describes the development of contemporary Bulgarian theatre. The study is based on drama and performance theory, historical analysis and current critical reflection. At the same time, it seeks to adhere to the empiricism of theatrical facts and their archived memory. Artistic phenomena and individual creative figures are projected onto the socio-cultural dynamics of the years of political transition. Conclusions and evaluations are made in view of the specific historical situation, but also in relation to processes in European and world theatre.
In the middle of the second decade of the twenty-first century, the feeling began to prevail that a phase of history that began after the changes of 1989 was coming to an end. So I think the time has come to write more general or more private histories of this period. This book is an attempt to trace the development of Bulgarian theatre in its most basic components – the development of theatrical organisations, of theatre texts, of staging and performance practices. Of course, this is my subjective view of the theatrical events of the past years, whose echoes continue to reverberate or are beginning to be lost in the murmur and clamour of today.
Nikolay Iordanov
The book is a joint publication of the Institute for Arts Studies and the Homo Ludens Foundation.