The upcoming theatrical season of State Puppet Theater - Stara Zagora begins with a participation in three prestigious international festivals in Bulgaria and one in Turkey.
After the series of performances at those puppet events, the coproduction of State Puppet Theater - Stara Zagora and Drama and Puppet Theater "Ivan Radoev" – Pleven called "The loneliness of the modern person/ in the modern world" will have its first run in Pleven on October 13th. Its premiere in Stara Zagora is scheduled a little bit earlier for October 9th. The play was inspired by the first theater lab of UNIMA Bulgaria in 2021. The texts have been written by Antonia Antonova and Tsvetelina Vateva. The dramatization and direction have been made by Veselka Kuncheva, and the scenography by Marieta Golomehova.
Meanwhile a new show for adults is being prepared! The premiere of “Stories from the barrel” will take place on October 6th – a solo performance of Dimitar Ivanov - The Captain, directed by Dimitar Stefanov.
The first festival we’ll attended is “Stage at a crossroad” in Plovdiv on September 15th. It ranks among the most prestigious cultural events in Bulgaria. State Puppet Theater - Stara Zagora will present “THE LAST MAN” performance created by Veselka Kuncheva and Marieta Golomehova. It has three nominations and an IKAR 2020 award for scenography. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, that will be a shocking encounter with George Orwell's “1984” dystopia where the future looks like a a boot crushing the human face. A world of fear, betrayal and torture, recreated on stage by Veselka Kuncheva and Marieta Golomehova, music: Hristo Namliev and Militsa Gladnishka; 3D Mapping: Polina Gerasimova. Militsa Gladnishka plays also the role of the Big Brother.
On the next day - September 16th, State Puppet Theater - Stara Zagora will take part in the International Festival for Street and Puppet Theater "Puppet Fair", organized by the Sofia Puppet Theater and The Municipality of Sofia. The festival has its 20th anniversary this year. Its program is suitable for all ages. The present 12th edition will present 12 Bulgarian and 16 foreign companies. We will perform “To put it mildly” based on Valeri Petrov with director Tsveti Penyashki. The performance won an IKAR 2020 award for Achievement in puppetry bestowed to Milen Apostolov - author of the music. The director Tsveti Penyashki, the set designer Ilina Stefanova, the composer Milen Apostolov, the choreographer Maria Dimitrova and the whole cast: Elitsa Stoyanova, Dilyana Spasova, Kaloyan Georgiev, Lyuben Chanev and Stanislav Matev tell us from the scene about the ugliness of each lie and the sorrow it may cause to us and to our loved ones.
The third festival where State Puppet Theater - Stara Zagora will play is The International Puppet Festival "The Golden Dolphin", Varna. It takes place every three years at the beginning of October in Varna. That one is the 18th edition. The festival presents the best world achievements in puppetry. It is a significant event for our national culture. All the performances from the competition program are judged by an international jury of well-known specialists and in the latest editions also by a children's jury. At "The Golden Dolphin" festival, our company will show the performance for adults called „Hotel“ with author and director: Lyubomir Zhelev, scenographer: Natalia Gocheva, choreographer: Anna-Valeria Gostanyan. The performance has been realized with the financial support of “Culture” National Fund, the "Debuts" 2021 program.
All the plays shown at those three festivals have been previously selected by the organizers of the events among all the applicants.
From October 18th to October 24th State Puppet Theatre – Stara Zagora will be on a tour in Turkey. The “Hotel” performance will be presented at International Puppet Festival organized by Tempo Theater, Ankara. After the special invitation by the Ministry of Culture of Turkey, "Hotel" will be also played on the stage of the National Theater in Ankara on October 22.
