Политическата драма и българският театър
Political drama and Bulgarian theatre

Summary/Abstract: The study offers a definition of the term “political theatre” as texts and performances that pose significant problems for the community, for the polis, stating and demanding a clear position towards them. The focus of the study is the period of communism in Bulgaria when the concept of political theater began to be identified with the ideological doctrine and policy led by the Bulgarian Communist Party. In the 1940s and 1950s, the official dramaturgical canon was formed. It fully meets the requirement of political and ideological allegiance. Even with the first partial liberalization of the regime after the mid-1950s, alternative understandings of politically engaged drama appeared. Political messages carrying a dissident spirit also come from the repertory choices of classical drama, which is staged in a way that makes the audience draw analogies with contemporary reality. With this legacy the Bulgarian theater entered in the new period after 1989 when censorship was eliminated, and it was possible to speak directly to the audience. Political messages no longer need allusions, hints, metaphors, allegories in order to be spoken and stated.

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