Младият български театър в началото на ХХI век
Young Bulgarian Theatre at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Summary/Abstract: The face of Young Bulgarian theatre today is defined in large part by a few directors who debuted and played key roles in the appearance of new tendencies and forms of theatrical practice during the 1990s: Galin Stoev (b. 1969), Yavor Gardev (b. 1972), Marius Kurkinski (b. 1969) and Elena Panayotova (b. 1968). Their work in recent years is clearly influenced by their successfully staged productions from this period. At the same time, in their work there also distinctly exists tension caused by the interaction of their own personally inherited ideas and means with the cultural and theatrical context of the first decade of the 21st century as a whole and, in part, in Bulgaria. While they were categorical representatives of postmodernism during the beginning of their careers in the 1990s, today all four directors in one way or another have grappled with new cultural developments and transformations. During the period of their appearance and establishment, they gave themselves over to the hedonistic delight of playing with quotes and references, affected by the belief of the 1990s in the inorganic compatibility of all theatrical traditions, styles and languages, as well as all cultures. Today their work is heavily influenced by the complexity of the contemporary cultural situation and by the changes that have taken place in spiritual attitudes. In the last decade these changes have led to the creation and wide distribution of the theatrical niche as something that happens as an experience in real time for the actors as well as for the public. Most of the performances created by the leading young directors in contemporary Bulgarian theatre gravitate around precisely this type of theatrical practice. The crucial moment here is that while orienting themselves in one way or another towards performance as an experience in real time, each of them retains to a significant extent the expressive means and staging strategies that were their trademarks in the 1990s. This is the reason why today when we examine the landscape of Bulgarian theatre, we can immediately distinguish the territories they have „marked off“: Galin Stoev’s energetic interdisciplinary performances; the works of Yavor Gardev, which are conceptually interwoven into the theatrical space; Elena Panayotova’s skilful mix between dramaturgical text and physical theater; and Marius Kurkinski’s effective literary performances for a single actor.

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