Идеология, теория и практики на българския социалистически реализъм в театъра
Ideology, Theory and Practice of Socialist Realism in Bulgarian Theatre

Summary/Abstract: The theatre from the communist period in Bulgaria could not be properly de- scribed and studied without having into consideration the Socialist Realism as one of the main starting points. Socialist Realism could be seen through the prism of its own postulates or through the critical evaluation of the historical distance. The phenomenon had been a constant subject of interest and research during communism and for some contemporary authors. The text tries to describe the phenomenon in some basic categories such as party-mindedness (partiinost), typicality, nationality, the problem of the good hero and others. Apart from these categories, the Socialist Realism be- comes more solid when opposing it- self to phenomena and trends such as formalism or bourgeois and apolitical art, etc. Those fundamental principles, along with the notions for ideological content, class-consciousness, and others provide for the normative character of Socialist Realism as the method/ doctrine, imposed upon theatre on all levels. The text traces the implantation of socialist realism on the theatre practice – from the text to the performance. The rules of the socialist-realistic drama are described through the basic for the communist theory of the drama categories such as conflict, action, good hero and subject theme. In order to apply the principles of Socialist Realism to the theatre performance, the communist activists had chosen a Soviet understanding of Stanislavsky’s system as the method to be followed in the work on the stage. During the whole socialist period the Bulgarian theatre had been judged according its level of adoption and application of Stanislavsky’s system as the only acceptable and demanded method. For years on end, the imposing of Stanislavsky’s system on the practices of Bulgarian theatre had been perceived as a battle for the imposition of Socialist Realism on the stage and as a struggle against formalism.

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