Friday, December 5

Tag: Valentin Ganev

Medea – Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria
REVIEWS

Medea – Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria

Cheek by Jowl do what they do best as director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod thrust us into the heart of Euripides' great tragedy with an intelligent and immersive in-the-round production which takes the challenges of an ancient past and reimagines them in the here and now, with this production performed in Bulgarian, translated from the Greek by Dorothea Tabaskova, and with English surtitles, translated from the Greek by Lucinda Dawkins. Jason (Velislav Pavlov) is set to marry the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth (Valentin Ganev), yet the talk of the Chorus (Radena Valkanova, Joreta Nikolova, Stafania Koleva, Elena Ivanova, Nadya Keranova, Ana Papadopolu)  is less about this occasion and more in concern to Jason's ex-wife, Medea (Radina Kardzhilova) who is present f...
The Tempest – Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria
REVIEWS

The Tempest – Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria

The term legacy is often over used but the work of experimental theatre director Robert Wilson who sadly passed away earlier this year is rightfully celebrated with his production of Shakespeare's celebrated play that lends itself perfectly to his innovative exploration of time and space on stage. Opening to the travails of a ship at sea, we meet Prospero (Vesslin Mezekliev) and his daughter Miranda (Zhaklin Daskalova), and learn how 12 years ago his brother, with assistance from Naples, had usurped him as Duke of Milan. Put to sea in a rotten boat, they washed up on a distant island inhabited only by the son of a witch, Caliban (Yavor Valkanov), and a spirit, Ariel (Vasilena Vincenzo). Since then, Prospero has ruled the island and its two inhabitants using magic arts and having divined...