The Ivan Vazov National Theatre is starting its 116th season with refurbished halls and 10,000 sheets of new gold foil for the ornamentation. The stages, the halls and the power grid have all undergone repairs. The cost of the overhaul – 1.5 million Leva – is covered by the budget.

The theatre will offer new repertoire highlights this season, but also an international programme, says Marius Donkin, Director of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre and adds that the theatre will co-host Bulgaria’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The season kicks off with six premieres that will be staged by the year’s end – all of them fine plays with interesting stage directors, says Marius Donkin and adds:

“On September the 28th and 29th we shall be playing Maxim Gorky’s “Summerfolk” on the theatre’s chamber stage. The play is directed by Professor Krassimir Spassov. Then, on the 13th and 14th of October we shall be staging Olya Stoyanova’s “Colour of deep waters” – Boyka Velkova’s directorial debut. At the end of October is the premiere of “Caligula” by Albert Camus, directed by Diana Dobreva, and then on December 1st, 2nd and 3rd - Ivan Vyrypaev’s “Delhi Dance” with director Galin Stoev, a play that will also be staged in Toulouse, France. It will be played eight times from January 6th to 21st; in fact this is the play that Galin Stoev will be presented to the public with as director of the theatre in Toulouse. We shall also be staging Lilian Hellman’s “The little foxes” on December the 14th and 15th with director Bina Haralampieva – that is our fifth premiere, the sixth one will be just before December 20th – works by Dimitar Dimov adapted for the stage by Yuri Dachev.”

After the premiere plays, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre will start the new year with a programme connected with the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU – a big opening concert highlighting all things Bulgarian. The theatre house also plans diverse international events.

“But we are also launching something that is really important, something we have been working on for a long time – our new website, http://nationaltheatre.bg. ” Marius Donkin says. “It turned out really well, it is informative as well as interactive. For example, anyone buying a ticket online is able to select their seat and see the view the seat affords to the stage. That makes it easy to decide whether one likes the seat and if not – to choose another one.”

Natalia Ganchovska, Horizont channel

English version: Milena Daynova