Director Declan Donelan and set designer Nick Ormerod have applied for Bulgarian citizenship. The news was announced on the air of “Wake up” on Nova TV by the director of the “Ivan Vazov” National Theater Vasil Vassilev. On May 23, the rehearsals of the performance “Medea” with the participation of the famous theatrical duo began in the National Theater. The premieres took place on October 9 and 10, 2024.
“With Cheek by Jowl, we visited Bulgaria for the first time in the late 1980s, and even then we were struck by the thirst for theater in your country. For us, the start of rehearsals of “Medea” with the wonderful cast of actors from the National Theater in Sofia is an incredible opportunity to explore Euripides’ transgressive masterpiece, which continues to be as shocking today as it was during its first performance in Athens more than two thousand years ago,” Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod shared in May.
The actors Radina Kardzhilova (in the role of Medea), Velislav Pavlov (in the role of Jason), Valentin Ganev (in the role of Creon), Asen Dankov (in the role of Aegeus), Yavor Vulkanov (in the role of the Pedagogue), Stelian Radev (in the role of Herald), Vyara Tabakova (in the role of the Nurse). The choir of the Corinthians is composed of Radena Valkanova, Zhoreta Nikolova, Stefania Koleva, Elena Ivanova, Nadia Keranova and Ana Papadopoulou.
The playwright of the production is Miroslava Todorova, and the assistant director is Rafael Bizhev. Interpreter during the rehearsals will be Joanna Marinova. Stage movement – Rosen Mihailov.
More than thirty years ago, Declan Donelan together with stage designer Nick Ormerod founded the legendary British theater company Cheek by Jowl, which they lead as artistic directors. The two are the authors of over 50 plays, presented on more than 400 stages around the world.
At the invitation of the “Ivan Vazov” National Theater, this year the famous tandem performed its first performance with actors from the National Theater troupe. A new verbatim translation of the ancient Greek tragedy was ordered especially for the Bulgarian performance, which will be further adapted by the authors of the play. This will will also be their first production of this play.
Declan Donnellan sets iconic texts by leading European writers and playwrights including Shakespeare, Racine, Corneille, Lessing, Ostrovsky and more. He is the winner of four “Laurence Olivier” awards, the “Golden Lion” from the Venice Biennale, the International Stanislavsky Award. Together with Nick Ormerod, they were awarded the honorary Order of the British Empire.
Nick Ormerod is the author of the scenography of numerous productions of Cheek By Jowl, performances at the National Theater of Great Britain, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the English National Opera, the Piccolo Theater, etc. In 2012, Nick Ormerod and Declan Donelan debuted and as co-directors in feature cinema – with the film “Bel Ami”, in which the actors Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci and Robert Pattison participate.
Against the background of the good news surrounding the interest in the National Theater, its director also answered questions related to the corruption scandals that have rocked several other Bulgarian theaters in recent weeks.
“There are defects in the funding system itself. They showed up during the time of COVID, in 2020, when it turned out that people working in the performing arts did not have salaries. We are the only sector in the country in which, in order to secure our salaries, we must have a result,” said Vassilev.
“I welcome every inspection, because it makes it clear what the system is. I can only tell you periods in which we did not have an inspection at our place, I think only in September. Otherwise, we are under constant monitoring. I have no worries, but the bad is that we unify the entire system. This is a big mistake,” Vassilev added.
“We cannot answer ourselves what is the function of the theater, regional or national, what state should this theater have, what productions should it do? What exactly is our task? Because at the moment we are put in the task of “getting revenue”. Okay, but when we get it – we are criminals. Is this what we want to offer to society?” asked the director and determined that this was an appeal to the Minister of Culture.
According to him, the National Theater has 85 performances, which are performed in the period of 20 days on 3 stages. “We don’t have the opportunity to program all the shows correctly. There is also an update of the repertoire,” he explained.
A number of negotiations have been held with the great personalities who chose the National Theater, such as John Malkovich, Vassilev emphasized. “I can say a good memory with him when he arrived a year ago. We talk creatively with him and I decided to invite him to stage at the National Theater. When I asked a creative manager’s hardest question: What’s his performance fee? He looked at me and said, “How much is your usual fee?” I said the amount. And he said, “That’s it, I don’t come for money.”