On 11th and 12th March at the National Theatre “Ivan Vazov” was the premiere of “Music of the Face” performance, based on early playwriting works, drafts and late rhythmic prose of Ivan S. Turgenev.
Under the direction of Stilyan Petrov, together with the translation and dramaturgical work of Maya Pramatarova, the performance presents a mosaic of one-act comedies and fragments of the writer's unfinished texts. Together with composer Peter Kerkelov and award-winning set designer Nikola Toromanov, the director presents man's inner call to penetrate the hidden inexplicability of both human relationships and the world around him.
What is more, the production reveals another side of Turgenev —beyond being an aesthete and philosopher, he emerges as an author who generates an unexpected world through the collision of beauty and ugliness, the poetic and the absurd.
Through the lens of theatrical entertainment, Turgenev speaks in the language of today's individual, forced to exist in a world of multiplied realities and erased authenticity. Yet, there is no room for sadness here, only for freedom and joy. After all, in the theatrical play, anything is possible: beginnings can become endings, the lofty can turn lowly, the living can become inanimate. Roles and lines are exchanged, and where words fall short, music continues.
Sofia Bobcheva, Vasilena Vincenzo Kolomoets and Valeria Vasilenko are the cast which, for nearly an hour and a half, unfold a string of stories in a thrilling and pretty memorable way. The actresses transform right before the eyes of the audience into countless fascinating images of women, men, angels and mountains with extraordinary ease and immense depth.
The performance “The Music of the Face” is part of the "Theatre+" Program.
More information is available here.
Cover photo: © Alexander Bogdan Thompson
