The Hungarian theatre critic Tamasz Yaszay, editor-in chief of Revizor – the critical portal, guest of the Showcase, discusses some of the performances in the festival’s programme: “The Tempest”, “Behind You”, “Illusions” and “Albion”.
I’ve seen three performances so far from the Showcase programme. As I’m also familiar with Viktor Bodó’s production of The Tempest, I would like to say a few words about it, even though I didn’t see it here in Varna. I know Bodó’s work very well, as I’ve followed his career from his first steps as a director about 23 years ago, around the same time I began working as a theatre critic. I believe he is currently the best-known Hungarian director of the middle generation, largely because he works so frequently abroad. The Tempest is a good example, as it is a Romanian production. I found it a very surprising and elegant performance. This is particularly striking because Bodó is known for his love of elaborate stage machinery, he loves huge sets, where everything is rotating, exploding and so on. He’s also fond of jokes, gags, etc. None of that appears here, or it happens in a more subtle way. Instead, the performance is extremely simple: the actors play in an almost empty space, following Peter Brook’s idea of “empty space.” Yet the actors themselves are amazing, they’re very skilled, and I think they’re the perfect partners for this “madness“ that Bodó creates on stage. The performance came to Hungary at least twice, I believe, and it was a huge success, winning several important awards from Hungarian theatre critics. What makes it special is the combination of exceptionally high-level acting and remarkable creativity. It feels extremely fresh and inventive.
The first show I saw this year at the festival was Behind You by Filip Milanov. This is not my first time in Varna — I’ve been here four or five times over the last decade and have seen many Bulgarian productions — yet I still wouldn’t claim to know Bulgarian theatre well. This particular performance surprised me because, in all the years I’ve attended the international showcase, I cannot recall seeing a dance piece. We usually see text-based performances here, so it definitely was a surprise. And, you know, I liked the way it began, because there was a sense of a secret, a mystery on stage. And I don’t really mean the dimmed light in the first few minutes – it somehow sparked my imagination and I started asking myself: What will happen?, What is this on the stage – a person? An animal? An object? The Fuji mountain?!, „What is the whole story? And then I think the second half became a bit full of commonplaces in a way. Somehow it felt like the mystery had disappeared. Something seemed to be missing in the performer’s journey after her “onstage birth.” Visually and choreographically, however, it remained strong. I also really enjoyed the varied musical levels and how they were mixed throughout the piece. The performer’s impressive back contributed greatly to the initial mystery. Overall, I liked the performance, despite feeling that something was lacking.
Next was Illusions, directed by Galin Stoev. This was a very pleasant surprise for me, as I am not generally a fan of Ivan Vyrypaev’s work. He is quite popular in Hungary, but mainly for Drunks, which I’ve seen in three or four different stagings. I grew rather tired of it and of Vyrypaev’s spiritual allusions in general. Since I didn’t know Illusions, the performance turned out to be a a pleasant surprise. I liked Galin Stoev’s minimalist staging very much, although, I have to say it became kind of repetitive, or more precisely – self-repeating after a while. And this French way of acting, although professional in every sense, is not exactly my cup of tea. I always feel I do not see enough French performances, but every time I do, I get the impression that the actors always stay at the front of the stage delivering public speeches. And for me personally, listening to this for two hours was simply not that exciting. The play is actually quite good, but it could have been somewhat shorter and in that particular case I strongly miss the dramaturg’s involvement in the process. Such involvement would really allow the actors, who are very good, I like them a lot, to shine even brighter.All in all, the show held my attention and will remain a positive memory.
Lastly, Albion by Mike Bartlett, directed by Zafir Radjab. First of all, I don’t understand why there was no intermission, given that the play is structured in four acts, just like Chekhov’s works. In the first twenty minutes, I could barely follow who was who or what anyone wanted from whom. I also had the strange feeling that this was an adaptation of Chekhov, though I have to admit that Chekhov remains the far superior playwright. I believe it’s inevitable with this play not to fall into the trap in which you start playing in your mind the game „From which Chekhov’s play is this character“.
After the second exhausting hour, I felt that every character eventually appears on stage and says everything there is to say. But this is theatre — not everything needs to be stated outright. Albion convinced me that Chekhov understood people and their relationships far better than Mike Bartlett does.
Having visited the Varna Summer International Theatre Festival and watched many performances over the years, I now understand why this show is popular and why it has won several local awards. My overall impression is that contemporary Bulgarian theatre has a strong attraction to plays of Anglo-Saxon origin. From what I’ve seen here in Varna, Bulgarian theatre culture is very text-oriented. Albion itself is a production of good quality. However, I wasn’t particularly fond of the acting, which felt somewhat one-dimensional in energy throughout the performance.
What connects my general experience of Bulgarian theatre with Albion specifically is the frequent use of spectacular set designs and big, dramatic soundtracks — elements that appear as recurring trends in many productions here. There’s nothing wrong about it, though, that’s just part of my point of view.
Blagovest Asenov worked on the material.