Laurent Langlois is a cultural manager from Belgium, director of LANGLOIS4MUSIC. Maria Ibrishimova talks to him about his impressions of the festival, which he attended as guest of the Showcase programme.
Mr. Langlois, is this your first time at the Varna Summer International Theatre Festival?
Yes, this is my first time in Varna, although it is not my first time in Bulgaria. Several years ago, I started collaborating with Veselin Dimov and the team of Toplocentrala Centre for Contemporary Arts in Sofia. I live in Belgium, and my work consists of making connections between artists, audiences and producers across Europe.
In the past, I worked as a festival director, an opera director and a director of a symphony orchestra. For the last ten years, I have been running my own organisation, focusing on discovering new projects and helping artists connect with international partners.
Unfortunately, I arrived almost at the end of the festival, but I have known the festival director, Nikolay Iordanov, for many years and it was important for me to be here. Festivals like this are always valuable opportunities to meet professionals from different countries, discover new artistic work and maintain international connections.
Which productions that you managed to watch at the festival made a strong impression on you?
This was defiantly Illusions directed by Galin Stoev. I was genuinely surprised by this performance because I was not familiar with the author beforehand. For me, it was a real discovery. At first, the audience is presented with what seems like a familiar situation involving couples and relationships, and you think you understand where the story is heading. But gradually, layers of irony, humour and unexpected twists begin to emerge.
What I particularly enjoyed was the way the text developed through a kind of intellectual and emotional ping-pong between the characters. In a way, it reminded me of the films of Eric Rohmer – subtle, intelligent and deeply rooted in human relationships.
The young actors were wonderful. It was clear that they enjoyed playing together and that they shared a genuine connection on stage. This created a remarkable sense of ease and authenticity.
To be honest, I usually feel closer to dance and music than to spoken theatre. Sometimes, when watching theatre, I have the impression that actors do not fully trust or believe what they are saying. In this performance, however, the opposite was true. Everything felt sincere, alive and completely convincing.
The performance interested me so much that when I return to Belgium, I plan to buy and read more works by the author. I am fascinated by this combination of irony, humour and profound insight into human nature.