Lyubomir Kolaksazov
Stefan Ivanov
Elena Tsonkova, Denitsa Nikolova
Hristo Namliev
Kalina Georgieva
Slavena Kerezova, Elena Ivanova, Martin Dimitrov, Elena Decheva, Angela Kaneva, Iliyan Nonov
INHUMAN offers an introspective look at ourselves, here and now, seeking to understand with care and concern how we reached this point and, most importantly, how we can move forward together, guided by our most humane dreams, not our wildest impulses. Interweaving fragments of Bulgarian history, quotes from notable figures, and poetry, the performance delicately outlines the chaos of things that historically and culturally divide us and which easily and repeatedly become the basis for drawing new lines of division among us. Yet, it also finds the threads that permanently and firmly connect us in community and society.
The theatre stage, where good dialogue is fundamental, is the most suitable place for this urgently needed conversation in our society, torn by irreconcilable extremes. The chance to remember that the pain and anger caused by disagreement with one another and by a sense of injustice are shared feelings that we all experience, regardless of our beliefs, is the first step back to us - together.
“Not only as a director but as a citizen and a person, I am obligated and responsible not to be calm and to seek what is happening with humanity. This is my theme, my big question, which I raise on the stage. It is necessary for the theatre stage to be relevant, not only to reflect and comment on contemporary and past events and problems but also to explore, seek, and delve into the micro and macro cosmos of today's humans, to be a space for memory, a place for conscience and critical imagination. The impulse for INHUMAN came from conversations with Stefan Ivanov when we both saw things that concerned us and could unite us as each of us complements the other in developing the idea and its realization on stage.”
- Lyubomir Kolaksazov, Director
“The contemporary context in which this intention is laid out is the artistic and human instinct for nonconformity to: cruelty, fake news, injustice, propaganda, violence, moral ugliness, the revival of radical right-wing and the strengthening of imperial and other ideologies that incite misanthropic sentiments with manipulative aims. There is an artistic and human necessity for a stage intention that dares to look at these phenomena not only from a condemning and stating point of view but also from the perspective of a process towards possible restorative justice – how the enemy creator does not create enemies, how the abuser does not abuse, and how and in what way the abuser, enemy, and victim can continue their lives not based on revenge, punishment, (self-)isolation, forgiveness, and a vicious cycle of cruelty, but on justice and reconciliation. 'How can a complex and disintegrating society of small communities live together and be united not by hatred towards someone but by a different type of motivation?' is the key question and gesture of the performance.”
- Stefan Ivanov, Playwright
INHUMAN is the third project realized under the Open Call of Ivan Vazov National Theatre which began in 2023 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Bulgarian actor Apostol Karamitev. The main goal of the initiative is to present various forms and aesthetics, to offer new, interdisciplinary perspectives on making theatre, to discover interesting authors, ideas, and practices, to issue new artistic challenges to the theatre company and team, and to give visibility to new or unknown to the National Theatre authors who bring their unique understandings of theatrical work.
Pavlina Doublekova
Reneta Ikonomova
Yanina Petrova
Stefan Zdraveski
Judge Miroslava Todorova, Judge Kalin Kalpakchiev, Svetla Encheva, Nikolay Kolev
Premiere dates: 17th and 18th January 2025
