Previous Projects
2002
Staging of Nirvana by Konstantin Iliev as part of REVELATIONS: THE GATE TRANSLATION AWARD 2002 in collaboration with the Gate theatre, London. The translation of Nirvana by Anna Karabinska was short-listed in the last five and received a sold out rehearsed reading at the Gate. Directed by Emma Stewart, with Rosanne Lavelle and James Bellorini.
Launch of Contemporary Bulgarian Plays, the first collection of Bulgarian drama published in English. Published by Tantalus Books. Edited by Josepha Jacobson. Introduced by Anna Karabinska.
2003
Collaboration with Bulgarian Creative Arts on the Theatre Programme of the First Bulgarian Arts Festival 'Bulgaria! 2003' at Riverside Studios. The programme included the productions of Forsaken by Heaven by Ekaterina Tomova, Teatre 199; The Double-Bass by Patrick Suskind, National Theatre, Sofia and Nirvana by Konstantin Iliev, Gologan Productions.
Launch of The Colonel Bird and Other Plays, a collection of new Bulgarian drama. Published by Tantalus Book. Foreword by Rupert Goold. Edited by Josepha Jacobson. The playwright Hristo Boytchev was a special guest for the launch on Gologan’s invitation.
2004
Production of two documentaries for the Bulgarian National Television’s Channel One art programme ‘Sumatokha’: BITE and LIFT: International Theatre at Its Best and The Times Hay Festival: Past and Future. In collaboration with BITE and LIFT.
Co-production of The Weir by Conor McPherson with the Lovech Regional Theatre, Bulgaria, Season 2004/05. Translation by Anna Karabinska. Directed by Ivan Dobchev, with Daniel Rashev, Vladimir Ivanov, Lenko Gurkov, Sofroni Rachov and Koyna Ruseva.
2005
Production of Nirvana by Konstantin Iliev, Riverside Studios, 1-20 March. Directed by Jonathan Chadwick, with Michael Mueller and Dolya Gavanski. Konstantin Iliev was a special guest for the premiere on Gologan’s invitation.
'The production is hauntingly atmospheric – added throughout by the nervy, febrile dissonance of Douglas Finch’s piano score – and the actors perform their verbal dance of death with simmering conviction.'
Robert Shore, Time Out
'The intense performances grip the imagination and charm the eye. The production is a welcome opportunity to discover a major European contemporary dramatist.'
John Thaxter, What’s on in London
'The purely theatrical elements in Jonathan Chadwick’s production – the floor covered with earth and the projections of images of the period and the real people that have inspired Iliev’s characters, are very effective in introducing the outside world in the claustrophobic space of the room.'
Timothy Ramsden, Reviews Gate
Launch of JOURNEY WITHOUT END: Reflections and Memoirs; Platonov Observed: Rehearsal Notes by Lev Dodin in collaboration with BITE. Published by Tantalus Books. Foreword by Peter Brook. Edited and Translated by Anna Karabinska and Oksana Mamyrin.
2006
International tour of the production of Nirvana to the International Varna Theatre Festival and the Theatre in a Suitcase Festival, Sofia.
Launch of Contemporary Irish Plays, the first collection of Irish drama published in Bulgarian: Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel, The Steward of Christendom by Sebastian Barry, The House by Tom Murphy, Dolly’s West Kitchen by Frank McGuinness, The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh, The Weir by Connor McPherson, Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones, The Maiby Marina Carr, Sucking Dublin by Edna Walsh. Published by Epsilon. Introduced and Translated by Anna Karabinska. Edited by Svetlana Pantcheva.
2007
Development of a production of Krum by Hanoch Levin in collaboration with Tik-Sho-Ret Theatre Company in connection to a book project: a collection of Hanoch Levin’s plays, They Who Walk in the Dark and Other Plays, to receive their first publication in English. In collaboration with the Institute of Israeli Drama, Tel Aviv.
Development of a season on contemporary Russian plays under the theme After Chekhov in collaboration with the Golden Mask Festival, Moscow, to include new plays written in the Chekhovian tradition.
2008
Collaboration with Az Theatre on their Gaza Drama project, on the development of Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad and House of Many Tongues by Jonathan Garfinkel and a George Tabori Season to include a production of The Cannibals.
Development of a long term directors training programme - Young Directors Master School, in partnership with the Young Vic, London, the Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg and the British Council, to create an opportunity for young British directors to be trained by Lev Dodin at the Maly Drama Theatre in St. Petersburg on an annual basis.
2009
First Young Directors Master School, 1 – 14 February, Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg. Special guests: David Lan, Artistic Director of the Young Vic and Prof. Maria Shevtsova, Goldsmith College, London. Participants: Joe Hill-Gibbins, Young Vic; Natalie Abrahami, Gate Theatre; William Oldroyd, Young Vic; Dan Jones, Sound and Fury; Yael Shavit, freelancer; Maria Aberg, Royal Shakespeare Company.
Young Directors Master School Dissemination Seminar, 16 June. In collaboration with the Young Vic. Hosted by David Lan with special guests Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod. More than 50 young directors took part in the debate on the professional development of young theatre directors in the UK.
Pre-production of a season of Bulgarian comedies: The Roman Bath by Stanislav Stratiev and The Titanic Orchestra by Hristo Boytchev, Arcola, April/May 2010.
'An extraordinary play: a politicized, Balkan One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest subverting all our conventional definitions of madness and sanity'
Michael Billington on Hristov Boytchev’s The Colonel Bird, winner of the British Council’s International Playwriting Award for Best Play 1997