Recent Publications
CONTEMPORARY BULGARIAN PLAYS, Tantalus Books, 2002
Introduced by Anna Karabinska
Edited by Josepha Jacobson
ISBN: 09542944-0-8
Price: £12.99
NIRVANA by Konstantin Iliev, translated by Anna Karabinska
JANUARY by Yordan Radichkov, translated by Judith Sprostranova
THE BUS RIDE by Stanislav Stratiev, translated by Thomac Crowe
THE CANNIBAL by Ivan Radoev, translated by Josepha Jacobson
CONTEMPORARY BULGARIAN PLAYS is the first volume of Bulgarian plays published in English - an introduction of Bulgarian drama to the English-speaking world.
Included in this collection are four major works, each one a landmark in contemporary Bulgarian drama. Offering a taste of range, vibrant energy and talent, they vary in genre and style but share a deep sense of humanness. This is their first publication in English.
Nirvana, a masterpiece by Konstantin Iliev about the fatal night in the life of Lora and Yavorov, two iconic figures in Bulgarian cultural history, set against the backdrop of the violent wars in the Balkans at the beginning of 20th century.
Nirvana was short-listed for Revelations: The Gate Translation Award 2002 and performed at the Gate Theatre, London in June 2002.
January, an enigmatic and witty parable by Jordan Radichkov, set in a small rural community of eccentric characters forsaken in the depths of the winter at the edge of the world, who try to come to terms with the modern ways of life.
The Bus Ride, a surreal satire by Stanislav Stratiev about the journey of a group of people trapped in a bus and left to the mercy of a higher power. The play explores the illogical, inhumane and cruel way in which society operates.
The Cannibal, a harrowing but poetic metaphor by Ivan Radoev. Set in an old people’s home, it highlights the frustration and repressed personal freedom of the intelligentsia in the totalitarian state.
Lev Dodin
JOURNEY WITHOUT END: Reflections and Memoirs
Platonov Observed: Rehearsal Notes
Tantalus Books, 2005
Foreword by PETER BROOK
Edited by John Ormerod
Translated by Anna Krabinska and Oksana Mamyrin
ISBN 095429444-2-4
Price: £16.99
‘From Stanislavsky, Meyerhold and the other great pioneers of directing Dodin took what was best without becoming prisoner of any method or doctrine. In his work the imagination flows freely and the forms change as they reflect a search for the details of human truth.’
From Peter Brook’s Foreword.
‘The best acting in the world? It seems that way watching the Maly Drama Theatre.’
The Financial Times
‘Truly extraordinary joy and pain, gentleness and horror, all of it delivered with the dramatic power that is both battering ram and stiletto.’
The Sunday Times on The Possessed
Lev Dodin, Artistic Director of the remarkable and acclaimed Russian ensemble, the St. Petersburg Maly Drama Theatre, is considered by many to be amongst the greatest working theatre directors in the world. Journey Without End is the first publication of his writings in English. The collection includes Dodin’s articles, memoirs and lectures that offer a rare insight into his work, professional relationships and views on theatre.
Journey Without End includes the essay Thinking of King Lear and two unique transcripts. One is a recording of Dodin’s workshop with theatre directors at the Seminar of the Union of the Theatres of Europe. The second, Platonov Observed: Rehearsal Notes covers the day by day creation of the world acclaimed production of Chekhov’s play, giving the reader direct access to Dodin’s directorial style.
Including a Foreword by Peter Brook, Journey Without End bears testament to an extraordinary practitioner and writer whose views span from politics to art, history, religion and social change, evoking the spirit and passion of a lifelong dedication to theatre.
Lev Dodin is a recipient of Laurence Olivier Award 1988; UBU Italian Prize 1994; Abbiati Italian Critics’ Award 1998; Golden Mask National Award 1997,1999, 2005; European Theatre Award 2000; Russian State Prize 2003; Hungarian State Prize ‘Pro Culture Hungarica' 2005.
THE COLONEL BIRD AND OTHER PLAYS, Tantalus Books, 2003
Foreword by Rupert Goold
Edited by Josepha Jacobson
ISBN: 09542944-1-6
Price: £12.99
THE COLONEL BIRD by Hristo Boytchev, translated by Judith Sprostranova
THE RUNAWAY PLANE by Kamen Donev, translated by Iskra Nikolova
NEDA AND THE DOGS by Teodora Dimova, translated by Cornelia Slavova,
OFFSIDE: A MONOLOGUE FOR TWO by Elin Rahnev, adapted by Josepha Jacobson
"This is an extraordinary play: a politicized, Balkan One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest subverting all our conventional definitions of madness and sanity."
Michael Billington, The Guardian
"For those of us who take the view that Nato’s antics have amounted to a shameful farce, the exuberat staging of The Colonel Bird by Rupert Goold at the Gate comes as a kind of eleting therapy."
Paul Taylor, The Independent
Included in this superb collection are four important new works of Bulgarian Drama. Varying in genre and style, they represent the dynamics of a changing country and the talent alive in Bulgaria today. This is their first publication in English.
The Colonel Bird is Hristo Boytchev’s contemporary classic and a haunting social allegory on life in the Balkans. Set in an asylum, a group of variously troubled individuals establish an unlikely independent society and try to join the UN.
Staged to critical acclaim at the Gate theatre in 1999, this play has been internationally acknowledged a modern masterpiece. Awarded the British Council Playwriting Award for Best Play 1997.
The Runaway Plane is a surreal farce, in which the metaphor for love and an airhostess are all too literally hijacked together with a cast of reluctant and ridiculous characters. Set on a plane, it flies with the absurd and coasts the edge of reason in this post 9/11 age.
Neda and the Dogs is the tragedy of a dysfunctional family. A memory play, it tells the tender tale of a broken home and its devastating impact on a loving child.
The play was one of ten short-listed from over six hundred entries at the International Playwriting Competition, Warehouse Theatre, Croydon.
Offside: A Monologue for Two is a joyous sideline comedy about two football fanatics whose greatest goal in life is to score. Wistful and wonderful, it is proof that Elin Rahnev is never wide of the mark.