The Playright

STANISLAV  STRATIEV

Stanislav Stratiev was born in 1941 in Sofia. A graduate in Bulgarian Philology from Sofia University (1969), until 1976 he wrote extensively for different newspapers and magazines and his first plays brought him an instant success. In 1976 Stratiev was appointed Artistic Director of the Comedy Theatre in Sofia. During the fifteen years of his leadership, a period known as the ‘golden age’ of Bulgarian comedy and satire, the Comedy Theatre became a boiling pot of dissident thought openly challenging the dogmas and absurdities of the totalitarian regime. From the beginning of the 90s until his untimely death in 2000,  Stratiev wrote a daily column satirising the ‘nouveaux riches’, the corruption and incompetence of the new political class, continuing to vocalise the frustrations and discontent of ordinary people.

Stratiev was a playwright of integrity, brave and honest. He believed that theatre had a mission. His high ethic stand made him a figure to look up to among Bulgarian intelligentsia particularly in the times of totalitarian stagnation. He was to Bulgarians what Havel was to the Check and Mrojek to the Polish. His sudden death in 2000 at the age of 59 was a great loss for Bulgarian theatre.

Stratiev is the author of several books of short stories and poetry including: The Lonely Windmills, 1968; Journey without a suitcase, Wild Duck between the Trees, 1972; Life in Heaven, Details from the Landscape, 1991; Exercises in Otherness, 1993, Themes for Clarinet, 1997.

His plays include: Suede Jacket, 1974; The Bus Ride, 1979; The Adventures of the Pear-tree Ragatza, 1981; The Roman Bath, 1982; Maximalist, 1984; The Earth Goes Round, 1985; Balkan Syndrome, The Life, although Short, 1986; Mammoth, 1989; The Bulgarian Model, 1991; The Winter Habits of the Rabbits, 1996, Empty Rooms, 1999. 

He wrote the following film-scripts: Formula, 1973; The Wardrobe, The Guardian of the Fortress, 1974; Short Sun, 1979; The Sun of the Childhood, 1981; Orchestra without a Name, 1982; Equilibrium, 1983; Visited by God, 1985.

Stratiev is the Bulgarian playwright most often performed abroad. His plays have become modern classics produced in 40 countries across Europe and as far as India and the USA, and translated into 25 languages including Russian, French, English, German, Italian, Swedish, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Serbian, Greek, Turkish.