Abstract |
Three years ago Andrey Zholdak made a casting in Sofia for his
production of The Inspector General. This was a project of the
Theatre of Satire in Sofia, where 40 years ago (in 1966) Gogol's
play directed by Metody Andonov turned into a true cultural event,
which has stayed as emblematic signature and repertoire title for
the Bulgarian theatre stage. The production outlined satirical
actors, which today are doyens of the Theatre of Satire in Sofia -
Georgi Kaloyanchev, Stoyanka Mutafova, Vassil Popov… The production
left out the psychologism, the mere depitction of life, the simple
quantity narration. The satiric actors have formed a new language -
metaphorical, flamboyant, and compendious. In the beginning of the
new century, Zholdak decided to juxtapose this signature production
against his own specific satirical style and his own interpretation
of The Inspector General. His idea is to divide the stage in two as
if split by an imaginary wall. On the one part of the stage the
history-making production of Metody Andonov with the old costumes
and sets had to be set up, and the actors from the seventies, today
at their old admirable age, to play the act in exactly the same way
they did back then over 40 years ago. On the other part - Zholdak's
intention was to roll out his interpretation of Gogol with young
actors. In his mind these should be simultaneously performed
versions of The Inspector General, separated with a conventional
invisible screen. This screen in fact is the New Berlin Wall, the
new watershed between two ages - the totalitarian and
post-totalitarian; between two types of theatre - the one of the
Aesopian language and the other of today - of Aristophanes' tongue:
extreme, brilliant, unbridled. The explosive mix of the two worlds,
the trespassing of the imaginary wall leads to chaos, to bad taste.
I am telling all this not only because unfortunately Zholdak's idea
could not come to life, but mainly because it particularly well
outlines the situation 17 years after the beginning of the
change.
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