Abstract |
The problem of the integration of Bulgarian theatre into the
more general European process was often discussed throughout the
twentieth century, and it is still on the agenda. The incorporation
of the achievements of the theatrical practices of the other
European cultures and the rethinking of the trends, while at the
same time preserving the singularity and specifics of Bulgarian
theatre: these are processes the results of which we need to
rethink as an important part of our cultural heritage, present and
future. It is time for us to overcome our conservatism and get a
better grasp of the processes taking place behind the high stone
walls of our Balkan self-confidence. In the broader context of our
cultural and historical development, the study of the European
influences on Bulgarian theatre in the first half of the twentieth
century outlines and gives meaning to important processes in the
formation of the modern aesthetic elements of our theatre. These
processes are characterized mainly by the penetration of other
European theatrical schools, like the one of Meierhold, the German
one (the Meiningents) and the French one (Cartela), overcoming
older, better established aesthetic and ideological concepts
originating mainly from the Russian school of psychological theatre
dating back to the end of the 19th century (before Stanislavsky,-on
top of that an ineptly and partisanly played Stanislavsky). Some of
the people who brought in the new trends were famous intellectuals
who were educated abroad like Geo Milev, Adriana Budevska, Hrisan
Tsankov, Boyan Danovsky, Krastyo Mirsky and many others.
Nevertheless, the western influences of German theatre and the
eastern schools different from psychological realism have not
played a major role in the formation of Bulgarian theatre - a
theatre that one hundred years later is still seeking its identity.
Key words: integrated- conservative, tradition- innovation,
psychological - non-psychological. Trend: Art and Culture - section
- "the Road to Europe".
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