Theatre director Galin Stoev and the theatre company at the press conference for announcing the premiere of "The Hague" at the Bulgarian National Theater
A highly acclaimed satirical play entitled The Hague, which depicts President Vladimir Putin and his allies on trial for war crimes, is causing quite a stir in Bulgaria.
Created by Ukrainian author Sasha Denisova and directed by Galin Stoev, the play tells the story of an orphaned teenager from Mariupol who imagines that Russia's top leaders will be held accountable for their role in the devastating war in Ukraine, Euronews reported.
After the play premiered in Poland and the US earlier this year, acclaimed guest director Galin Stoev adapted the play for Bulgarian audiences in order to counter the pro-Kremlin sentiment prevalent in the Balkan country.
In the same way that Charlie Chaplin mocked Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on screen, "Putin should be ridiculed mercilessly," Denisova said.
In the current production at the National Theater in Sofia, the role of Putin is played by the Bulgarian actress Radena Valkanova.
"When Galin made this offer to me, I didn't know that Putin was going to be played by a woman and I said to myself, 'How come?'. It would be a bit difficult to play a man and what's the point. Then I realized that it was meant to be.", explains Vulkanova.
Reincarnated in the image of Putin, she said that she was glad that the play had caused "very polarized opinions", considering them to be "the purpose of this kind of theatre".
"I'm glad there's something like this out there to wake people up - something we've been missing as a nation."
Historically close to Russia, Bulgaria, a member of the EU and NATO, still has many citizens who feel nostalgic for what they believe to be the glorious days of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Nostalgia is also connected with Russia, as the defender of the Slavic people in Bulgaria from the Ottoman rule.
Polls showing 30% of Bulgarians are pro-Putin, despite Moscow's relentless war on Ukraine, encourage Stoev in his determination to present the "eye-opening" adaptation of the play in Sofia. "The audience is deeply moved and asks questions," Stoev said after the actors received another round of thunderous applause.
But the main challenge lies in constantly updating the script to reflect the current state of the war.
Yulian Vergov, who stars as Wagner's Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, emphasizes the difficulty of incorporating new elements into the script, such as the aborted rebellion and Prigozhin's death in a plane crash.
Despite the fictional nature of the play, the impact of introducing a real character whose fate remains unclear during rehearsals heightens the intensity of the performance.
"It's the first time I've ever had anything like this happen and it was so interesting to change lines like that all the time. The play is made up in a kid's head, but you end up playing a real character who then dies during rehearsals, that is impressive. So I thought, let's do the premiere and whatever changes after that, we'll stay the way we are," he explained.
Although the play received wide acclaim, some critics dismissed it as "trendy propaganda vaudeville".
The director of the theater, Vasil Vasilev, countered these claims, arguing that the production invites viewers to reflect on real events and draw their own conclusions, stressing the importance of avoiding politicization.
After his stay in Toulouse, where Stoev heads the national drama center, there are plans to present the play in the Bulgarian countryside, an area known for its susceptibility to pro-Russian sentiments. /BGNES