Yavor Gerdiev

About

Yavor Gerdiev is a theatre and film director. Born in Sofia in 1972. He graduated from the National High School for Ancient Languages and Cultures "St. Constantine-Cyril Philosopher" (1991). Master of Philosophy from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" (1997), Master of Directing from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts "Krastyo Sarafov" in the experimental directing class of Prof. Ivan Dobchev (1998) and Doctor from the New Bulgarian University (2024) with an interdisciplinary work in the fields of philosophy of language, social sciences, and theatre studies. He specialized and received additional qualifications in various cultural institutions and organizations in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the USA. He is a recipient of the academic Fulbright Award (2021), with which as a visiting researcher he carried out an interdisciplinary study at the Department of Communication of Northwestern University, Chicago, Evanston Campus, USA. Yavor Gerdiev is a habilitated lecturer with the rank of Associate Professor at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts "Krastyo Sarafov" in Sofia. He has conducted numerous master classes and lecturing appearances in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, and the USA. At the National Theatre, Yavor Gerdiev debuted in 2000 with the play "Verona" by Alexey Shipenko. In 2006, he staged the large-scale production "King Lear" by William Shakespeare on the main stage with Naum Shopov in the lead role. In 2009, he staged the play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (Note: Source says "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia" by Edward Albee) – correction based on source text: "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia" by Edward Albee, who personally attended the premiere and supported the production. In 2011, Yavor Gerdiev staged "A Disappearing Act in Spokane" (Note: Source says "Rukomahanie v Spokan" which translates to "Waving Hands in Spokane" or similar, likely referring to Martin McDonagh's work, but literal translation used) – correction based on source text: "Waving Hands in Spokane" by Martin McDonagh, and in 2012 followed "Night Butterfly" by Pyotr Gladilin and "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare with an impressive cast and a large-scale spatial solution. In 2014, on the Chamber Stage of the National Theatre, under his direction appeared "Zhana" by Yaroslava Pulinovich, and in 2018 – "The Observers (Hypothesis for the Beyond)" by Konstantin Iliev. Yavor Gerdiev has been part of the directing collegium of the National Theatre since 2022, when he staged "Easter Wine" by Konstantin Iliev. In 2024, the premiere of his third large-scale Shakespearean project on our Main Stage took place – "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare. Currently, Yavor Gerdiev is working on the international project "The Bacchae" by Euripides, a co-production of the National Theatre "Ivan Vazov" with the "Athens-Epidaurus" Festival and with the participation of the State Theatre of Northern Greece in Thessaloniki. The premiere of th...