Footnotes

Six heroines, each carrying on her shoulders her own extraordinary world, filled with loneliness, strength, doubts, love, and memories and dreams stuck in the throat... The stigmata of split biographies, longings, family ruptures, social roles, and professional successes are like unbearable backpacks dragged along the path... The heroines of the play "FOOTNOTES" are six, but in fact, the theatrical performance counts up to ten when it comes to women: in addition to the actresses MARIA KAVARDZHKOVA, ANA PAPADOPOULOU, ILIANA KOJABASHEVA, VERA TABAKOVA, PARASKEVA DJUKOLOVA, and IRINA MITEVA, there is the author MIRELA IVANOVA (dramaturg at the National Theatre), the director KATYA PETROVA, the choreographer ANNA PAMPULOVA, and MIHAELA DOBREVA, creator of the multimedia. "Footnotes" is a dramatic reading of contemporary times, burdened by increasingly falsetto cries of loneliness and the lack of love and understanding among us. A mother, the famous actress Yulia Znepolska, and her three daughters – the twins Bilyana and Bistra, and the outcast Nina – draw into their tragicomic existence and value chaos two more accomplices – the actress Laura and the boutique owner Magda. The occasion is ostensibly festive – but the festival that brings them together transforms into a merciless arena for all the battles postponed over the years, unspoken truths, unshared secrets, accumulated resentments, and unbearable guilt. In such a ruthless war between mother and daughters, between generations and viewpoints, only love can be the victor, if we still possess the strength to summon it. What impossible spirit and undying energy lead the six heroines through the joyful horror of existence, what beautiful, funny, poetic, and absurd details allow them to maintain life's balance, to be its exciting continuation? It is possible to find both personal and universal answers; it is enough for each to seek them within themselves. "FOOTNOTES" is the second play at the National Theatre bearing the signature of the poetess and dramatist Mirela Ivanova. In the summer of 2020, in connection with the 170th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Vazov, she created the lyrical collage "Oh, whoever you are...", which is performed with great success on the stage of the theatre.