The People of Vazov

Julian Vergov, Vladimir Penev, Valentin Ganev, Plamen Dimov, Zafir Radjab, Lyubomir Petkashev, Stoyan Pepelanov, Stefan Kyshev, Dimitar Nikolov, Vasil Draganov, Pavlin Petrunov, Stelian Radev, Konstantin Elenkov, Yavor Valkanov, Zhoreta Nikolova, Eva Tepavicharova, Bilyana Petrinska, Alexandra Vasileva, Paraskeva Djukelova, Albena Stavreva, Irina Miteva/Slavena Kerezova and Volena Apostolova Children – actors: Rada Lukanova The Bulgarian people border Vazov on all sides. He has given a name to everything in the Bulgarian world. Therefore, from century to century, our mountains will remain just as high and blue, our deceased will pass into other ranks, our beloved homeland will be beautiful, its songs will always be read, the language of our ancestors will be sacred, and our mothers will be our mothers twice. His words are our anchor in a world intoxicated by the removal of God, homeland, and kin; a world full of fleeting souls, without faith in our historical existence. Through Vazov's word, we understand ourselves: what we do not recognize, what is difficult for us to accept, what we do not believe we are. Therefore, the question "Where is Bulgaria" is not a question of geography, but of existence. Alexander Sekulov The particular challenge in working on this production is its scale. Theater rarely touches upon military conflicts, national catastrophes, and ethnic disasters due to the specifics of its artistic means. Even more so regarding an epic narrative in which not only individual people exist, move, and intertwine, but entire social and cultural layers of the nation. And this movement is immersed in a specific historical moment for which, even after a hundred years, disputes do not cease. But above all stood our inner duty to present Ivan Vazov as an eternally living image, to look at ourselves through his eyes, once again to fall silent before his power to outline our fate as a people. Diana Dobрева ASKEER Award 2022 for Contemporary Bulgarian Dramaturgy for Alexander Sekulov ASKEER Award 2022 for Supporting Male Role for Julian Vergov for the role of Ivan Vazov ASKEER Nomination 2022 for Supporting Female Role for Alexandra Vasileva for the role of Muncho