Peak Stuff

A one-person show by Martina Peneva with live music: "All these... things. Everything is somehow... cheap. Everything is... trash. Shiny, disposable, neon." Alice, Ben, and Charlie live in such a world. Alice is fifteen, a ninth-grader with top grades in math, English, and history. She never forgets to sort her trash for recycling. Ben is thirty-five, a marketing assistant. His interests include fitness, restaurants, vintage items, and mojitos. Charlie is twenty-five, unemployed, with a bachelor's degree in psychology. She lives in a house with four strangers and loves animation and disco from the 70s. What connects the three is social isolation and the lack of genuine human connection. In a world where consumerism has reached its peak limit, status is determined by what you own, friendship is measured in likes, and the future is terrifying; they sometimes feel as if they don't actually exist. In an online world where every conversation is a potential commercial transaction, Alice, Ben, and Charlie increasingly lose their ability to be human. And with a final effort, through extreme gestures that are simultaneously disturbing and surreal, they try to give meaning to their lives. Billy Collins' play is dynamic, witty, ironic, and ruthless in its analysis of consumer culture. According to the author's concept, it is written to be performed by one actor/actress and a drummer. "Peak Stuff" tells unexpected stories in an unexpected way. Billy Collins lives in Manchester, England. She writes plays, screenplays, and radio programs. Her stories often explore coming of age, queer identity, and family. Among her more significant works are "Too Much World at Once" (2023, about a teenager who turns into a bird on their birthday), "Peak Stuff" (2024), and "The Walrus Has a Right to Adventure" (2025). Nadya Pancheva is a theater director with an interest in documentary, political, and socially engaged theater. She graduated from the "Directing for Dramatic Theater" program at NATFIZ (2021) in the class of Prof. Plamen Markov. Her graduation production was "Edmond" by David Mamet. In her work, she combines contemporary dramaturgy, documentary materials, video, music, and direct communication with the audience. Her shows have been presented at national and international theater festivals. "Breaking Up" by Neil LaBute was awarded Best Production and Best Director at the "Othello" Festival in Gostivar, North Macedonia. "Till Death Do Us Part" by Doug Wright (2023) was nominated for an Asker Award for Best One-Person Show and won the award for Best Show at the Festival of Chamber Theater Forms in Vratsa. "Cracks" by Olya Stoyanova (2026) was distinguished as the Best Show at the National Festival "Drumevi Theatrical Holidays" in Shumen, as well as winning the Audience Award at the same festival. "Peak Stuff" is the sixth project realized under the "Apostol Karamitev" Program. The program launched in 2023 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Bulgarian actor Apostol Karamitev. The main goal of the initiative is to provide an opportunity for the presentation of various forms and aesthetics, to offer new interdisciplinary perspectives on theater-making, to discover interesting authors, ideas, and practices, to present new artistic challenges to the troupe and staff of the theater, and to give visibility to new or unknown authors to the National Theater who will bring their own unique understanding of stage works. The show is NOT suitable for persons under 16 years of age and is NOT recommended for viewers with photosensitive epilepsy.