Tales of the Bizarre

By Olga Tokarczuk

Director: Mariy Rosen

Visual environment and costumes: Sapromat

Composer: Martin Karov

Make-up: Alexandra Jotkovska

Assistant scenographer: Pavel Iliev

Cast: Zhana Rasheva and Aleksander Mitrev

Photographer: Yana Lozeva

Sapromat

Mihaela Dobreva and Boris Dalchev graduated and specializing in Scenography at the National Academy of Art in Sofia. At the moment both hold PhDs and are teaching assistants there. Boris Dalchev is a tutor of Scenography while Mihaela Dobreva is an assistant professor of Digital arts. In 2018 they established the association Sapromat and their first joint exhibition is the Not Obvious at UNIART – New Bulgarian University Gallery curated by Rosena Ivanova. The performance Vision is another important production of the association that was performed at the National Student’s House in 2019 with the choreographer Tzveta Doicheva. After came the immersive performance The Invisible Cities based on the novel of Italo Kalvino with director Boyan Kracholov; a co-production with the association Conclave realized at the University Botanical Garden in Sofia. The last performance of the Supromat is named Bizarre Stories based on the book of Olga Tokarchuk and directed by Mariy Rosen. It was created for the festival Literary Meetings at Toplocentrala Regional Centre of Contemporary Arts, in 2022.

The themes that are investigated through a wide spectrum of media are predominantly focused on diverse interpretations of visual and site-specific theater and installation. The performance Bizarre Stories researched digital reincarnation and a peculiar avatar, through what is perceived of which part of the presence and action of one of the actors is established on the set. In a similar way the mirror is used to fragment the performance spaces and its reflections are used as a source through which the action is perceived.

The team received a nomination for the National Theatre Awards Ikar 2021 in the category of Contemporary dance and performance for the performance Apparition. It was realized in teamwork with Tsveta Doycheva also received a nomination in the category of Scenography for the immersive performance The Invisible Cities.