[ Sofia Events ]

Today I will be presenting an already ongoing event in Sofia, into which I am kind of personally involved. The said event (or performance) is

ProText: Onstage Readings of New European Drama In Non-Theatrical Spaces First Edition

and it is the debut of the "absolute beginners" :), that is - young and unexperienced as an organization, but not the least as individual members - organization "36 Monkeys".

In short, it is a non-governmental organization established to launch and implement innovative projects in the field of culture and art and focused exclusively on experimenting and promotion of alternative and unpopular art forms. Its long-term strategy is justified by the idea to extend and diversify the non-institutionalized and informal environment for art making in Bulgaria and thus to democratize and energize the country’s cultural life.

ProText is 36 Monkeys’ debut project that focuses on contemporary European drama writing. The first edition features 4 plays representative for the German drama of today and that will be staged using the special theatrical form of onstage reading outside the institutionalized environment of theatre.

The texts have been translated for the first time into Bulgarian expressly for the purpose of this project. The selected plays are: 69, by Igor Bauersima, Der Häßliche, by Marius von Mayenburg, Blaubart - Hoffnung der Frauen, by Dea Loher, and Vorher/Nachher, by Roland Schimmelpfennig. Each play will be set in different space that is integral to the specifics of the particular text.

The idea behind these reading performances is to set up a homogeneous art milieu in which architectural space, texts, actor’s presence, live music act and multimedia are blended into a single body that binds its individual elements into a coherent union. (quoted from the ProText Descrition)

Today and tomorrow's reading will be "Bluebeard - Hope of Women" and it will take place in Vaska Emanuilova Art Gallery (its location is shown here).

The whole program of the project and the remaining performances can be seen in the 36 Monkeys' webspace.