Николета Пътова

The image of the traitor takes a specific, intermediate place in the system of values, presented by the dramatic play literature of the Revival. The traitor is not a positive hero, neither an enemy of Bulgarians, because he himself is a Bulgarian. The otherness (the characteristic of difference) in the historic dramas is to be read as difference from the moral required (when the traitor is concerned) and as ethnic difference, combined with the inherent lack of morality (when the enemy is concerned). The dramatic play literature of the Revival presents the image of the traitor in an up-going scale. The most hesitant of them is the hero Mortagon of Voinikov. Ivanko of Vassil Droumev and Mitra of K. Velichkov illustrate next grades in the development of this character. The inner discrepancy of the Droumev’s hero, as well as the moral problem of the duty to the motherland, of the liberty to make choices, turns Ivanko into the most commented drama of the Revival. The elaborate review, conducted here, of the critics’ opinions and elated evaluations, of the various readings of the main hero’s image, prove his provocative character. The efforts of the critics seemed insufficient to comprehend Ivanko and literature further developed his image during the next decades. Ivan Vazov’s drama “Borislav” and Tsv. Minkov’s short novel “The death of the regicide” put in other situations and give other solutions to the hero of Droumev.

The one and only attempt of the writer Assen Christophorov in the field of dramaturgy is the play "Razvigorat". It is written in co-authorship with the humorist Haim Benadov. This creative tandem and the fact that Christophorov makes an unusual attempt for his writer's occupation, arouses questions whose answers are sought in this article. "Razvigorat" does not shine with specific literary merits. This is a mediocre play on anti-cult topics. Therefore, the objective is not a scientific literary analysis of the play, but placing it in the context of the dramaturgy of the 1960s. Thematically "Razvigorat" is closest to the "Prokurorat" by G. Djagarov. Together with the attempt to clarify the creative and the ideological atmosphere of that time, this article makes a parallel between the fates of the two plays.

The attempts to strengthen theatrical art in Bulgaria pass from amateur theatre initiatives in Bulgarian National Revival through subsidized companies after the Liberation to the creation of the first state theater group in Sofia. Bulgarians take the first theatrical acts as ‘foreign’, forced and unnatural elements in their regular life. The ‘foreign’-ness remains its specific feature until its recognition for a cultural institution in the last decade of 19th century. Bulgarians ‘open’ to the European world and gradually the mistrust in the ‘foreign’ reduces. As for the theatre, it is being even forgotten, especially after the Bulgarian dramaturgy started its intentional development. The presence of the Foreigner in the various stages of Bulgarian theatre’s establishment is a topic of interest. Regardless of the initial resistance against foreign art, the foreigners connected to it are eagerly accepted as cultural ambassadors rather than aggressive imposers of cultural practices. A demonstration of this is the amateur or professional effort of numerous foreigners who connected their lives with Bulgaria for a while. A special role for the creation of the Bulgarian theatre holds Josef Meizner – recognized as a director of the first Bulgarian act in the town of Shumen. Such role holds also Adam Mandrović who shortly was a director of the Sofia theatre ‘Salza i smayh’ (Tear and Laughter), and Josef Šmaha – the first director of the National Theatre.