THE 13TH EDITION OF THE "IVAN RADOEV" NATIONAL COMPETITION FOR BULGARIAN PLAYWRITING IS UNDERWAY
The Pleven theatre thanks all the authors who have sent in their works so far and reminds them that the deadline for submitting plays to the competition is 28 February.
The Pleven competition for Bulgarian playwriting named after Ivan Radoev is the first of its kind in Bulgaria with a national scope. It has been held since 2001 without interruption, every two years. The competition is open, and every Bulgarian author may take part with plays that have not been staged so far and have not participated in other playwriting competitions. The co-organisers of the competition are the Municipality of Pleven and the Ministry of Culture.
At the end of March, a three-member jury – chairman Stefan Ivanov (poet and playwright), members Denitsa Ezekieva (theatre scholar) and Gergana Pirozova (playwright) – will announce the ten nominated plays.
On 4 April 2025, at a festive ceremony at the theatre, the award-winning works will be announced. The Grand Prize is BGN 2,000 and a bronze statuette made by the renowned artist Ubavka Tonchev. There are also two encouragement awards of BGN 500, one of them for a play for puppet theatre. The "Ivan Radoev" Theatre reserves the right to stage one of the award-winning plays.
Especially for this year’s 13th edition, a complete archive of the competition and a history of its founding were created, which can be seen on the theatre’s website. In the 12 editions held so far, 734 new Bulgarian plays for dramatic and puppet theatre have taken part, and 115 of them have been nominated. There are 91 contemporary Bulgarian authors who have received awards and nominations from past editions of the competition. One of the aims of the competition is to encourage the creation and staging of new Bulgarian playwriting, which is also a key strategy in building our national cultural identity. Over the years, a number of award-winning and nominated plays from the competition have been staged at the Pleven theatre, such as „Splits“ by Vicho Balabanov, „The Warmth in November“ by Yana Dobreva, „Hristina“ by Orlin Dyakov, „Cataclysms“ by Zdrava Kamenova, „Tami the Little Bogeyman“ by Magda Borisova, „A Short Play About Love“ by Stefan Krastev.
The Grand Prize winners include authors such as Plamen Doynov, Yana Dobreva, Vicho Balabanov, Zdrava Kamenova and Kalin Angelov, Olya Stoyanova, Banko Bankov, Nedyalko Delchev. The play „Mission London“ by Alek Popov and Delyana Maneva also received first prize, years before it was realised on screen.
The writer Boyan Papazov is a three-time winner of the Grand Prize with the works „The Knight of the Holy Spirit“, „Furious, Cross-eyed and Greedy“ and „A Deep Bow“ - a work dedicated to the great Bulgarian artist Iliya Beshkov.
Works by authors such as Maria Stankova, Valeri Kakachev, Orlin Dyakov, Petya Miladinova, Ana Topaldzhikova, Ognyan Antov, Emil Yotovski, Teodora Dimova, Yordan Slaveykov, Ivan Kulekov, Teodora Stambolska, Rumen Leonidov, Ivan Dimitrov, Momchil Nikolov, Aleksandar Manuilov, Yasen Vasilev, Katya Dimova, Miroslav Hristov, Tosho Lizhev, Stefan Krastev and others have been honoured in the competition.
„Theatre has always had a sacred need for written texts. It can be built on the classics and modern world drama, but in order to have its own national value, our theatre must also work with new Bulgarian plays. The "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting is especially needed by us, and the fact that it is held with the active participation of the Municipality of Pleven is an example of solidarity and dialogue, a promise of a good future.“ wrote the Minister of Culture, Mrs Emma Moskova, in her congratulatory letter to the competition in 2001, noting the significance of this dramaturgical format created by the Pleven theatre, and its place in the national cultural calendar.
We express special thanks for the cooperation and help in gathering the archive of the "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting – Pleven to:
https://www.theatre-pleven.bg/bg/concourse
* "Hristo Smirnenski" Regional Library, Pleven
* Ivet Kostova – long-time dramaturg of the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre during the period of the creation and organisation of the Competition.
* Masha Vandova – theatre scholar
The archive of the "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting was compiled by the chief dramaturg of the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre, Gergana Pirozova