WE CELEBRATE 98 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF THE GREAT BULGARIAN POET AND PLAYWRIGHT IVAN RADOEV

„Free is the person who can say to himself: I am afraid of nothing, I can gain nothing, I can lose nothing, but I know that this is me.“ – Ivan Radoev

Since 1997 the Pleven theatre has proudly borne the name of one of the most significant masters of the pen, Ivan Radoev. Since 2001 the theatre has also organised the first national competition for Bulgarian playwriting named after Ivan Radoev. This year is the 13th edition of the competition, and the official awards ceremony will take place on 4 April. Especially for this edition, and in honour of Ivan Radoev, a discussion with the nominated authors and the jury will be held on the theme „Contemporary Bulgarian Playwriting“, with free admission.

Born on 30 March 1927 in the town of Pordim, Ivan Radoev became a benchmark for poetic talent and a merciless pen. His poetry and plays endured and triumphed over time with their undeniable talent, insight and wisdom. In one of his last interviews he said, „I will wear them down with patience!“. 

„I avoid crying, because on the whole I am a bit of a sceptic. I resemble the Bulgarian people a little in this respect. I do not want to give up, I do not want to cry“, said Ivan Radoev of himself, the man who forever changed Bulgarian poetry and theatre. Even while studying at the First Boys’ High School in Pleven, Ivan Radoev became popular for his work in the amateur arts scene as a lyricist, song composer, choir conductor and theatre director. Today few people remember that Ivan Radoev was musically literate and played the piano, accordion, guitar and clarinet, and that in his youth he was also a centre forward for the Pleven football team SP-39.

Ivan Radoev was discovered for Bulgarian poetry by Boris Delchev with his very first collection of poems in the 1950s, written during his participation in the brigade movement to build Hainboaz, and published in the „Literaturen Front“ newspaper. This cycle of love poems provoked a heated discussion, and the critics stigmatised his poetry, labelling it „sexual-bourgeois“, „erotic“, „vicious“ and „decadent“. But from his very first years as a poet and writer, Ivan Radoev became a favourite of the people and a thorn in the side of the critics.

Ivan Radoev is the recipient of the extraordinary award for lifetime achievement, conferred by the International Academy of Arts in Paris. He remains in our memory as one of the most noble, gentle, good-natured and at the same time critical poets and playwrights of Bulgaria.

Over the years he worked as an editor at the newspapers „Starshel“ and „Rodni Krile“, the magazine „Balgarski Voin“ and at Bulgarian Television, and as a dramaturg – at the National Opera - Sofia (1963-1968), the „Salza i Smyah“ theatre (1970-1972), the „Sofia“ theatre (1972-1986) and the Pernik theatre (1986-1990). 

Among his most significant collections of poetry are: „Spring Dawn. Poems“ (1953), „Poems“ (1958), „Ballad Poem“ (1960), „A Blank Sheet“ (1975), "Poems and Long Poems" (1978), „Sinful Dreams. Poems and Long Poems“ (1987), „White Sinking. Decimas. Phoenix“ (1992). 

Ivan Radoev is one of the creators of the lyrical drama in Bulgaria, leaving in the eternal theatrical repository the plays „The World Is Small“, „The Great Return“, „Red and Brown“, „Sadal and Orpheus“, „The Man-Eater“, „The Buffalo“, „Miracle“, „Dream“, „Ball Lightning“ and others.