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Excellent theater is a delicate art, where no actor should outdo another on stage and the script should test but not lose its audience. Blagoevgrad Theater’s Zmeyova Svatba (The Dragon’s Wedding) disregards these principles. The dangers of staging a well-known Bulgarian play are obvious. One has to rely only on the affection and memory, which, in the case of Petko Todorov’s play, go back some 108 years, to when Zmeyova Svatba was written. In trying to be a stage cross between Star Wars and Dune, Zmeyova Svatba fails miserably. The show leaves an impression of being a mix of two separate productions - a well-performed radio show based on local folklore and a stunning visual performance with a story-line clearly based on the Moon. The two simply don’t mix as well as the play’s director Krum Filipov imagined them to. The uncertain focus of the play is further established by the main characters actually observing Earth from afar, the effect being achieved by an on stage projection. And, although wildly advertised as a booming success in Blagoevgrad, the performance is not nearly as cool, smart or fast as one expects it to be. The production constantly tries to reign in an uncertain focus, and the cast harnesses considerable energy in its service. Iva Dincheva, naked, or Stoyan Cvetkov, wearing a skirt and a mask straight out of Star Wars, may be an intriguing novelty at first, but it soon wears off and you're left with a magnificent text being compromised with every line that is inadequately said or yelled. The story, too, lacks its own overpowering dramatic momentum. Obvious strain is put on the cast, performing in tight leather black outfits instead of the colorful cheerful national costumes the text suggests. The 1910 Bulgarian play encompasses the love story of a Kyustendil village girl and the “zmey,” a Bulgarian folk fairytale term for a dragon. It is a rollercoaster of painful emotions and searing revelations about family life. This version of the play, however, short-charges its audience on just about everything that has to do with the text’s interpretation. There are some compensating pleasures in the performance, though. One of them being the guest actor, Asen Blatechki, who just about makes the entire play bearable from the audience’s prospective. The next performances of "Zmeyova Svatba" are on April 3 and 21 at 19.00, Main stage Ticket prices may vary: for questions phone : 88 52 50 (int. 241) For more information please visit the Blagoevgrad theatre website: www.blagoevgradtheatre.com_________________ Siyka Doneva is a junior at AUBG. Her new play, Terry Pratchett's "Guards! Guards!," will hit the Blagoevgrad Opera Hall on April 7 and 8.
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