Bulgaria: Recriminations follow ‘patriots’ assault on Malkovich’s production of Arms and the Man

Bitter recriminations have followed the assault by “patriots” on the November 7 premiere of US star John Malkovich’s production at Sofia’s Ivan Vazov National Theatre of George Bernard Shaw’s comedy Arms and the Man.

As The Sofia Globe reported, physical confrontations ensued after a mob, supporters of sundry ultra-nationalist organisations, disrupted the occasion, preventing those who had bought tickets from seeing the play.

In a statement on November 8, the Union of Actors in Bulgaria said that the shameful events of the night before could not be overlooked.

“Neither Bernard Shaw’s play, nor John Malkovich’s production, nor the repertory policy of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre humiliates our civic and national consciousness,” the union said.

“We have long been familiar with the content of the play and it in no way speaks insultingly and scathingly about Bulgarian history, about Bulgarian achievements and the Bulgarian soldier.”

Sofia mayor Vassil Terziev said that the organisers of the protests would be fined.

Terziev said that the municipality found it absolutely unacceptable to hold any kind of protest that is not peaceful and threatens the order and safety of all Sofia residents.

The director of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Vassil Vassilev – who on the night of the assault came out to try to speak to the protesters – said in a television interview on November 8: “I see no problem with the play.

“There was pressure to be censored before the performance was realized, this is unacceptable, this was not a peaceful protest. I went out with love to the protesters, urging them to allow this spectacle to be seen and appreciated,” Vassilev said.

He said that the text of the play, which is set at the time of the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War, did not humiliate the Bulgarian military in any way.

With widespread criticism on social networks of the conduct of the police, the head of the Sofia directorate of the Interior Ministry, Lyubomir Nikolov, said that the reaction of the police had been “quick, adequate and immediate”.

Nikolov said that the directorate had received prior notice of a “cultural programme” that would be held outside the theatre “with which a group of children will express dissatisfaction with a play that will performed at the National Theatre”.

Caretaker Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov, in a television interview on November 8 sought to lay blame on Vassilev: “The additional tension arose from the inappropriate action of the director of the theatre, who went to hold talks with the protesters.

“He did not appreciate the situation, that there is tension in front of the theatre. He had to coordinate his actions with the Ministry of the Interior so that the situation was under our control, so that we would not allow the escalation of tension,” Ilkov said.

According to Ilkov “no protester or citizen who came to watch the performance was injured” and he went on to say that there was “no chaos”.

On the evening of November 7, a video appeared showing well-known actor Vladimir Penev being assaulted by several people. He was pushed, and one of the men around him pushed off Penev’s spectacles.

Award-winning Bulgarian film animator and director Theodore Ushev said on social networks that he had been assaulted.

” I bought a ticket around 6.30pm and saw that there were police and many people outside the theatre. I thought that they had all come to see the play,” Ushev said.

“I asked the police how to get in and they quite ironically told me that I had to wait. I and my girlfriend stood aside and waited,” he said, saying that moments later, they had been assaulted “by guys who put on masks and started kicking us in the kidneys”.

Ushev said that Ilkov should resign immediately: “It is absolutely unacceptable to prevent people in a democratic country from watching theater and concerts”.

Darin Angelov, an actor from the theatre company, told Nova TV that the protesters did not want answers, but to “beat and crush”.

“When I asked them if they had read the play, one woman answered: “a little”. The rest became even more aggressive. It is a pity that these were some deceived people,” Angelov said.

Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office said on November 8 that it had on its own initiative begun pre-trial proceedings in connection with the previous night’s events in front of the theatre.

Malkovich said: “I suggested this play because I think it’s a charming and funny play. And I still think it is.

“Strange times. More and more people like to censor things they don’t like. I have no right to censor, even the protesters, it’s my job to direct. In this case, it’s my job to direct the play,” Malkovich said.

Sofia police said that there would be heightened security on the second night, November 8. The theatre said that scheduled performances were going ahead, and those scheduled for November had been sold out.

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