Putin is played by a woman, Bulgarian actress Radena Valkanova
Nikolai DOYCHINOV
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Photos by Nikolai Doychinov. Video by Diana Simeonova
A highly acclaimed satirical play about President Vladimir Putin and his allies facing a war crimes tribunal is making waves in Bulgaria, a country historically close to Russia.
Titled “The Hague,” the play by Ukrainian author Sasha Denisova tells the story of a teenage orphan from Mariupol who imagines how Russian top brass are brought to justice because of the devastating war in Ukraine.
After premiering in Poland and the United States earlier this year, renowned guest director Galin Stoev adapted the play for a Bulgarian audience, seeking to challenge the Balkan country’s pro-Kremlin sentiment.
In the drama currently showing at the National Theater in Sofia, Putin is played by a woman – Bulgarian actress Radena Valkanova – dressed in an elegant black suit and red shoes.
“If we can’t watch the Hague trial in real life, let’s watch it in the theater,” Denisova said of the scene she wrote before the International Criminal Court issued a warrant. ruling against Putin over the alleged illegal expulsion of Ukrainian children.
In the same way that Charlie Chaplin mocked Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on screen, “Putin must be mocked mercilessly,” she told AFP, emphasizing the power of satire.
Historically close to Russia, Bulgaria, a member of the EU and NATO, still has many citizens nostalgic for what they see as the glory days of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.
Nostalgia also refers to Russia as protector of the Slavic people of Bulgaria against Ottoman rule.
Studies suggesting that 30% of Bulgarians are pro-Putin – despite Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine – have encouraged Stoev in his determination to stage a “revealing” adaptation of the play in Sofia.
Valkanova, the Putin impersonator, said she was happy that the piece had sparked ‘very polarized opinions’
Nikolai DOYCHINOV, Nikolai DOYCHINOV
And he seems to have achieved a goal.
“The audience is deeply moved and asking questions,” Stoev told AFP, after the actors received another round of ovations from the crowd.
But the main challenge lies in constantly updating the scenario to reflect the current state of the war.
Yulian Vergov – who plays Wagner’s Russian mercenary leader Eugene Prigozhin – said working with a changing storyline was a challenge, as the aborted mutiny and Prigozhin’s death in a plane crash had to be “newly added” while leaving his fate in doubt.
“The play is fiction, but after all, you play a real character, who then dies during rehearsals. It’s impressive,” Vergov said.
The troop must also stay abreast of the latest rumors about the health of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov and the Russian president.
Amid all these accolades, detractors criticized the play as “biased propaganda vaudeville”, with one actor apparently turning down a role for ideological reasons.
“With this show, we invite spectators to reflect on real events” and to draw their own conclusions, replied director Vassil Vasilev.
Famous guest director Galin Stoev adapted the play for the Bulgarian audience
Nikolai DOYCHINOV
“Politicization is just the opposite: when we are told what to think and do.”
Putin impersonator Valkanova said she was happy that the play had sparked “very polarized opinions”, saying it was “the goal of this type of theatre”.
“I’m glad there’s something like this to wake up people’s thinking – something we’re missing as a nation.”
After a stopover in Toulouse, where Stoev directs the national drama center, he hopes to stage the play in the Bulgarian countryside, known to be sensitive to pro-Russian sentiments.