XXVIII “Varna Summer” 2020 International Theater Festival

Due to Covid-19, the “Varna Summer” 2020 International Theater Festival is transformed from a live event in June into a digital meeting in late autumn. Nevertheless, the 28th edition of the festival will take place, even if it will be online.

In the program of the festival, between November 25 to December 6, we will be able to see ten interesting productions from around the world. Our selection is subordinated to the desire to show the many manifestations of the theater, offering through speech, dance and visuality unique experiences for the viewer. We open the festival with flamenco dance, present world names in choreography – Flemish Anne Theresa de Keersmaker and Maggie Maren, to get to Taiwan through the contemporary dance of the Cloud Gate Dance Theater. The performances based on texts by Schiller, Lessing, Buchner, Shakespeare are the work of some of the most interesting directors in recent years – Timofey Kulyabin and Kirill Serebrennikov from Russia, Grzegorz Jażyna from Poland, Andreas Kriegenburg from Germany, Declan Donelan from the United Kingdom. The finale is with Bulgarian participation – the director Galin Stoev has prepared a special film for his production “Double Volatility” by Pierre Marivo, a production of the theater in Toulouse, France.

The Varna Summer International Theater Festival is the largest theatrical event in Bulgaria. It is held every year in Varna in the framework of the Varna Summer Art Festivals. Its main goal is to present the main trends in Bulgarian and international stage practice and to create a space for intercultural dialogue, exchange and market. The program is built as a mosaic of modules. “Selected Bulgarian performances” focuses on theatrical achievements on the Bulgarian stage during the current season.

The international selection presents a variety of stage forms and leading trends from Europe and the world. The Showcase program focuses on innovative productions from contemporary theater, dance and performance presented to international selectors. The parallel program is open to a variety of partnership initiatives, discussions, workshops, theoretical conferences, lectures, book presentations, exhibitions and concerts.

The Varna Summer International Theater Festival is the winner of the European Festival label – a European quality certificate, part of the “Europe for Festivals – Festivals for Europe” platform, initiated by the European Festival Association. In 2017, the festival became part of the 26 winners of the label “remarkable festival” with a nomination for the award of the platform.