Sfumato Theater Laboratory of Bulgaria Joins Shakespeare & Company for Workshop, Beg. Today

Despite differences in language, culture and dramatic DNA, actors from Sofia, Bulgaria have some important commonalities with actors here. When Ivan Dobchev and Margarita Mladenova, artistic directors of Sfumato Theater Laboratory, arrive at Shakespeare & Company for a week-long workshop beginning today, March 18, the boldness of innovation that both companies share will result in an exciting cross-pollination.

Dobchev and Mladenova will lead a core group of 18 Shakespeare & Company artists during the workshop, which is centered on the dramatic works of the 19th Century Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. Participants will work on scenes from Chekov's legendary 1897 play, Uncle Vanya, which explores the ennui of provincial life and the miseries of wasted chances, as well as concentrated work in voice, movement, and text. Well-known for his prolific career in fiction, Chekov continues to have a profound effect on drama worldwide.

The collaboration between the two theatre groups began in 2010 when Daniela Varon, a long-time director at Shakespeare & Company, represented the Company in the first official delegation of American directors to travel to Bulgaria under the U.S./Bulgaria Stage Directors Exchange Program. The goal of the new program, developed by the Drama League and supported by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, The America for Bulgaria Foundation and individual donors, was to foster collaborations between theater artists of both nations. The program was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, and lasted for eight days, during which time Varon was exposed to the work of the Sfumato Theater Laboratory, one of the country's leading theaters, as well as one of its most experimental and innovative. Varon forged a strong connection with Sfumato's founders and artistic leaders, and felt a special connection with their work.

"Ivan and Margarita are visionary directors who guide their actors to courageous, passionate, vividly embodied performances, both as individual artists and as members of an ensemble," says Varon. "This is a unique and thrilling opportunity for us to learn, experientially, about the Sfumato approach to working with actors and developing ideas for a production. What's more, Ivan and Margarita know and love Chekhov the way we know and love Shakespeare, so we will get to explore one of the world's other great playwrights under the guidance of two master teachers."

In 2011, Sfumato applied for and received a grant from the America for Bulgaria Foundation to bring Varon to Sofia for a workshop. With funding from the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, Kalina Wagenstein, director of the Art Office (the Drama League's Bulgarian partner in the exchange program), invited Shakespeare & Company's Artistic Director Tony Simotes to visit at the same time. In December 2011, Simotes spent a week in Sofia getting to know the work of Sfumato and its directors.

"My trip to Sofia was truly revelatory," says Simotes. "I was excited and moved by Sfumato's work, and eager to explore the possibilities of training and artistic exchanges between our companies." Simotes soon discovered a certain creative familiarity in the foreignness of the surroundings.

"I was invited by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture to help open up a cultural bridge between our artistic communities. With support by the New York Drama League, I was given the rare opportunity to immerse myself in that proud city's theater scene that reflects centuries of history and art. I grew to understand that Shakespeare & Company would be the perfect platform for this exciting theater company from Sofia to establish its voice here in America. We share a work ethic and theatrical imagination that are tied together by the stage and story telling even if our languages are not the same."

The possibilities for expanded exchange continued to coalesce in 2012. Sfumato's Albena Georgieva participated in Shakespeare & Company's Monthlong Intensive program in January of this year. Georgieva was one of several actors from across the globe to participate.

"Shakespeare & Company was delighted that Ms. Georgieva was able to attend one of our most enriching programs here in Lenox," adds Simotes. "By welcoming this incredibly talented international pool of actors, Shakespeare & Company becomes an artistic gateway into the United States."

Notes Varon, "One thing Walton Wilson, voice trainer at Shakespeare & Company, and I felt when we offered our text and voice workshop at Sfumato last month, is that despite the interesting differences in techniques and traditions, aesthetics and approaches between our two companies and cultures, we were with our tribe. We were certainly welcomed as family, and we are so glad we will get to embrace Margarita and Ivan into our theater tribe in Lenox this month."

The week-long Chekov training, which will be conducted in English, will acquaint Shakespeare & Company actors with techniques and approaches that may be quite different from those familiar to Company members, according to Director of Actor Training, Dennis Krausnick.

"This collaboration with Sfmuto," Krausnick explained, "is part of our desire to provide training, and a variety of training, to our core Company. Shakespeare & Company's approach to theatre is that we turn our attention first and foremost to language. Their approach is to turn their attention first to character and human behavior."

Krausnick notes a historical reason for the two approaches.

"A difference between theatre in Shakespeare's day and now is that language was largely communicated through oral means 450 years ago, says Krausnick. "Now, language is practiced at least as much via print media."

In Bulgaria, Krausnick suggests, Chekov is something of a counterpart to Shakespeare. "People of my generation certainly remember that, as part of the former Soviet Union, Bulgaria spent 50 years teaching its children Russian as the official second language. The works of Chekov are deeply ingrained into the literary and dramatic culture. Today, however, Bulgarian students are taught English as their second language."

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