“Anti-war” comedy irritates Bulgarian nationalists

This picture taken on November 6, 2024 exhibits Bulgarian artists Kremena Slavcheva (1L), Nencho Kostov (2L) and Eva Tepavicharova (R) acting on stage throughout the gown rehearsal of the play “Arms and the Man,” directed by American actor John. Malkovich on the Bulgarian Nationwide Theater in Sofia. | Photograph credit score: AFP

A Nineteenth-century play directed by American actor John Malkovich has angered nationalists in Bulgaria, who take into account it an insult to the nation, a declare the Hollywood star rejected as incited by the far proper.

Final week’s premiere of The weapons and the person by famend Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw sparked strident protests from nationalist teams.

Carrying banners studying “Malkovich, go residence,” protesters blocked entry to the Ivan Vazov Nationwide Theater within the capital Sofia on Thursday earlier than making an attempt to storm it, accusing the 70-year-old director of ridiculing the nation’s historical past and its residents. .

“This work is a disgrace and ought to be banned. “It’s a mockery of our ancestors who perished for Bulgaria,” shouted pupil Yoana Ilieva, 21, amongst an indignant crowd. After the play’s premiere to an almost empty theater, Malkovich expressed his astonishment at how his manufacturing was acquired.

“It is a fairly unusual response, however we’re in an odd time on the planet: increasingly individuals like to censor issues they do not agree with,” he stated at a information convention alongside a number of actors on stage.

The play is a humorous tackle the Serbian-Bulgarian battle of the late Nineteenth century, exploring the absurdity of warfare whereas additionally exposing the failings of heroic adulation and militarism.

It’s a “charming, mild, sort of pacifist” comedy that he had already introduced on Broadway in 1985, Malkovich stated. He stated he thought of in search of historic accuracy in a piece “shockingly naive.”