ON STAGE: BORIS DALCHEV

Coming from a family known for several musicians, a sculptor and one of our most prominent poets and translators, Boris Dalchev is a young artist and set designer, and we'll certainly be hearing a lot more about him. At twenty-four, he has already been nominated for an Icarus prize for the production of The Government Inspector by Nina Dimitrova, and his name continues to appear on posters for a bunch of impressive and distinguished theater projects in Sofia and beyond. When he is not working on stage designs, he tries to extract from his head the whirlwind of accumulated words, emotions, events and capture them in his drawings. He also says that his inner child ebbs and wanes, comes and goes, depending on his mood. This back and forth between the worlds of youth and adulthood comes to life in his theatrical activities. Younger audiences can find his work in the dance performance Alice's World inspired by Louis Carroll at the Plovdiv Opera and Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren at the Sofia Theater, and other premieres are forthcoming. The first of these is The Trial by Franz Kafka, in a diploma performance of students from the class of Prof. Ivan Dobchev. Later this fall, we will see his work as part of the program Noah's Ark at Sfumato by Yordan Radichkov, which includes the performances Crazy Grass directed by Margarita Mladenova and New Bible directed by Ivan Dobchev. Another premiere on his schedule is Bella Figura by Yasmina Reza at the Bulgarian Army Theater and the premiere of Emigrant Paradise by Dimitar Dinev on November 28 at the Sofia Theater. We also talked to Boris as someone living between two of the cities closest to our hearts - his hometown of Burgas and his current residence Sofia.

What is challenging about creating a space where art can be made?

I can answer from the point of view of scenography. It is also a creative object in itself. The difficulty lies mainly in finding the right approach, combining artistic image, functionality, robustness and lightness. In addition to these fundamental elements, there are a bunch of pebbles in the sieve that need to fall out so that the essential things can remain.

How important is stage decor?

Stage decor is as important as it is necessary. A set makes sense when the actor is there and his actions relate to it. Sometimes there may be an empty stage, but this is still a set – the air of this empty stage is the decor. It changes with the movements, the gestures that the artist makes, that he draws in space. That is, there is always space. Depending on the context, it can be so imaginary that it is entirely in the viewer's mind. Off the stage, decor is still decor. Theater is everywhere, we just assign things a different meaning and their value changes. This can often be misleading and make things much more complicated than they actually are.

And how is imagination preserved?

Imagination is one of the things that makes us human. For me, it is an alternative to life, an opportunity to change the angle from which we observe things, to turn situations around. How to preserve it, I do not know. Probably by trying to be more human, by moving closer to art and living with it.

 

Alice's World, photographer: Valentina Bilareva

What is challenging about creating a space where art can be made?

I can answer from the point of view of scenography. It is also a creative object in itself. The difficulty lies mainly in finding the right approach, combining artistic image, functionality, robustness and lightness. In addition to these fundamental elements, there are a bunch of pebbles in the sieve that need to fall out so that the essential things can remain.

How important is stage decor?

Stage decor is as important as it is necessary. A set makes sense when the actor is there and his actions relate to it. Sometimes there may be an empty stage, but this is still a set – the air of this empty stage is the decor. It changes with the movements, the gestures that the artist makes, that he draws in space. That is, there is always space. Depending on the context, it can be so imaginary that it is entirely in the viewer's mind. Off the stage, decor is still decor. Theater is everywhere, we just assign things a different meaning and their value changes. This can often be misleading and make things much more complicated than they actually are.

And how is imagination preserved?

Imagination is one of the things that makes us human. For me, it is an alternative to life, an opportunity to change the angle from which we observe things, to turn situations around. How to preserve it, I do not know. Probably by trying to be more human, by moving closer to art and living with it.

Is it difficult to create a space that will impress the very youngest in the audience?

It is always difficult to create a space, no matter the audience. In both of the children's shows I've worked on, I tried to mix abstract elements with more decorative and expressive ones. My impression is that young audiences quickly takes to the more concrete and foregrounded shapes, but what prevails is their interest in the abstract, which is transformed during the action of the play and changes its meaning according to the situation. While working on Roniaand Alice, I did not focus on the fact that these are performances for children and everything should follow from this. Children are small people with big thoughts, discoverers of the world. If you impress them, that's a compliment for your work.

When you design the set for a children's play, how does it all start?

I simplify the script for myself as much as possible. I try to see the actions and the characters in their purest form. I read the text several times, and at some point images from everyday life or things that have impressed me come to mind and start speaking to me when I need them to. When I worked on Ronia, in the beginning it was very difficult for me to find the language, the style, which is understandable with the young audience. Eventually, I shook off my initial goals and just started drawing clearer shapes, with more direct ideas. The director Katya Petrova found a wonderful balance between the dolls created by Petya Karadjova – the colleague with whom I collaborated on the vision, scenography and costumes of the play. With Alice, what made it difficult for me was that the story was full of vivid images and events, but we were doing a ballet and everything had to be expressed through movement, music and vision – a complete abstraction. I think combining all these components is very complicated, but Ani (Anna Pampulova, choreographer and director of the show) managed to sculpt beautiful movements and trace all of the story lines.

 

illustration: Boris Dalchev

Your private space - what can we find there?

It is still under construction. There is certainly a lot of sea and music in the air.

Name a place that makes you want to be a child again.

Burgas is the place I associate with my childhood. When I say Burgas, I mean Burgas and its surroundings – my favorite neighborhood Sarafovo, Sozopol, Nessebar and all the beaches to the south. When I come back here, I feel very happy and closer to myself. I think it will always be that way and I hope it stays that way.

Your childhood memories most often return to the places where...

I discovered things about the world for myself, even more so when they were shared with friends and we learned something new about the hours ahead of us.

Childhood will forever remain...