The Art of Theatre 3 — Bulgaria

Theatre, a place where anything is possible. This time it was our turn to make everything happen: create the script, rehearse it and act out the performance. But that’s not all! On this Erasmus, we dived deep into the process of creating a theatre play from scratch. On the way success, which we all experienced at the end, we learned about the many aspects that are necessary for the play to happen and valiantly fought against all that was stopping us: the lack of time and our own thoughts. 

 

The Erasmus was taking place in September in Bulgaria in a village close to the city of Tryavna. We lived in a cosy little hotel just across a park, which was very convenient and many activities took place there. There were 5 participants from the Czech Republic and then participants from Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Bulgaria. It was certainly an interesting experience to be in one team with people from places we usually don’t come in contact with. The more we got to know them the more we became certain that they are all lovely people. 

 

The first week was dedicated to shorter activities which were supposed to improve our acting skills, help us become more knowledgeable about the theory regarding theatre, pass down some wisdom of life onto us, and make the group of strangers that we were become a team. There was also an informative session about the forms of education and the multiple types of opportunities Erasmus+ programs have to offer. The main activities themselves were accompanied by energisers, cultural nights and there was always designated time for reflection of the activities and the day itself. 

 

The second week was all about creating our theatre plays. Firstly, we split into four groups (4–5 people per group) according to the genre of our future works: comedy, tragicomedy, drama, and musical. We were about to spend the rest of our time of the “working hours” of the Erasmus with these people. And then the work began! The first step was to think of the main theme and plot, so we all went to brainstorm with our group right away. Then we had to write down the script, which had to include not only the dialogue but also some notes regarding the settings and the positioning of the characters. For some, this was the most challenging part, for it was needed to flesh out the main idea in details. Other groups were working with elements of improvisation and detailed script wasn’t of such a concern to them. When the script was finished (or at least half-finished), rehearsals could start taking place. We also needed to make a list of props, find the music and sound effects we wanted to use, optionally create a choreography for the dances, and, in the case of the musical, write down our own songs and record the accompaniment for them. With each rehearsal we found out what needs to be altered and improved and we were doing so until there was no more time left. The organisers were regularly giving us tips and feedback on the progress we made, they were helping us with finding solutions to some tricky situations we found ourselves in, they gathered all the props for us, and made sure that we will be able to finish our plays in time for the final performance. 

 

On the D-Day, we were rehearsing on the stage of the venue where it was all supposed to happen. We tweaked the final details, adjusted the positioning of the characters to the space provided, put on our costumes and makeup, warmed up our voices and we were good to go! We watched each others’ performances and I’m not not afraid to say that they were all a big success. Each play was magnificent in it’s own way and they were all very fun to watch. Not much audience outside of the Erasmus arrived to see the plays but that didn’t matter to us. We enjoyed the evening, spent time with our friends, and felt proud of what we were able to accomplish. 

 

Vanda Š.