Национален конкурс за българска драматургия "Иван Радоев"

THE 13TH EDITION OF THE "IVAN RADOEV" NATIONAL COMPETITION FOR BULGARIAN PLAYWRITING

Organisers
THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE
THE MUNICIPALITY OF PLEVEN
THE "IVAN RADOEV" DRAMA AND PUPPET THEATRE, PLEVEN

The 13th edition begins on 03.01.2025. The competition is open, and texts for dramatic and puppet theatre that have not been staged before it is held and have not taken part in other playwriting competitions may participate.

The texts are to be sent to the e-mail: info@theatre-pleven.bg

Deadline for submission: 28 February 2025. The 13th edition of the "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting has a jury composed of: chairman - Stefan Ivanov (playwright); members - Denitsa Ezekieva (theatre scholar) and Gergana Pirozova (playwright).

The Grand Prize is BGN 2,000 and a bronze statuette made by the renowned artist Ubavka Tonchev, as well as two encouragement awards of BGN 500, one of them for a play for puppet theatre.

The official awards ceremony will take place on 4 April (Friday) 2025.

enquiries on tel.: 064/ 822 087, 088/ 789 36 18

* Especially for this year’s edition, for the first time a complete archive by year of all 12 editions of the competition has been compiled, as well as a history of its founding; see below

The "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting has been held since 2001, every two years without interruption. The competition is open, and texts for dramatic and puppet theatre that have not been staged before it is held and have not taken part in other competition and festival playwriting formats may participate. Traditionally the competition is announced in December of the preceding year, with the deadline for submitting the dramatic works being in the period 3 January – 28 February. A competent three-member jury evaluates the collected plays and nominates the 10 best. According to the regulations, the official awards ceremony takes place around the birthday of the great Bulgarian writer and playwright Ivan Radoev – 30 March. 

The solemn ceremony of the 13th edition of the competition this year will be held on 4 April 2025 at the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre, where the dramatic works awarded the grand prize and the encouragement awards will be announced. The winner of the playwriting competition receives an award of BGN 2,000 and a bronze statuette made by the renowned artist Ubavka Tonchev. The encouragement awards, including the award for a play for puppet theatre, are BGN 500.

History of the competition

In 2000, on the initiative of the team of the "Ivan Radoev" Drama and Puppet Theatre, the decision was taken to found the first national competition for new Bulgarian playwriting in Bulgaria, hosted and organised by the Pleven theatre. On 22 January 2001, in the office of the Mayor of the Municipality of Pleven and on the initiative of the mayor, Mr Nayden Zelenogorski, and the team of the "Ivan Radoev" Drama and Puppet Theatre, the First National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting named after Ivan Radoev, Pleven, was established. The aim of the competition is to promote everything new and valuable that is created in Bulgarian playwriting. On the organising committee of the competition were Ivan Radoev’s wife – Vesela Radoeva, Tsvetana Maneva, Volodya Makaveev, Krasimira Filipova, Hristina Hristova, Marieta Georgieva. The main institutional organisers are the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Pleven and the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre, which was constituted through a Protocol of 22 January 2001. After discussion, the rules for holding the competition and the ways of financing it were also established. The Municipality of Pleven undertook to cover the costs of the prize fund, the making of the statuette and the advertising costs. 

At this meeting the composition of the first jury of the competition was also adopted – Georgi Danailov – writer, Assoc. Prof. Kameliya Nikolova – theatre scholar, and Kremena Babacheva – theatre scholar. An operational bureau was approved, with a team from the theatre – Ivet Kostova /head of the literary bureau and public relations/ and Jacqueline Rafaelova /head of the „Marketing“ department/. The organising committee took the decision that the jury of the competition, after discussion, would nominate ten of the participating works, from which the grand prize and two encouragement awards would be selected, with the grand prize consisting of a cash award and a plaque made by the great Bulgarian sculptor Georgi Chapkanov. Until 2021 inclusive, the plaques for the grand prize were the work of the sculptor Georgi Chapkanov, and since the 12th edition (2023) the grand prize is, in addition to the cash award of BGN 2,000, a bronze statuette made by the renowned artist Ubavka Tonchev.

The first edition of the "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting was held in the year of its establishment, 2001, under the patronage of the Mayor of Pleven, with the Pleven theatre reserving the right, as host and organiser of the competition, to stage one of the award-winning theatrical works of its choice on its stage. 107 dramatic works by 91 authors took part in the competition. At the First edition of the competition, especially for the awards ceremony, Prof. Emma Moskova, Minister of Culture, sent a congratulatory letter, with which she also established the place of this important initiative for the theatre in the national cultural calendar: 

„Theatre has always had a sacred need for written texts. It can be built on the classics and modern world drama, but in order to have its own national value, our theatre must also work with new Bulgarian plays. The "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting is especially needed by us, and the fact that it is held with the active participation of the Municipality of Pleven is an example of solidarity and dialogue, a promise of a good future.“

In the 12 editions held so far, in the period 2001 – 2023, 115 plays have been nominated, of which 12 have been awarded the grand prize and 37 the encouragement awards. Over the years, 734 new Bulgarian works for dramatic and puppet theatre have taken part, with 91 contemporary Bulgarian authors having received awards and nominations. The Pleven theatre has become a kind of dramaturgical bank for new Bulgarian theatrical works.

The Grand Prize

Over the years, the Grand Prize winners include authors such as Plamen Doynov, Yana Dobreva, Vicho Balabanov, Zdrava Kamenova and Kalin Angelov, Olya Stoyanova, Banko Bankov, Nedyalko Delchev. It was here that „Mission London“ by Alek Popov and Delyana Maneva took its first steps as a dramatic text, years before the eponymous work was realised on screen. 

The writer Boyan Papazov is a three-time winner of the Grand Prize with the works „The Knight of the Holy Spirit“, „Furious, Cross-eyed and Greedy“ and „A Deep Bow“ - a work dedicated to the great Bulgarian artist Iliya Beshkov. 

Encouragement awards

Titles by authors such as Maria Stankova, Valeri Kakachev, Orlin Dyakov, Petya Miladinova, Tosho Lizhev, Georgi Merdzhanov, Ognyan Antov, Dimitar Atanasov, Ana Topaldzhikova, Teodora Stambolska, Emil Yotovski, Teodora Dimova, Georgi Georgiev, Savina Popova, Yordan Slaveykov, Ivan Kulekov, Rumen Leonidov, Stefan Krastev, Magda Borisova, Ivan Dimitrov, Katya Dimova, Nikolay Petkov and others have been honoured in the competition.

Staged award-winning plays

Over the years, numerous award-winning plays have been staged on the stage of the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre, such as: „Splits“ by Vicho Balabanov, „The Warmth in November“ by Yana Dobreva, „Hristina“ by Orlin Dyakov, „Cataclysms“ by Zdrava Kamenova, „Tami the Little Bogeyman“ by Magda Borisova, „A Short Play About Love“ by Stefan Krastev.

Juries

In the 12 editions so far, the following have taken part in the jury of the "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting: Georgi Danailov, Dr Kameliya Nikolova, Kremena Babacheva, Prof. Snezhina Panova, Ivan Golev, Romeo Popiliev, Pancho Panchev, Aleksandar Zhekov, Dimitar Chernev, Yana Dobreva, Krasimira Filipova, Elin Rahnev, Lyubomir Peevski, Bogdana Kosturkova, Yuriy Dachev, Ina Bozhidarova, Gergana Pirozova, Svetlana Beneva, Prof. Violeta Raynov, Teodora Galabova, Dr Veneta Doycheva, Marieta Georgieva, Dimo Deshev, Prof. Veneta Doycheva, Elena Angelova, Yasen Vasilev, Dimitar Kabakov, Stefan Ivanov, Ovanes Torosyan, Borisa Sarafova, Denis Simeonov.

Book editions

The first collection „Ten“, with the ten nominated plays from the First edition of the competition, was published in 2002. Five collections with the nominated ten works from the competitions of 2001 – 2009 were published in succession. The compiler of the collections is Ivet Kostova – head of the literary bureau at the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre. The cover was based on the plaque by the sculptor Georgi Chapkanov. The book was published with the financial help of the National Centre for Theatre at the Ministry of Culture. The collections „Ten“, Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, are available at the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre to those who wish to read them.

We express special thanks for the cooperation and help in gathering the archive of the "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting – Pleven to: * "Hristo Smirnenski" Regional Library, Pleven * Ivet Kostova – long-time dramaturg of the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre during the period of the creation and organisation of the competition. * Masha Vandova – theatre scholar. The archive of the "Ivan Radoev" National Competition for Bulgarian Playwriting was prepared and processed by the chief dramaturg of the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre, Gergana Pirozova.

Rules and Regulations

RULES for holding the "Ivan Radoev" competition for Bulgarian playwriting

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

• The award for Bulgarian playwriting named after the great Bulgarian playwright and poet Ivan Radoev is national in character and is conferred following a competition.
• The conferring of the playwriting award aims to stimulate the creation of new, valuable dramatic works and to promote the achievements of new Bulgarian playwriting.
• The competition is organised by the Municipality of Pleven and the "Ivan Radoev" Drama and Puppet Theatre - Pleven, with the support of the Ministry of Culture.
• The competition is national and is held once every two years.
• The award is conferred around 30 March (Ivan Radoev’s birthday). For this purpose, a solemn performance is organised at the "Ivan Radoev" Drama and Puppet Theatre.

II. REGULATIONS OF THE COMPETITION:

1. For the organisation and holding of the competition, an Organising Committee is created, composed of:
• chairman - the Mayor of Pleven
• secretary - the director of the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre - Pleven
• members: - a representative of the Ministry of Culture; a representative of the „Culture“ department of the Municipality of Pleven; a representative designated by the heirs of Ivan Radoev; a theatre specialist designated by the director of the "Ivan Radoev" Theatre - Pleven; a representative of the cultural community of Pleven

2. The Organising Committee:
• announces the competition in the central and local press, in the electronic media and at the BTA
• votes on the budget of the competition for the respective edition and adopts the report on its implementation
• on the proposal of the director of the "Ivan Radoev" Drama and Puppet Theatre, determines the composition of the Operational Bureau, headed by the director, for the organisation and holding of the competition
• determines the composition of the Jury, of two theatre critics and one writer-playwright. The members of the Organising Committee and the Operational Bureau cannot be members of the Jury.
• resolves all questions not regulated in these rules

3. The competition is open. All new dramatic works by Bulgarian authors (including puppet plays) that have not been staged on a professional stage before the conclusion of the competition and that have not taken part in other playwriting competitions may participate. The competition is announced in December.

• The members of the Organising Committee, the Operational Bureau and the Jury cannot take part in the competition.
• The plays are sent to the "Ivan Radoev" Drama and Puppet Theatre (5800, Pleven, 155 "V. Levski" St, e-mail: teatur_pleven@abv.bg) by 15 February of the respective year.
• The texts of the plays are provided to the members of the Jury within a deadline set by the Organising Committee (specifically for each edition of the competition).
• The members of the Jury read all the texts independently and meet in Pleven one day before the presentation of the awards.
• The "Ivan Radoev" playwriting award is conferred for a specific dramatic work. Its value is BGN 2,000.

10. At the discretion of the Jury, up to two special awards of BGN 500 may be conferred, one of them for a young playwright up to 40 years of age, and the other for a puppet play. At the discretion of the Municipality of Pleven, one award for a Pleven author of BGN 200 may also be conferred.
11. The "Ivan Radoev" Drama and Puppet Theatre acquires the rights to stage the dramatic work that has received the "Ivan Radoev" award.
12. The funds for the organisation and holding of the competition are provided by the Municipality of Pleven, the "Ivan Radoev" Drama and Puppet Theatre and by alternative sources of financing.
• The competition is held under the patronage of the Mayor of Pleven.

Application for participation: info@theatre-pleven.bg