The Eyes of Others
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Ivan Dimitrov
September 5, 2012
What is your job on this show?
playwright.
When did you know you wanted to work in the theater, and why?
I never wanted to work in the theater. I enjoyed it, of course, but never wanted to do it so much. I was thinking myself as a writer. But somehow it happened that I started writing plays. Then it turned out, that as a playwright I have to be involved in the production. I don't complain, it is very funny and useful. Now I want to do it, because I know that this will help the production and it will make my new plays better. I'm actually beginner in the field. So far I've written 7 plays, but this is my first production. Yes, you've heard me clearly. I've never been produced in Bulgaria. It just happened this way. I will get my first production when I come back there.
Who is more important in the theater: the actor, the playwright, or the director?
As i already told you I'm new in this thing. I can easily say that in the American tradition the playwright has more power that in the Bulgarian, which is influenced by the Russian and by the German. In the same time the both are nothing without the actors.
Actually I have the feeling that there everybody is important. Not only the director, the playwright and the actor, but also the sound designer, the light designer, the set designer, the manager of the theater, the person who is at the door, the women that is cleaning the theater. Everybody. That is the charm in it. You are nothing without everybody else!
In your own words, what do you think this show is about? What will audiences take away with them after seeing it?
I think the show is about the absurd of the contemporary life. About the impossibility of the true communication between the people. About the constant need of watching yourself in the mirror of the eyes of others.
I can't say what will audience take away with them after the show. I can only invite them to take away with them everything they find.
Which “S” word best describes your show: SMOOTH, SEXY, SMART, SURPRISING?
I think all the "S" are working. This is my personal opinion, feel free to come and see it and then prove me I'm wrong!
Who are your heroes?
I have many heroes in a matter of playwrights, not so many in a matter of theater directors (actually I don't very well the American Theater, I can only speak of Bulgarian and European directors, because I'm living in Bulgaria, that is the only reason I'm saying not so many), I have a lot of heroes, that are film directors and actors, but I don't want to speak of them! Right now my heroes are the guys involved in the production. They really are great!
