A sharp rise in the number of new Bulgarian plays over the past three years: in this way Milen Milanov, Chairman of the theater Askeer Academy Foundation summed up the trend in new Bulgarian theater. For eleven years in a row the foundation has been holding a contest for contemporary drama. Askeer awards are given in other categories: to stage-directors, set designers, composers, best actors, best actresses etc. This season 31 plays are competing for the Askeer distinction. Three of them are by debutants. Twenty-three of them have been staged in Sofia, eight in the provinces, and two abroad. The Askeer 2015 contest for playwrights features plays that have been for the first time shown on professional stage in the period from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015. More details from theater critic Nikola Vandov, member of the jury:

"As the prize was invented we agreed that plays running for it should have been staged. This was evaluated as a very strong filter. After all theater companies make collective decisions about what plays to stage. In the meantime however, the number of plays has been steadily on the rise. We proudly said: this year we have 17 plays. In 2015 they are 31. I guess that the barrier for difficult access to the stage has weakened, and now in a café or a store with 300 euro for actors' costumes and a bunch of enthusiasts anybody can stage a play.”

Nikola Vandov argues people commonly think that a good story can replace the requirements for quality drama. One example is a monologue of a woman who went into emigration to work and what happened to her there. Such a dramatic story is not dramaturgy though. „Such plays are common today and solo shows are the majority of candidates for Askeer. This is quick and easy dramaturgy. This however is not a way to discover new worlds, Nikola Vandov contends.

A solo show or a play with cast of two or three actors is always cost-effective and is more mobile than a proper theater production with a potential to travel to various towns. Not by accident most independent projects are in fact solo shows. Associate Prof, Plamen Doynov, a literary critic, playwright and member of the Askeer jury however rightfully contends that dramaturgical skill does matter in this contest:

"I am very insistent on that: the skill to control a text and build a sophisticated system of characters. I think that a few of Bulgarian playwrights are in difficulty doing exactly this. The nominations for the prize are as follows: one monodrama, one play with two characters and another play with a cast of three. This implies a trend of chamber shows. In my view this does not boil down to financial or extra-literature or extra-theater reasons. It should be explained with the experience of playwrights and it is curious to see the size of the cast in other of their plays.”

Three works have been nominated by the jury for the Askeer dramaturgy category. One of them is Madam Mishima, a monodrama by Elena Alexieva, poet, novelist and short story writer. Famous Bulgarian actor Malin Krastev has written a play, Family Album, and has staged it. The third nominated play is For You by Yana Borisova. Her works have been translated and staged in a few European countries, and also in Argentina and the United States.

As Plamen Doynov remarks that all three plays are at European universal level and that the race is very close. So the outcome of the final vote will be hard to predict.

English Daniela Konstantinova