This way and that way, it can, and it can't, and always some stumbling block. And there is always one to be, but also not to be, and why not be when you can be. And most importantly, why can't people fly? Why? On the third evening of the Festival, however, one person flew, in the play "I Sisyphus" by the Puppet Laboratory from Sofia.
Directed by Veselka Kuncheva, we watched a philosophical reflection on human meaninglessness. In fact, of constant repetition. Because no matter which way a person goes, they come to the same place. Even when they try to escape: up - down - left - right - spiral or whatever, they are always met by something the same and predictable.
All of us Sisyphus, artistically devoted, were played by Stefan Dodurov, otherwise a drama actor who, as he admits, found this to be quite an interesting theatrical experience. His playing was eclectic, but also very witty, at times even shockingly witty. After the play, he talked about Sisyphus and everything around him...
How long have you been playing this show and how does it feel when you play Sisyphus?
I am the third actor to play in this monodrama, which has been on stage for 11 or 12 years. I have been playing since 2019. Veselka Kuncheva was auditioning, she wanted to recreate the performance with three different puppets, and as I am a drama artist, it was very difficult for me to decide if I could take on the responsibility of doing such serious work. I succeeded, and in every performance, I always have to succeed, because it's always a little difficult. You should always push a little, give something more.
How is it for an actor, or a human being in general, when he recognizes Sisyphus in himself? You had to find at least a few of them for this occasion...
Sisyphus lives in each of us. Every person has a need to go somewhere, to take a step higher, to outline some goal that they would have to reach, to expand, or even break some boundaries, to go beyond them. The point of this piece is that life, despite all the difficulties and sufferings, is worth living. And it's better to do it with a smile. The point of persistence, and of living in general, is not the goal, but the effort to do something. And while you push, you laugh at fate. That's the point. It seems to me that in this sense this piece is cleverly and wisely constructed, between me and me, between the demons in the play. It is both a story about the physical and the metaphysical.
During the creative process, did you manage to answer the question that can be heard in the play itself - why can't people fly?
Because a human being is just that. They want to fly, but they can only fly in their dreams. In fact, because they can't fly, people do ingenious things. We humans, despite our limitations, can do great things. That's why the gods love us.
And what can puppets do that humans can't?
The answer continues to the previous one... Humans have limitations, and puppets have even more. We give them life, and imagine that they are alive. Through them, to ourselves, we tell some stories about a better life. That's how we try to make people better. We try to convince them that everything can be better. Puppets help us tell better stories.
Why are people today less and less able to tell stories, they are lagging in it, and this is very visible in art, theater, and even in life... In Serbian theater it is a serious problem... Maybe it is better in Bulgaria?
I see it myself. The problem is that we constantly want to say something new, to invent some new sensation, and there is nothing new. We need to tell old stories in new ways, to breathe new life into old, archetypal stories. So that those small - big stories become a part of the new time, of our life. We Bulgarians have an expression that we should not discover hot water (reinvent the wheel)...
There is the same proverb in Serbian, but we still keep doing it...
And the Bulgarians too. We need to return to classical values, to remind ourselves of them, but to talk about them in ways that belong to this time. Today, we often look at things that are apparently shiny, they have something on top, some topping, they also have some spices, but there is nothing inside. It's filled with emptiness. It is difficult, of course, to say something new, and have it come from basic stories. There is a catch. The cubism invented by Picasso came from tradition, after all. Making something like that is difficult and rare.
In that context, is it more important to have an idea or to be brave?
Both. People who say new things, the so-called avant-garde, they are, as the French word says, in the front lines and see something that others do not. They discover something that, if it connects with people, opens up new worlds. Being smart and brave enough to do it is not easy at all. That's why we have to be persistent, to constantly work on it, not to give up and not to judge people when they make a mistake, when they fail, because it's really hard.
As an artist, are you scared of today's world? Terrible stories are happening in it - even as we speak.
How could I not be... Of course I am. I think we live in a time of cowards. Scared people are afraid, and a weak person is a dangerous person. I am glad that now there are no conflicts in the Balkans like there were before and I hope that we have learned a lesson. I'm grateful for that and I think about it all the time, because we're really in a bit of a tailspin here. History doesn't repeat itself here, it rewinds...
Snežana Miletić
Portret umetnika: Milana Milovanov
Fotografija iz predstave: Aleksander Bogdan Tompson