37 Matches

by Zdrava Kamenova and Gergana Dimitrova

next dates: 09.09.23 Kutna Hora (Chech Republic), 13.09.2023 Piatra Neamt (Romania), 26.09.2023 Stara Zagora (Bulgaria) 29.09.2023 Timisoara (Romania) and 25.10.2023 Sofia (Bulgaria)

German-Bulgarian co-production by 36 Monkeys (Sofia), TARTproduktion (Stuttgart), Fitz! (Stuttgart), and TNL (Luxembourg)

Director and stage design: Bernhard Eusterschulte

Cast: Snezhina Petrova, Manuela Sarkissyan, Véronique Kinnen/Nevena Kaludova and Nathan Cooper

/*Nathan Cooper has been awarded the 2023 IPTF Pierrot Award in the Best Actor category for his role in the show./

Research, dramaturgy: Gergana Dimitrova 

Music: Julian Stoichkov

Puppet, Puppeteering workshop leader: Antje Töpfer

Assistant director: Karina Ilieva

Assistant stage designer: Tanya Nedelcheva

German translation: Alexander Zitzmann

English translation: Alexander Gyurovsky

Poster: Rolf Eusterschulte

The performance is in Bulgarian, German and English, with  subtitles in local languages.

 "37 Matches" is a Bulgarian-German theatre production of four organizations – "36 Monkeys" (Sofia), TARTproduktion (Stuttgart) and the theatres Fitz! (Stuttgart), Théâtre National (Luxembourg), which has only three exclusive performances planned in Bulgaria on 06, 07 and 09 December at 7:30 pm in the Sofia partner stage of the project - RCCA "Toplocentrala".  

"37 Matches" is a play that walks on the edge of the crime story genre. It is also a play about social inequalities in Western societies, which are increasingly exacerbating the tensions between people. These dynamics threaten to explode our connective social fabric. It is no coincidence that the title refers to Andersen's ‘The Little Match Girl’. 

The play will take us directly into the life of Elena, who is a caregiver and at this very moment goes to see yet another client. Everything seems as usual, even better than. The agency offers good conditions, the house is nice, the family seems kind. However, she starts feeling pressured from all sides. Her own family needs the money she earns in Germany, and the clients are proving to be less than trouble-free. Gradually, things become entangled in a most unexpected plot, devised and in fact thoroughly explored by Zdrava Kamenova and Gergana Dimitrova, in their eighth play together. The two conducted a series of interviews with caregivers and people from agencies, and the final part of the play was completed during their fall residency at VT Events and TAM, Veliko Tarnovo.

The play is performed in Bulgarian, German and English with subtitles in Bulgarian. Its team is, of course, also international. The director and set designer is Bernhard Eusterschulte, the dramaturge is Gergana Dimitrova, and in the roles we will see Snezhina Petrova, Manuela Sarkissian, Véronique Kinnen/Nevena Kaludova and Nathan Cooper. A key character in the play is also a special human-sized puppet made by Antje Töpfer – a German artist in the field of object, visual and puppet theatre. She was in Sofia specifically to train the actors how to interact and work with it. The music is by Julian Stoichkov and the translators of the play are Alexander Zitzmann and Alexander Gyurovsky. 

For some of the production team, this is their second theatre encounter, as some of them know each other from the Icarus-nominated co-production between 36 Monkeys and TARTproduktion – Cinderellas Ltd.

In 2023, “37 Matches” will be performed several times in Sofia, Stuttgart and Luxembourg.

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The Realization of Bulgarian-German Theatre Production project is supported by Sofia Municipality, Sofia Cultural Programme.

It is realized with the support of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Association of Independent Dance and Theatrе Proffessionals with funds from the The Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Art, the Office for Culture of the City of Stuttgart, Tanz- und Theaterszene Stuttgart (FTTS).  

With the partnership of the “Toplocentrala” Regional Centre for Contemporary Arts (Sofia) and Goethe-Institut Bulgaria.

The play is supported by the National Culture Fund, One Year Grant and Creative Initiatives programmes.

In 2023 the performance is distributed in Bulgaria with the financial support of the National Fund "Culture" under the "PROGRAM FOR RESTORATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF PRIVATE CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS".