Author: Elisaveta Videva
Ventseslav Dimitrov is one of the newest and interesting members of the Plovdiv Puppet Theater. Born in Plovdiv, graduated in Acting for Puppet Theater from the National Academy of Theater and Film – class of 2020, with creative director Prof. Jeni Pashova. A few months after graduating he got a job in the Plovdiv Puppet Theater, with director the actor and playwright Petar Vlaykov.
He will be getting more and more recognition, and his name will be increasingly more popular, so to be fair we are rushing to introduce him before everyone else.
I met Ventsi on a cold Friday in March at the iconic bar Fabric. As I expected, he arrived dressed casual, with light jeans, a top, and a long baggy jacket.
His wild black curls tucked back in a ponytail. The features of his face seemed so expressive that I probably would have kept analyzing them all along if it weren’t for the screaming look in his eyes. Yes, not speaking, but shouting. A look that says, “I have so much more to show the world than I can put into words.” Well, in this interview he shared his thoughts in words, the rest you can get a feel for only in theater.
How did you choose acting as your profession? How did your parents react to your decision to become an actor?
Initially, I was into politics, I liked the subject in school, and my sister was studying international relations in London. My father was very fond of the idea of me receiving education abroad, but I was quite distracted. I graduated from the French High School with English and then I had to get a CAE certificate in order to have a better chance when applying abroad. I took extra classes, but instead of studying, I was really going there to chat with my teachers and classmates, therefore my schooling was not good enough and in the end, I was 3 points short of passing the exam. I was disappointed with myself and had to figure out how to take it from there. So I decided that I would follow my childhood dream and become an actor. Taking into account I had never done anything related to acting before.
So one evening my father and I were having a beer and I told him, “I’m going to be an actor,” and he gave me that weird look thinking I was joking. Three days later I went and told him again that I would be an actor, but he still didn’t say a word. Another three days later, I went and told him, “I’m going to be an actor and I need money for lessons.” He was surprised that after French school and the languages I learned there, all of a sudden I decided to become an actor. He was struggling, he thought that I would go for something more secure.
I started training for the Academy a bit late, towards the end of 12th grade, 3 months before the exams, so I didn’t have enough time to prepare well. I didn’t get accepted the first year, but I got to the 2nd level of exams. In the third level, I failed, but I was happy with my results. I became more confident because in the first level we were 250 boys, of which only 50 got to the second. So I kept training for another year and on the next exams, I got accepted.
Tell me what was it like to graduate during the pandemic, how did all the events affect your last year at the Academy?
I’ll start with the funny bit. I worked on a project that paid pretty well, and I decided to buy myself a suit for graduation. I got a beautiful suit, and a week later the pandemic hit us. There was no graduation ceremony, and I never got to use the suit. Now I’m hoping a friend will get married so I can wear it.
The rest was not so funny, because in the fourth year at the Academy students mostly act, and this is very important in building confidence and professional experience for the big stage. Before the pandemic, we had 3-4 performances a week, for both children and adults.
Because of the pandemic, everything stopped and instead of acting, we stayed at home. In addition, we had planned tours for Serbia, Greece, Italy, Poland… The most important thing about trips is that you meet colleagues of different nationalities and learn from each other. Unfortunately, this was cancelled too.
The worst part was that things didn’t restart after the end of the lockdown in May.
It was like it’s all done. We were handed our diplomas and sent off to look for a job.
What made you apply for a job at the Plovdiv Puppet Theater?
In our last year we were supposed to be inviting directors and producers from different theaters to see us and hopefully notice us, before we even graduated. In our case, this didn’t happen because of the pandemic. And so we ended up as graduates who nobody has seen or heard of, with no job offers really. I had decided to apply at the Plovdiv Puppet Theater because I wanted to work in my hometown. I also realized that their management was taken over by the new director Petar Vlaykov, who, as a young man, I assumed, would bring fresh and new ideas. So it was the only place I sent my CV, thinking that if they reject me, I wouldn’t go anywhere else. There was a casting, I showed up and they liked me.
A few years ago I saw The Little Prince at the Plovdiv Puppet Theater and it was an incredible experience. But, I was the only childfree adult in the theatre. Is puppet theater really only for children and their companions?
No, of course not, this is the usual question. Most people think so, but the truth is that puppet theater is for children aged 2 to 102 years old.
We do puppet shows, but we also do alternative theater, which means that we are trained to do theater for both adults and children, as well as experimental theater. We use puppetry as well as any other interesting means, but puppetry has the potential to take so many directions.
There are puppet and alternative productions for adults in almost every major city – Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Sofia, Varna.
How does the reduced audience capacity in the theatre affect you?
If I have to be honest, all actors, directors and everyone involved absolutely love it when the theatre is full. But the positive outcome is that due to the reduced percentage of visitors (30% – author’s note) and the fact that the tickets sell out very quickly, somehow people are motivated to go to the theater. They do not give up but wait to get tickets for the next show, which is great.
What is it like to have children as your audience – distracting or invigorating?
It is challenging because you don’t know their personalities, or how they might respond. It depends on whether they are with their parents or not. Children are the most sincere audience, but also the toughest because you immediately understand if they are not interested and you know when you make mistakes. Well, you do get the impossible ones, but I put myself in their shoes. Maybe that’s why they [my parents] took me to my first puppet show at an older age.
It’s very sweet and cool to see children’s bright eyes staring with such interest and waiting impatiently for the next scene. It’s lovely and refreshing.
You are in the play The Bowler Hat based on the novel with the same name by Yordan Radichkov and directed by Katya Petrova. It premiered recently, tell us a bit more.
Yes, the premiere was in March. There were three amazing stagings, but we didn’t get a clear idea of how it was received, because we were too excited.
And most of the guests were our friends and people from the theatre world. From here on we get the real test drive of the show by the wider audience. It is all interesting because this is a special play. It is for adults and has not been staged before, perhaps because the script is quite serious and it is very complex to translate into theatre language. Radichkov has touched on a number of topics that are still relevant today. We hope it will be received well, as we have put in a lot of love and effort.
Do you benefit from your acting skills in your personal life? Do you use them to your advantage?
Well no. I got pulled over by the police last week because my lights were off. And no, acting didn’t help me, it even made it worse and I got my fine.
I don’t try to impress girls with my acting. I’ve never pulled a girl and said “Hi, I’m an actor” because I guess if a girl comes to me and says “I’m an actress” I’ll laugh.
What inspires you more – love or pain?
Love, but not specifically towards a woman. The love of life and beauty. It doesn’t always have to be love for a particular person. My love for art drives my creativity.
How did the pandemic affect your profession?
I shouldn’t complain because I have a permanent job. But I often think about freelancers who don’t have a full-time contract with a theater?
What is happening to those people who have children, rents, mortgages and bills?
What do you love about Plovdiv?
The cool thing about Plovdiv is that everything is nearby. Here I know that I come to the center and I can go to the opera, I can go to the theater, I can go to a literary reading, everything is in the same area. My favorite is to have a beer and chill on one of the hills, most often on Sahat Tepe, or Nebet Tepe. If I feel like partying, I go to Kapana, of course.
I love Plovdiv, I feel like this is where I want to be at the moment.
Is there anything in the cultural life of our city that you would like to improve?
We have no events guide. I don’t know what to call it, but this sounds right. I want to have a place online where you go and browse all ongoing cultural events in one place, with updates and all.
There are similar sites, but they are not exhaustive and you have to search on different sites. It is not very organised, I’m afraid. I find out about most events from friends. But what about tourists, people from abroad?
Finally, tell me something I haven’t asked you about.
I really want our city to keep developing because it has such potential and so many amazing people. I meet them all the time. I didn’t know that many people before. Now I meet new people who have always been here, which is super cool because I keep rediscovering Plovdiv. I really hope I will keep meeting more cool people and they will stay in Plovdiv. Because many leave, but also many return.