Sofia Becomes a Stage: 42 National Theatre Actors Perform Live from 10 Locations in the Theatrical Event “Hedda Gabler”

Forty-two actors will perform across ten different locations in Sofia in the theatrical event of the season. Internationally acclaimed director Timofey Kulyabin will presents the long-awaited premiere of Hedda Gabler on the Main Stage of the National Theatre on May 31. The three subsequent performances are scheduled for June 1, 3, and 4.

Leading the cast are Radina Kardjilova as Hedda Tesman, Darin Angelov as Jørgen Tesman, and Deyan Donkov as Judge Brack – the central trio in a tense and seductive love triangle where every move carries emotional weight. They are joined by Boyka Velkova, Ana Papadopulu, Ivan Yurukov, Albena Stavreva, and dozens more of Bulgaria’s finest theatre talents.

Hedda Gabler does more than tell a story—it conquers space, shifts boundaries, and immerses the audience in the labyrinth of a modern society where the stage is everywhere, and life itself becomes the ultimate performance.

The play unfolds simultaneously on stage at the National Theatre and live across various real-life urban settings. Live streams from different parts of Sofia are broadcast in seamless synchronization onto the theatre stage, intensifying the dramatic rhythm.

Actors perform live in functioning environments—cafés, bookstores, a reading room, an operational hotel, a cathedral, a private apartment, and a diner. The narrative of Hedda Gabler progresses through a total of ten different real-world locations.

"It's a production that unfolds both in and out of the theatre, in reality and in art - like a bold visual and technical symphony," say the theatre team.

Timofey Kulyabin, a visionary and master of contemporary theatrical language, reimagines the classic play with audacity and scale. Following his award-winning digital production Nora, which received the 2024 Icarus Award for technical mastery, Kulyabin returns with an even more ambitious challenge—an immersive performance where art merges with urban life, and stage and camera coalesce into a new dimension of theatrical experience.