Epic of the Forgotten

after Ivan Vazov

Dramaturgical adaptation: Emil Bonev

Director: Bogdan Petkanin

Set Designer: Milen Borichev

Costume Designer: Zaneta Ivanova

Original Music: Georgi Garchov

Featuring: Nikola Parashkevov, Zlatko Angelov, Tihomir Blagoev, Ivan Grigorov, Stefan Ivanov, Viktor Mladenov, Asen Lozanov, Yana Nikolova / Nikol Karabinova, Zornitsa Konstantinova, Simona Bogdanov

About the performance

The stage adaptation of Ivan Vazov’s great poetic work Epic of the Forgotten is an inspiring performance about the heroes whom history must never forget.

The production transforms Vazov’s words into flesh and blood, presenting audiences with forgotten heroes—clergy, revolutionaries, and national awakeners—people who built the Bulgarian national conscience through their deeds and self-sacrifice. The figures of Benkovski, Kocho, the Zhekov brothers, Kableshkov, Paisius, the Miladinov brothers, Hadzhi Dimitar, Volov, Karadzhata, and the Shipka Volunteers become symbols of moral purity and idealism, standing in stark contrast to today’s forgetfulness and indifference.

Through a contemporary theatrical language, a powerful visual concept, and emotionally charged acting, the performance raises questions about memory, national identity, and every generation’s responsibility toward the past.

Epic of the Forgotten is not merely a historical reconstruction—it is a voice that resonates in the present, calling on us to remember, to honor, and to prove worthy of those who devoted their lives to Bulgaria.

The project was realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture.