In the theater, Vili Tsankov seeks not comfort, but confrontation. For more than five decades, he staged over 130 performances, directed 15 films and remains among the most recognizable names on the Bulgarian stage and screen. He died on October 21, 2007, but his recorded conversations continue to reveal a director who does not accept ready-made answers about art.
Tsankov was born on June 7, 1924. He graduated in theater directing in 1952 at the State Higher Theater School “Krustyo Sarafov“ in the class of Boyan Danovski, and later specialized at the Moscow Art Theater. He worked in Shumen and Varna, and then joined the Burgas Drama Theater. He made his film debut with “Between the Rails“, which was awarded the “Lion of St. Mark“ in Venice in 1964. His other films include “Igrek 17“ and “The Weddings of John Assen II“.
“My main attraction has always been tragedy“
In a 1995 interview, the director explained why dramatic stories are closer to him than comedy:
He admits that he has staged comedies, but defines them as a side direction in his work. In the same conversation, Tsankov also spoke about his interest in suffering, death and human trials — themes that, according to his own words, he feels more strongly.
Doubt in the “ennobling“ power
Tsankov does not accept the automatic belief that art necessarily makes people better. In his interview with the Bulgarian National Radio he said:
“I doubt the strong impact of art, respectively of theater, on the ennobling of man.“This position does not deny the importance of the stage, but questions the easy explanation that a performance in itself can change the viewer. For Tsankov, theater is a space of testing, in which one must be involved, not simply taught.
Theatre as Rebellion and Purification
According to the recollections of actor Mihail Bilalov, Vili Tsankov told the actors that “theater is the weapon with which one rebels“. In this understanding, the stage is not a slogan, but a way of opposing fear, hypocrisy and ready-made ideological formulas.
The same thought has another side. Tsankov warned that theater should not turn rebellion into an end in itself. For him, the stage is a “means of purification“, and a misunderstood provocation can repel the audience instead of making them think.
In addition to being a director, Vili Tsankov is the author of seven novels, collections of short stories and books on theatrical art. He received the “Golden Chest“, “ICAR“ and “Askeer“ awards for his entire career in 2001. His thoughts remain valuable precisely because they do not offer a comforting recipe: art can shake a person, but the change after that depends on the person himself.
Sources: archives.bnr.bg, new.bnr.bg, 168chasa.bg