Let's slap John... By Malkovich

It's sad, but I think this is a very funny and charming play, with very rich and interesting Bulgarian characters. So that makes me sad. That's a shame. Back in the summer, they told me that this could be a controversial performance. Then I told the theater: “Listen, this year I probably won't be able to do another play, because it's too late to choose something and prepare it.
But, of course, I would be happy to do it if you want to continue, and that's the decision of the National Theater, which I respect.“ And I'm very happy that I did it. I think that if an audience comes and watches, they will have fun. And I don't think there's anything offensive at all. That's what the American actor and director John Malkovich said, who staged the play “The Guns and the Man“ at the National Theater. And the premiere caused riots, actors were attacked, there were protests. Yes, from an advertising point of view there is no such thing as bad advertising, but has the line been crossed?

It is precisely about the different points of view that we are talking about. The point of view of a foreigner - John Malkovich, about a play by Bernard Shaw about Bulgarians and Bulgarian customs. Yes, for Malkovich this is a “funny and charming play“. Soldiers, fugitives, women, love and something else. Moreover, it was also presented as a typical Bulgarian (ed. - apparently this only applies to people with an exceptional sense of humor).

Because…
You have to have a truly exceptional sense of humor, theatrical knowledge and a passion for the performing arts in order to be satisfied – purely as a Bulgarian, from a scene in which the main character Sergius (ed. - between 38 and 40 minutes of the performance, the second video in the post), dressed in a military uniform, reciting love lyrics, whips himself on the buttocks, speaking with pathos to his beloved. The very combination of a whip, buttocks and a Bulgarian military uniform is… an extremely theatrical incarnation, a downright performance worthy of an Oscar!? No. There is no way a Bulgarian military uniform can be combined with a whip and buttocks. No, thank you! And we don't want to.

For John Malkovich this is a joke, a tease, it's somehow funny. And he's probably right. After all, he's a person who creates. When a person creates, there are no boundaries. Art is limitless. And somehow he's right about himself. But for the viewer, for the Bulgarian viewer, is it funny… Hardly. And let's get back to the different points of view.

It's already clear that for Malkovich this is funny. That's how he sees things, that's how he does them. He's the director. That's his point of view.

The actors' point of view is also acceptable, maybe. They appeared at a casting before John Malkovich. They were chosen. They participate in the play. Definitely a good mark - or as it was in the past, a "red dot" on the CV. Somehow they are satisfied.

The National Theater's point of view is also acceptable. John Malkovich comes to Bulgaria, stages a play. There's a fuss. A "red dot" for the theater too. He somehow becomes famous.

For the director of the National Theater, whoever he is, it's also some kind of "red dot". He brought John Malkovich for the second time. There is interest (ed. - this is already debatable), it sounds dignified, it enriches the theatrical life in Bulgaria.

The viewer's point of view... Here we will make only one clarification. The viewer's point of view will be best seen in the comments under the material. But let - or at least we hope so, comments be written by those who have either seen the production in the theater, or at least watched the premiere that was broadcast online. As they say, they will have the right to an informed choice when they comment, because they have dedicated 1:48 hours of their time (b.r. - that was the recording of the premiere online) to dedicate themselves to “The Gun and the Man“.

And we, in typical Bulgarian fashion, don't mind slapping little John, whoever he is, on the butt so that he sits theatrically peaceful and doesn't make noise in the living room while we watch “The Gun and the Man“… Maybe according to Malkovich.