Alexander Morfov accepts the managing post at the National Theatre of Bulgaria 

       A management crisis occurred in the end of December and turned into yet another obstacle in the life of the National Theatre. Pavel Vasev, who was the long-term artistic director decided to retire. His five-year mandate ended in the beginning of 2014 but he kept his position for almost one year longer. The Ministry of Culture was supposed to hold a selection procedure for appointing the new artistic director of the National but the procedure was postponed due to the constant changes in the cabinet. The debate about who should be the new artistic director was an on-going media and professional topic for discussion. On 15th December the theatre was left without a manager. Due to systematic underfinancing of the theatre and problems connected with general political instability a number of established managers refused to take the post admittedly finding it a challenge under the current circumstances. Pavel Vasev was offered another extension of the mandate until a permanent solution was found but he refused. 

The company of a national cultural institution is not an easy one either. The highly recognised artists set an even higher bar for the person on top of such an institution. For a certain period of time the theatre ran without a director when eventually a controversial and certainly unexpected figure was appointed. The company of the National was not consulted but simply informed about the new artistic director by the media. This decision was met by the company with strong refusal to accept the new manager and eventually led to his withdrawal. On 5th January this year Alexander Morfov was appointed artistic director of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre of Bulgaria. The company of the theatre was thrilled to receive the news. Morfov admits that he was not motivated by any ambition, and accepted the offer temporarily – only to safeguard the integrity of the company until a working solution to the management crisis was found. Morfov’s position is currently an acting director – until the Ministry of Culture in Bulgaria holds a selecting procedure for a regular full-term mandate.