Stoyan Bachvarov Dramatic Theatre
Varna's drama company in the monumental theatre building on Independence Square.
Varna's first professional company was formed in 1921 by the actor Stoyan Bachvarov, whose name the theatre has carried since. It is one of the oldest and largest repertory companies in Bulgaria, staging classical and modern drama on a main stage and a smaller branch stage, and it hosts guest productions from other Bulgarian and foreign theatres. The building is also a venue for the International Theatre Festival Varna Summer, one of the longest-running festivals of its kind in the country.
The theatre occupies the monumental building on Independence Square in the centre of Varna, begun in March 1912 to a design by Nikola Lazarov. Construction was interrupted by the Balkan Wars, the First World War and the economic crisis that followed, and resumed only in 1929 under the architects Dabko Dabkov and Zhelyazko Bogdanov; it was finished in June 1932. The exterior combines Secession detailing with neo-baroque elements, and the same building also houses the Varna State Opera.
Highlights
- Company founded in 1921 by the actor Stoyan Bachvarov
- Monumental Secession and neo-baroque building of 1932
- Main stage and a smaller branch stage
- A principal venue of the Varna Summer theatre festival
