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Lilia Abadjieva

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lilia Abadjieva (Bulgarian: Лилия Абаджиева; born 3 November 1966) is a Bulgarian theatre director, known for her re-interpretations of Shakespeare's plays. She has taken part in a number of international festivals and received numerous awards.

Biography

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Lilia Abadjieva was born in Sofia, in 1966.[1] In 1998 she was awarded a master's degree in theatre direction by the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia.[1][2] By 2008, Abadjieva became artist in residence at Westmont College[3]

She has been directing film and theatre productions in Eastern and Central Europe for more than ten years. Many of these productions were re-interpretations of Shakespearian tragedies.[1] Her avant-garde work is unconventional and controversial. She describes herself as l'enfant terrible of Bulgarian theatre.[2]

Abadjieva focusses on deconstructing classic works, then rebuilding them in a form of "cultural travesty".[1] For example, she would rebuild Shakespeare's Othello or Measure for Measure in the style of punk rock, recreating them in a fast paced montage of selected scenes, in a manner reminiscent of MTV.[1] Her performances have been described as "post-totalitaian 1990s were defined by textually fragmented, physically expressive adaptations" of Shakespeare.[4]

Abadjieva's productions include Shakespeare's Othello,[1] Hamlet,[5] Romeo and Juliet,[1][6] and Measure for Measure,[1] Gogol's The Government Inspector, Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther[7] and Beckett's Waiting for Godot[8]

Awards

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Amongst other awards, she received an award from the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria for developing and disseminating Bulgarian culture, and in 2005 she won the Union of Bulgarian Artist's award for the best play of the season for her production of Othello for the Bulgarian National Theatre.[2]

She also received awards for productions in Egypt, North Macedonia, and Russia.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Fliotsos, Anne; Vierow, Wendy (2013-10-15). International Women Stage Directors. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-09585-6.
  2. ^ a b c d Elizabeth Schwyzer (2006-10-11). "Stormy Weather: The Tempestuous Bulgarian National Theatre Hits Town". The Santa Barbara Independent. Archived from the original on 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  3. ^ "Global Theater Honored on Local Stage". Westmont College. 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
  4. ^ Dobson, Michael; Wells, Stanley; Sharpe, Will; Sullivan, Erin (2015-10-15). The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-105815-8.
  5. ^ Chaudhuri, Sukanta; Lim, Chee Seng; Guntner, Lawrence (2006). Shakespeare Without English: The Reception of Shakespeare in Non-anglophone Countries. Pearson Education India. p. 168. ISBN 978-81-7758-142-3.
  6. ^ Donelan, Charles (2008-05-15). "Lit Moon Theatre At Home and Abroad". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
  7. ^ Herbert, Ian; Leclercq, Nicole (2000). The World of Theatre: An Account of the Theatre Seasons 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99. Taylor & Francis. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-415-23866-3.
  8. ^ Beckett, Samuel (2008). "WAITING FOR GODOT – International Theatre Festival "Varna Summer"". viafest.org. Retrieved 2025-04-12.