EdFringe Talk: The Brief Life & Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria

Posted in EdFestivals 2023 by

“We are excited to root out the brilliant stories that need to be told and are especially keen to see if there are other performances by Bulgarian makers in the festival programme.”

WHO: Claire Gilbert

WHAT: “Bulgaria just told Hitler to f*ck off, saved nearly 50,000 Jewish lives… and lost a King. ‘Whether a jazz fan, a history buff or just someone who loves gripping real-life stories, this is a must see.’ (Kyril, Prince of Preslav, Boris III’s Grandson). A camel. A fox. A difficult choice. Meet the men who could’ve done more, the women who did the most, and the reasons the world forgot them. Five-star award-winning ensemble blending history and live folk tunes.”

WHERE: Pleasance Dome – QueenDome (Venue 23) 

WHEN: 17:20 (70 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

As a company this is our first time at The Edinburgh Festival. Our Exec Producer (& Co-Writer) Joseph Cullen has visited previously when at university, but this is the first time for Sasha Wilson (Artistic Director) and Out Of The Forest Theatre. We are really excited to be bringing an international story to the International Festival, and we have been fortunate to receive support from The Bulgarian Embassy in London, so we are hopeful that the show may have a future international life in 2024 and beyond. We have had a brilliant time at VAULT Festival in London, and this feels like the next big step on the Festival ladder. We are excited to root out the brilliant stories that need to be told and are especially keen to see if there are other performances by Bulgarian makers in the festival programme.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

As a company we are three people in their early 30s and have so far been operating on a ‘let’s just make the shows and if we make money, we make money’ basis, which was fine, for a bit. As our priorities have shifted and our aims matured, we have really worked hard in the last year to be more focused in the way that we communicate with each other, weekly check-in meetings and regular updates etc. This has helped us as we all branch out individually as well, so we are being respectful about each other’s time within the company. In 2022 we tried to stage a tour of our 2021 ‘Louisa & Jo (& Me)’, but we just did not have the capacity between us to make it happen, and we made the decision to pull the tour and regroup when we were ready. This was definitely the right decision and encouraged us to focus instead on ‘The Brief Life & Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria’, which is a story about the Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria’s Jewish Population during WW2 – a story that needs to be passed on!

Tell us about your show.

We are the stories we tell ourselves, and our societies reflect the stories that we pass on. Sasha’s Opapa (grandfather, who passed away in 2022 at the ripe old age of nearly 101!) passed on the story of this Heroic Rescue via the book ‘A Crown of Thorns’ by Stephen Groueff. In 2017 we were given this book, and in 2019 we opened it, and by 2020 we were staging ‘The Brief Life & Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria’ at VAULT Festival, one week before the first Covid lockdown.

Co-written by Sasha Wilson & Joseph Cullen, with additional help by members of the company and Dramaturgy by Hannah Hauer-King. Produced by Claire Gilbert for Out Of The Forest Theatre, and with great thanks to our Production Assistant Lorra Videv and the whole company. We have also had the privilege of working with Dessi Stefanova (London Bulgarian Choir) who has passed on instrumental knowledge about Bulgarian choral singing.

We are actually performing the show on the 80th Anniversary of Boris III’s death in 1943, August 28th (our final show), and we have been very fortunate to be invited to stage a one-off performance at The Bulgarian Embassy in London the following week. We have a few dates confirmed for a tour next May/June – so keep your eyes peeled as we announce venues!

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

We have been so fortunate to see the work made by James Rowland over the last few years – his show ‘Piece Of Work’ at Summerhall will be brilliant, as will Adam Scott Rowley’s ‘You Are Going To Die’ (Summerhall).

Callum Patrick Hughes ‘Thirst’ (Pleasance) we have seen 4 times now, and will watch again. Callum’s mate David Shopland’s company Fake Escape is bringing ‘Raising Kane’ to Assembly. We are keen to see the comedy of Janine Harouni, Joe Wells, and our friend Gabi MacPherson AND our Production Assistant Lorra Videv have places in So You Think You’re Funny? Edinburgh Heats and we cannot wait to see them as well!

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