Българската Медея - текстове, спектакли, политика и реклама

The Bulgarian reception of Euriprdes' Medea is complicated and controversial. The paper presents the discrepancies between the literary and the theatrical aspect of the reception. Special emphasis is given to the unprecedented intensity of the current stagings of the tragedy. The increasing degree of invention in that wave of recent adventurous adaptations appeares as a sort of compensation for the absence of transgressive and experimental spirit typical for the Western stage of the 1960s from the scenic reception of Medea in Bulgaria during the respective decade. Discussed is the important role, independent from Euripides' play, which the theme plays in Bulgarian culture and society (in music, in literature, in modern ballet, in painting and artistic photography, as well as in politics and advertisement) as well as the paradox involved in the fact that the Medea figure invades the political discourse actually before the tragedy itself has been translated and staged to stay there permanently remaining impressively productive.