A Play of Love and Honor

In his very first play, Kamen Zidarov demonstrated the distinctive features of his dramatic talent—vivid characters that convey the atmosphere of the time, exciting conflicts, and national color. But in Tsarska Milost, the fast-paced dramatic line is broken by a certain slowness and narrative style, by a certain disruption of the dramatic unity. What distinguishes the play "For the Honor of the Uniform" from "Royal Mercy" is the more clearly expressed conflict, the constantly intensifying dramatic tension, and at the same time the greater compositional coherence. The entire structure of "For the Honor of the Uniform" is more perfect, which shows that Kamen Zidarov's dramaturgical mastery has strengthened. At the center of the play, the playwright has placed a deep psychological conflict. Using the tools of drama and powerful dramatic situations, Zidarov has attempted to unfold the complex emotional drama of K. Zidarov, For the Honor of the Uniform, a drama published in the magazine Theater, vol. 6/1956. A man in whom the forces of love struggle with the forces of duty and honor. A great achievement for the author is the fact that he brings to the forefront in the play the psychological contradictions, the personal drama of the man. The clash between love and duty, the conflict between the dream of personal happiness and social obligations, is an old theme in drama. Kamen Zidarov has resolved this eternal problem in a new, original way, in a communist way.