Online! “Coffee with a claim”

Dear friends,

This Thursday, 14.10.2021, from 18:00 GMT, we have the pleasure to present you the theatrical production “Coffee with a claim”.

 

 “COFFEE WITH A CLAIM” is not the original title of Georgi Markov. 

The comedy was first published in 1965 in the edition of the Committee for Culture as “We the Cats” – a title under which is the first staging of the play in the theater “Labor Front”, with the actor Yuri Yakovlev. Unfortunately, the same year the theater closed and the premiere was never reached. In 1966 in the magazine “Theater Library”, the play by Georgi Markov was published with the title “COFFEE WITH A CLAIM”.

        

 Interestingly, even this harmless comedy depicting a failed “Dump” of three typical representatives of the urban bohemia from the period of the 60s in Sofia, provokes many comments and contradictory assessments. Some contemporaries of the era see themselves in the images of the heroes, for whom the emblematic restaurants of that time – the cafe of “Crystal”, “Prague”, “Astoria” … are not only meeting places, but also a stage for personal expression in front of the ladies of the urban elite. Others recognize themselves in the characters they discuss … In the end, many of the “critics” loudly protested against the publication of the play. However, in the following years “COFFEE WITH A CLAIM” was played in Gabrovo, as well as on the stage of the Haskovo Theater, where the director was Eddie Schwartz, and the roles were played by Vasil Mihailov, Stefan Germanov and Georgi Enchev. The comic plot of “COFFEE WITH A CLAIM” took us to Sofia in 1966.

 

Team:

Author: Georgi Markov

Directed by: Ivan Urumov

Scenography and costumes: Nina Pashova

Music: Donnie – Dobrin Vekilov

Participants: Ivan Radoev, Monyo Monev, Julian Vergov

 

Synopsis:

In the apartment of Milcho (Julian Vergov) – 43 years old, head of an advertising bureau. We find him there together with his “affair” – 43-year-old Milko (Ivan Radoev). A feverish preparation is underway in anticipation of two ladies, spoken by chance during the day, over a coffee on “Rakovska” … head of the technical documentation of the service ”, and with regard to women he is extremely inexperienced. At the culmination of the preparation, their third friend, 43-year-old Minko (Monyu Monev), a researcher in Old Bulgarian, arrived in the apartment uninvited. His deepest desire is to escape from the “family coziness” in whose shackles he soon found himself and to drink with his friends. This night and its unexpected outcome create a bunch of ridiculous and funny situations. A, at first glance, unpretentious meeting, inflated with a lot of pretensions.

The video can be viewed on the Youtube channel and the Facebook page of BCI London

Be sure to share your impressions and comments below the video so we can continue broadcasting our new online projects.

Enjoy watching!