{"id":2278,"date":"2026-09-05T11:13:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/?page_id=2278"},"modified":"2026-09-05T11:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:19:10","slug":"festival","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/bg\/festival\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0424\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0438\u0432\u0430\u043b"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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EX Machina<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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EX MACHINA \u2014 International Festival for Ancient Theatre<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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EX MACHINA is an international festival for professional and youth ancient theatre, organized by the Foundation for Ancient Theatre \u201cOgnyan Radev\u201d in partnership with institutions from Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Spain.
It explores the connections between culture and education, antiquity and modernity, and high culture and everyday life.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The festival brings together professional and youth productions inspired by ancient texts and ideas, creating a space where classical heritage meets contemporary performance and public dialogue.
Its core themes are:
\u2022 Antiquity and the contemporary world
\u2022 Theatre and education
\u2022 Academic knowledge and the performing arts<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Programme<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The festival features:
\u2022 Youth performances during the day<\/strong>
\u2022 Professional productions in the evening<\/strong>
\u2022 Awards ceremony and roundtable discussion with jury members and special guests on the final day<\/strong>
The discussions are open to everyone interested in ancient theatre and its connections to philosophy, contemporary life, language, speech, psychology, wine, architecture, and more.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Editions<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t
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EX MACHINA \u2014 First Edition (April 3\u20135)<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The first festival hosted professional and youth ancient theatre productions from Bulgaria, Italy, and Greece.[ancienttheatre]
The jury included directors, scenographers, philologists, philosophers, composers, actors, visual artists, and sommeliers, who evaluated performances from multiple professional perspectives.[ancienttheatre]
The closing roundtable brought together experts from academia, the creative industries, and entrepreneurship.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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EX MACHINA: ACADEMIA \u2014 Second Edition (May 2\u20133, 2026)<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The second edition continued the festival\u2019s international mission and added a stronger educational dimension through a partnership with the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA).
Highlights included:
\u2022 \u201cPhaedo\u201d after Plato (Ancient Theatre \u201cOgnyan Radev\u201d, Sofia)<\/strong> \u2014 a contemporary theatrical interpretation of Plato\u2019s dialogue on the soul, death, and truth, later presented in Sicily at an ancient theatre.
\u2022 \u201cIn Praise of Folly\u201d (Italy)<\/strong> \u2014 combining Euripides and Erasmus of Rotterdam to explore tragedy, irony, and the limits of reason.
\u2022 \u201cHelen\u201d by Euripides (Greece)<\/strong> \u2014 youth production offering a modern perspective on ancient myth.
\u2022 \u201cPrometheus\u201d (Bulgaria)<\/strong> \u2014 a dance-theatre work inspired by the myth of rebellion, sacrifice, and knowledge.
\u2022 \u201cHades and Persephone\u201d (Bulgaria)<\/strong> \u2014 an interactive educational performance using drama-based learning methodology.
The festival also featured:
\u2022 An interactive semiotic game \u201cUrban Labyrinth\u201d in Plovdiv\u2019s Old Town<\/strong>
\u2022 A wine tasting supported by the Balkan International Wine Competition<\/strong>
\u2022 A public discussion on Plato, philosophy, and the contemporary relevance of ancient heritage<\/strong>
The jury included director Yavor Gardev, composer Hristo Namliev, literary scholar Kamelia Spasova, and philosopher Dimitar Bozhkov.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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Partners<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t
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EX MACHINA is part of the International Network of Ancient Theatres AMENANOS NOSTOS, with editions in Italy, Greece, and Cyprus.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Key partners include:\n<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u2022 Plovdiv Municipality
\u2022 Plovdiv Opera
\u2022 Ancient Plovdiv
\u2022 Academy of Music, Dance, and Fine Arts \u201cProf. Asen Diamandiev\u201d
\u2022 National High School for Stage and Screen Arts \u2013 Plovdiv
\u2022 National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA)
\u2022 Italian Cultural Institute in Sofia
\u2022 Aristotle Cultural Organisation
\u2022 Italian Association for Ancient Theatre \u201cDIDE\u201d
\u2022 Bulgarian Association of Winemakers
\u2022 Free Plovdiv Tour
\u2022 Reflector Foundation
The festival has been held under the patronage of the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe (UNESCO) and with the support of the Embassies of Italy, Greece, and Cyprus in Bulgaria.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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EX Machina EX MACHINA \u2014 International Festival for Ancient Theatre EX MACHINA is an international festival for professional and youth ancient theatre, organized by the Foundation for Ancient Theatre \u201cOgnyan Radev\u201d in partnership with institutions from Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Spain.It explores the connections between culture and education, antiquity and modernity, and high culture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"unboxed","site-sidebar-style":"unboxed","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"enabled","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2278","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/bg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/bg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/bg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/bg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/bg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2278"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/bg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2286,"href":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/bg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2278\/revisions\/2286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinrmihaylov.xyz\/bg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}