NO, THANK YOU!

Playwriting - Albena Nenkova

Director and music - Ovanes Torosyan

Set and costumes - Borisa Sarafova-Cherkelova

Photographer - Georgi Sirkatov

Voice - Antony Penev

Cast - Borisa Sarafova-Cherkelova

We find ourselves inside the theatre. On this particular day the theatre is empty. Everyone is on tour in the village of Trastenik. Only the wardrobe mistress Nevenka (Borisa Sarafova-Cherkelova) has been left alone in the theatre by chance. The open-doors day is heading for failure. Who will tell the guests about the theatre? Unexpectedly, Nevenka – invisible to everyone – finds herself „in the spotlight“, exactly where she has secretly always dreamed of being. What does this seemingly ordinary woman, forced to speak, have to tell us? Will she perhaps decide, on this very day, to give voice to her problems – and what are they? No, this is not a drama, but an attempt – through much laughter, love and candour, and through the talent of Borisa Sarafova-Cherkelova and the direction of Ovanes Torosyan – to see ourselves in one another.

„No, Thank You!“ is a story about the little person who has found refuge in the illusion called „theatre“. It is a solo performance dedicated to the people in the theatre who are invisible to the audience. Who are they? Can we see ourselves in them? What do they have to tell us?

Director Ovanes Torosyan is also the author of the 12 musical pieces and song lyrics for the performance.
„No, Thank You“ is the first staged theatrical text by the author Albena Nenkova, who has worked in the field of art and culture for years.

„No, Thank You!“ is the first solo performance in the theatrical career of the actress Borisa Sarafova-Cherkelova. She dedicates it to her beloved home town of Pleven!

What the team of „No, Thank You!“ shares:

Ovanes Torosyan

As a director, through this private story I seek to reach the message that, through the illusion of „theatre“, we can learn to be grateful. For me this is the shortest path to happiness, to love, to the beginning, to the new, to change, Ovanes Torosyan shares.

I am interested in the connection between gratitude and art; the escape into this illusion is like a last attempt for a person to learn to give thanks. Here I include myself, with my human mistakes, which I probably do not realise, but which can be put right. This is also my attempt, through this text, to develop the theme of gratitude, which is very important to me, because I am grateful to the Bulgarians for accepting me into their home, for giving me a language, an education and citizenship. I extended a hand, and it was taken by the Bulgarians. I cannot but be grateful.

How do we give the other person the chance to be good, since that is the greater kindness? The answer is before our eyes - by thanking them! To have the chance to give to another is at the heart of my directorial quest, Ovanes Torosyan shares.

Borisa Sarafova-Cherkelova

I decided to make my first solo performance, which I quite consciously dedicate to my beloved home town of Pleven, the actress Borisa Sarafova-Cherkelova shares. This is my gift, from a daughter of Pleven, to Pleven. I have been on the staff of the Pleven theatre for eight years, and my first time on stage was to present flowers to Georgi Kaloyanchev and Stoyanka Mutafova in this same theatre. I was four years old then.

The challenge in this solo performance is to show the femininity that exists within me, even to myself – the femininity I have always hidden. I want to show my own face on stage; that is the greater challenge for me. And let me not forget – thank you for everything!

„No, Thank You!“ is the first realised theatrical text by Albena Nenkova. She works in the field of art and culture - writer, screenwriter, editor and television professional.

song lyrics - Ovanes Torosyan

Premiere - 1 and 11 February 2025.