site.btaDirector John Malkovich: "I Have Seen a Lot of Rough Things in My Life"

In an interview with BTA’s Dahnyelle Dymytrov here on Saturday, director John Malkovich commented on the uproar caused by the premiere of George Bernard Shaw’s play Arms and the Man in the Ivan Vazov National Theatre this week.

On Thursday evening, tension escalated outside the theatre in downtown Sofia as protestors tried to stop the opening of the play directed by Malkovich, irritated with the way Bulgarians are portrayed. Despite the protest, the play was staged and watched by a small audience, mostly comprised of reporters, as the angry protesters refused to allow ticket holders to enter the building.

Asked whether what happened at the premiere had caused him to lose some of his faith in the goodness of humanity, Malkovich said, "I have seen a lot of rough things in my life".

"Sadly, I think it is quite a charming, funny play, with very rich and interesting Bulgarian characters. So that makes me sad. It is unfortunate. Already from this summer, I had been told this could be a contentious piece to play. I told the theater, 'Listen, I probably can't do another play this year because it is too late to choose something and get it together […] But of course I'm happy to do it if you want to go ahead with it'. And that was the decision of the National Theatre, which I respect, and I am very happy to have done it," the director said.

"I think if an audience comes, they will enjoy it. I simply do not think it is offensive at all," Malkovich added. He said he was "quite cynical about politics and ideology", adding that "what people use for political attention or political power is not something I particularly enjoy, and I stay away from politics at all costs". "My job is to work in theater and in movies. My job in this case is to direct a play, and I have loved doing that. Working with the actors here has been a delight," he noted.

"I'm too old to change. I like people. I rarely meet someone I cannot get along with or cannot work with. That almost never happens in my entire life, and I am 70 years old. […] I find common ground with quite a number of people in my life, and I do not find people disappointing really. They are just people," Malkovich said.