Kalin Sarmenov to FACT: Our theater is bankrupt, and the state budget is being spent arbitrarily!

Bulgarian culture is in a critical state, and the theater scene is collapsing under the weight of chaotic management and lack of state policy. The lack of an up-to-date budget, constant changes in rules and chaos after COVID-measures have led to the financial collapse of theaters and the degradation of the cultural market. And in fact, culture is not just entertainment – it is an investment in the future, in the building of educated and well-mannered people who can preserve values and resist social and moral decline. And what else… Kalin Sarmenov, director of the “Satirical Theater“, speaks to FACT.

– Mr. Sarmenov, you say that “there is money for culture, the question is how it is managed“. Where exactly does the chain break in the management of funds in culture?
- The chain breaks in the competence of the people who make decisions. It does not break in those who use or work with the system. It has always been like this. The problem is lagging behind in time, because in order to make this reform in culture, quite serious decisions must be made. These decisions must be supported both politically and purely emotionally, so that the industry is aware that there will be upheavals. So far, there has been no government in the last six or seven years that has solved the problems systematically. It is simply that no one wants to put a hedgehog in their pants.

- So we need a minister with character, am I to understand that?
- Exactly, but we have not had a real minister of culture. What does it mean to have a minister for five-six-seven months? This is frivolous work. And in the last five years we have only been dealing with such things. After COVID came, there were some measures that were taken in view of the situation, but the symptoms of problems in culture had already begun. Then things stabilized, but even then it was clear that there was a problem. But the COVID measures saved us. After the measures were lifted, this incredible Bulgarian disorder began - changing governments every few months, and therefore budgets. We still do not have an up-to-date budget.

- How exactly does the lack of a state budget directly affect theaters, if you can explain?
- The state budget is reflected, in simple terms, in the fact that everything is becoming more expensive. In the last four and a half years, price parameters have changed, while our budgets remain the same as four and a half years ago. This is the easiest to explain. This is about salaries, materials, wood, equipment, fabrics and everything else we need. We don't have enough. We make money, but this money goes into the state budget. The state budget is already spent on whatever is deemed necessary, and we are allocated money based on the old plans. The plans are from four and a half years ago, and this is where the huge difference occurs.

We - in the theaters, have really gone bankrupt, but no one admits it or says it. Culture has gone bankrupt.

And now I am waiting with sincere hope for these working groups that the Minister of Culture is talking about to start. And let's see what will happen, because there is simply no other way. Everything began to fall apart. It was already clear in September that a problem was looming, but even then everything was still being covered up. Finally, we, the directors of the theaters, got together and told each other the truth, because we were also lying to each other. One person asks the other, "How are you?" The other one replies: “I am very well!“ And the next one is also very well. His mother is crying. Everyone is trying to survive, because now there are competitions for directors. That is the terrifying thing about this system. The beginning of the competition is a completely separate topic. We sat down at the table, laid out our cards. They still didn't reveal themselves completely. I am the only one who talks in numbers. If you notice, the other directors don't talk in numbers. They always talk about numbers. I have no problem. The important thing is that we agreed that we are all on the same level. The point is that we simply need a very strong hand in the culture.

- What exactly needs to change? Structure, people or rules?
- The rules need to be changed. This methodology in question that we have at the moment needs to be changed... Things in the methodology that need to be changed are about the principle of financing, because they are already outdated in terms of thinking. They need to be adapted, in parallel with this, a new type of financing needs to be thought of, a categorization needs to be made. This categorization will give a clear picture of the state, from there it will be seen which are the priority spaces and which are not. Because it is not possible now to claim that all theaters are the same. My respect to Razgrad and Haskovo, and Shumen, and even Pazardzhik - we have nothing to do with these theaters. I am speaking as a problem related to the audience, competition and price parameters. The state must finally admit that all this is problematic, and seek a solution. I have nothing against someone saying that free spaces, for example, are more important than us. Let them tell me that in the history of Satire, the spaces of Kaloyanchev, Partsalev, Lolova, etc. - they are not important, let's see the others. I just get angry at their way of thinking. If they tell me that, I will accept it. But I do not accept that the environment simply destroys the logic of theatrical presence. I give this example often: a spectator came with a bottle of wine, wanted to enter the hall to watch theater, because in some "free spaces" he was allowed. They do not have a license for them, they should have been licensed a long time ago. And there is something else. Producers appeared. We have about seventy free producers. This is an assault on the system. These same people said that they also want funding. To such an extent has the degraded yard lost the logic of cause-and-effect relationships that they also want funding because they make cultural products. And the situation is getting worse. When there is no statehood and vision, everyone becomes for themselves. We - in Bulgaria, have not had a state for the last four and a half years, which is why thefts and other things happen.

- You criticize the financing of the National Fund “Culture“. Do you think there is ambiguity and abuse there?
- What do you mean I think? How do we define it - as honesty? It is again based on the lack of statehood. When there is no statehood, everyone goes where they want and does what they want. Fund “Culture“ - what about the theaters, what thefts have happened in Smolyan, Pazardzhik and Razgrad. Millions have been stolen, and nothing is happening. And in a government that was not last year, but the year before last.

- Yes, the scandals in the theaters were shocking…
- There is no state, I say it again. When there is no state, everyone does what they want. They have no relation to anything. The so-called “revolutionary Bulgarian spirit“ is magnificent. The new ones come and start – now we will change, we will remove this one, this one is bad, that one is fat, that one is a peasant. And what do we put in? Another oligophrenic, people without capacity, after which all this comes back to us, because they do not do any work. And we are starting to get stuck. We had a minister, Nasko, who sat at the window and wished us a nice Friday. Since then, the last logical system that we had ended in 2019. Then COVID came and then the stagnation began.

But these people don't realize that this “revolutionary spirit of stupidity“ leads to an absolutely helpless state.

Years ago, there was a party that won elections and they told us what it would bring us. So these Bulgarians, who are outside Bulgarians, they will bring some terrible things to us, who are in Bulgaria. This is a tribe, we are not a society. That's why we brought it to this point. No matter how much I spit on various political scientists and commentators on TV, this is the truth. Everyone is trying to distort things in order to give them some means to survive.

- How do you keep young actors in the theater?
- With logic, with principles and with clear criteria. An evaluation system that is the same and clear for everyone. This is the only thing a talented person needs to know. Otherwise, when they tell me: “It is relative, art is relative to the consumer, to the viewer.“ But it is not relative to the professional. When you are a professional, it is impossible for you to tell me: “It is relative whether you will like it or not.“ This is complete nonsense. Talentlessness has permeated to such an extent everywhere in Bulgaria that we have turned it into a criterion, i.e. the lack of a criterion is a criterion. I try to give my young colleagues and students clear, precise rules and criteria. An evaluation system through which you can set your watch and know where you are in the puzzle.

- You often raise the topic of categorization of cultural institutions. What would this criterion look like theatrically?
- It's not my job to say more. Whatever I say, it will be distorted by the free-thinking angels. The one who bears responsibility - the ministry - must take it on. If they ask me and we sit at a round table, I can give more specific ideas. But the decision is not made by us in the theaters. It should be clear who bears responsibility. And precisely because of this fear that responsibility must be taken, it is not done. Since no one wants to take responsibility, that's why we are in this situation.

- Do you see real political will for cultural reforms?
- There is no political will and there has never been any in the last four and a half years. Everything ended in 2019. There is no political position that has put culture as a priority. The people who should make decisions do not know what culture is. They look at us as some kind of appendage and say: "Well, give those in culture something to shut up and stop bothering us." They don't know that culture is not "some play, others dance, others play and sing," but something that is passed on, educated and is an investment in the future. So that one day young people don't kill animals for some websites. Not to tell sad stories. So that the things in Petrokhan don't happen. So that all these perversions that we are witnessing don't happen. And so that you can lend a hand to your neighbor, to the elderly. To make way on the street, to be polite when you enter a restaurant. All these things are culture, but it is invested in. To get to this, there are means through which this can be achieved. One of the means is the performing arts. No one thinks of this, because these are scumbags who come from some villages, they are trying to survive too. This is not a state. Because in our country, for every three in the state sector, two are in the private sector. These are sociological studies from quite recently. The state feeds the entire population. Everyone wants to go and steal from the state. On top of that, the financial indicators of the state sector are already far above the financial parameters in the private sector.

- What is the attendance today compared to 2019, when you say things were sorted out?
- Viewers are an important criterion, but they are not a clear indicator. Viewer interest is influenced by many factors - war, rising fuel prices, panic due to lack of political stability, we changed the leva to the euro.

- People are closing down, is this a fact?
- The price increase also has an impact. We - in the theater, are not a base, but a superstructure. However, the superstructure is influenced by the base. If we were selling yellow cheese and making cheese, it probably wouldn't be exactly like that. The state does not realize the need for culture. We are oppressing the audience, because if relations in the so-called theater market are not regulated - I mean private theaters and state theaters, we are ruining the audience, we are constantly flooding them with nonsense. When we go to a city to perform and I see only the posters, I feel sick. What are these people doing? They should live only for theater. The state has no leverage to save our space, because it does not know the priorities. And when they tell me: this is on a market basis, this is the open market. This is nonsense about the "open market". If I go out to sell tomatoes on “Rakovska“, they will come and take me away because I am not licensed, because I am not allowed to sell tomatoes on “Rakovski“ street. And we in culture... Sell your tomatoes wherever you want, there is no drama. When you pass by “Salza i smyah“, they are already undressing and naked on the posters. Go and take a look. This is bullying of the audience and the people. And then what about the quality of the cinema, the series and everything we watch. No one is bad to you. When you are lost, nothing will ever happen.