by Charlotte Bomy, member of the German observatory
At the end of May, the Italian, Bulgarian and German MEDUSA observatories gathered in Domicella for the final stage of the selection process. Over several days, eight experts involved in the project presented their shortlists and engaged in intense discussions in order to arrive at a final selection of six plays that will circulate within the network. This working residency provided an opportunity for each observatory to share the challenges and questions they had encountered while researching and selecting texts. How is identity being explored in contemporary drama in Italy, Bulgaria and Germany today? In which social, political and historical contexts do these discussions take place? How can theatre give more visibility to marginalised perspectives and experiences that are often overlooked?
One of the main criteria for the selected texts was that they examined questions of gender identity, violence, empowerment and experiences of individuals whose identities remain marginalised within dominant social structures. Yet beyond these thematic concerns, the discussions quickly turned to another key idea at the heart of the project: the potential of a play to be tran slated into a new cultural context. What allows a text to travel beyond its local context? Can a play that deeplyresonates with Italian audiences speak equally to audiences in Bulgaria or Germany? Does a joke still work in translation? Are there theatrical forms that resist circulation across borders? These questions became central to the dialogue between the three observatories.
The exchanges also revealed differences in thematic tendencies across the participating countries. Certain issues appeared with particular frequency: youth violence in Bulgaria, migration and displacement in Italy, and social and educational inequality in Germany. At the same time, some topics that remain highly relevant in national public debates seemed to be largely absent from the shortlisted works – for instance, latent homophobia in Bulgaria or the ideology of motherhood in Italy. The discussions of the plays also focussed on the craft of playwriting. Attention was paid to how these stories were told. How does a play function theatrically? Which dramaturgical tools does it use to create meaning, generate empathy or challenge audiences? Many of the Bulgarian plays focused on intimate psychological portraits, often centred on a small group of characters at a decisive moment in their lives. The German texts, by contrast, frequently started from individual experiences in order to examine broader social mechanisms. They tended to move away from linear narratives and embraced more experimental dramaturgical forms.
While this formal inventiveness was highly valued by some participants, it was not always perceived as equally attractive by the Italian and Bulgarian experts, who were also keen to promote plays that remain accessible to wider audiences and adaptable to different theatrical contexts. Throughout the residency, one final question kept resurfacing: every selection inevitably implies exclusions. What happens to the themes, perspectives and voices that do not make it into the final six texts? How can a project committed to diversity acknowledge what remains absent? These discussions highlighted that MEDUSA is not only about selecting plays. It is also about creating a space for dialogue on what circulates – or fails to circulate – within contemporary European drama, and on how different cultural contexts shape
our understanding of representation, identity and artistic value.
