Resolutely mature since the time of the soap opera “Forbidden Love”, in which we first noticed and loved him in the image of the long-haired teenager Philip, the actor Plamen Dimov is experiencing a star moment in his career. Recently, he appeared almost simultaneously in two significant roles – on stage and on screen. Both are portraits of real people – one is a phantasmagoric grotesque, the other is almost documentally faithful to the memory of the original. One is the secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and a close associate of Putin, Nikolai Patrushev, in Galin Stoev’s play “The Hague” at the National Theater, where Plamen replaced Deyan Donkov, who withdrew from the project, in the last act of preparation. The other is the hero of the April Uprising, Georgi Benkovski, from Georgi Dyulgerov’s film “Notes on a Betrayal”, created according to the memorial legacy bequeathed to us by Zahariy Stoyanov.
According to one of the urban legends circulating on the Internet, Putin is already dead, and at the moment Patrushev, designated as his successor, is pulling the strings incognito, which – in the ever-evolving spectacle according to new events – would make Dimov’s character even more crucial. “After we started working on Sasha Denisova’s play at the beginning of the year, I got acquainted with a lot of material and I feel geopolitically prepared, but to be honest, I don’t believe absolutely anything from the propaganda of both sides in the war. In my opinion, the reasons are much higher, and my opinion coincides with the opinion of Patrushev in the play, and his words are spoken in black and white in interviews. So he says that “there are some people at the top who run the world.” The more I grow old, the more I believe in conspiracies,” the young man shares, explaining that as an actor he has to be an advocate for the image, whatever the archetype is, and believe in it. And he quotes another line of his character: that we are all just human robots, consuming genetically modified foods and following the orders of the ruling elites. “Looking at myself and everyone around me, we really live in constant manipulation,” the actor stated bitterly. That was one of the reasons a few months ago
to liquidate his Facebook account
During the rehearsals, if a colleague was absent, Plamen Dimov had to pass his lines more than once, so he read all the roles in the mass scenes. And when Dinkata leaves the project because he is too busy with the series “Walk of Fame” and it becomes quite busy with the schedule for everyone, Plamen finds himself aware not only of the situation in the world, but also of the text spoken by the characters. The director Galin Stoev trusts him unconditionally – so Dimov is “reassigned” to perhaps the most graceful image in terms of dramaturgy, instead of one of the 4 smaller roles, which until now was among his creative tasks in the production. “Dejan laid the foundation, we used his stuff and I changed only where I thought it was necessary. But I’d never seen his monologue, and that was a good thing – I did my reading,” explains the young actor, whose big monologue, choreographed in the style of The Dying Swan, invariably draws thunderous applause at every performance of The Hague’s mock trial over the ideologues of Russian aggression in Ukraine. Plamen claims he doesn’t need an antidote to break free of the image after that. And maybe the man who played Jesus Christ in “The Last Temptation” according to Kazantzakis, simply carries it with him – the absolute Good against the demonic Evil… And he gets used to being a thinker.
When the next performance of “The Hague” approaches, he continues to be as excited as for the premiere. Because the topic is like that – it leaves no one indifferent, be it a spectator or a participant. According to Dimov, there is nothing wrong with the conflicting reactions to the show – it means that people engage to the extreme with what is happening on stage. “Our main function is to look for the motives and ask in the society
questions about the times we live in
Even if it is a historical play or a historical film, there should be references to today,” the actor is emphatic.
Such is the case with Notes on a Betrayal, the new film by the living classic Georgi Dyulgerov. The director auditioned several actors for the role of Benkovski, among them Plamen Dimov, whom he had watched since NATFIZ. She chooses him not for physical resemblance, but for his inner fire. “He told me that my first auditions, where I was alone, were very bad. On the second one, we were already with Ivan (Ivan Nikolov in the role of chronicler Zahariy Stoyanov – b.a.) and then things happened. In my opinion, Ivan plays the best in this film, there are many layers. And it seems to him that he is a very good person. I’ve known him for 15 years, we started together at Malin Krastev’s acting school, and then he graduated with Ivan Dobchev 2 years after me,” says Plamen.
The film is entirely focused on Zachary’s Notes, but Dimov has devoured as much of the source of information about the April Uprising and the enigmatic personality of Gavril Khlutev (the revolutionary’s real name) as he could find. For the role, he properly practiced riding, learned a little Turkish, took lessons in the archaic Koprivshten dialect with the dialectologist Prof. Vladimir Zhobov. But the most important thing he has come to, and which will benefit him both in the profession and in life, is the following: “If you want something, you have to really believe in it. That’s what stayed with me from that Benkowski fire: that if you’re willing to go so far as to put your life on the line and get other people to do it, you have to really believe in it,” says the actor. Yes, no matter how much he ran away from pathos, building the image, he calls his character a fire, unfortunately – burning too quickly. He was burnt out only at 33, when, after the pogrom of the uprising, he was met by the betrayal of grandfather Valyo. Plamen is now 33 years old. When they shot the film, he was 31. “I have the feeling that this film was shot in a completely different life, so many things have changed since then…” notes Plamen, who is already rehearsing at the National Theater with director Diana Dobreva in the dramatization of
Melville’s great novel Moby Dick
The team is currently selecting some of the countless themes in the epic to go into the production. In it, Dimov will be the assistant captain Starbuck, after whom, by the way, the famous chain of cafes is named.
Georgi Dyulgerov’s film fulfills a long-held dream of Plamen: he meets him on the set as a partner with his professor Ivaylo Hristov, who plays the traitor Grandpa Valyo. “It’s the first time I’m shooting with him as a colleague. At no point did I feel a teacher-to-student attitude. He did not interfere with Prof. Dyulgerov. He was helping me all the time, joking,” says the on-screen Benkovski. And he returns the tape years ago: “I told him that he didn’t choose me, but I chose him. I had decided not to apply to NATFIZ until I found out that Ivaylo Hristov was going to take a class. Then I vowed that no matter what, I would study with him, and all my energy was directed towards it.” In conclusion, Plamen Dimov trusts that he has very little left to complete the Grand Slam with Prof. Ivaylo Hristov – 4 types of joint work. Ivaylo directed him in the cinema – in “Karatsi”, as well as in the theater – in the performance “Huvava riba”; as already mentioned, they also happened to partner in front of the camera in the “Notes”. It remains for them to start rehearsing side by side as actors and in a new stage project. Why not put it, for example, Yavor Gurdev – this is the name that Plamen mentions when answering the question with which of the great world directors he would like to work with. Declan Donelan, Timofey Kulyabin, John Malkovich, who will be performing at Narodnia, would not refuse either. “I am happy that on the unknown paths of life I ended up here. Purely creatively, maybe I could shoot faster, but I have a bit of a squeamish personality and sometimes directors don’t want to work with such a person, which I understand. I accept
profession as marathon running
– fast things like TV series are great, but I can’t stay only in them”, reflects the balanced Libra.
After the series “Search Department” and “Don’t think of me”, the actor refused to participate in one or two new ones – from the point of view of professional hygiene. He is satisfied with his creative destiny so far at the National Theater, where he is currently playing in “The Storm” by Bob Wilson, “The People of Vazov” by Diana Dobreva, “Duel” by Marius, “Fiesta” by Andrea Gavriliou, “Walking with Gogol” to Katja Petrova… “There are a lot of people in Narodni from whom I have a lot to learn – starting with Marin Yanev and going down the age scale. I also like how many young people there are, I like which young people are here, I like the directors who are coming, I like that we are going through a difficult period and we are not stopping”, sums up the talented young actor at the end.
IRINA GIGOVA, segabg.com
Tags: PLAMEN DIMOV DREAMING GRAND SLAM TEACHER IVAYLO CHRISTOV
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