This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Sivinov. State Puppet Theater - Plovdiv organizes an event to remember his legacy and the deep mark left by the Sivinovi family on the Bulgarian puppet theater. We believe that it is necessary and valuable to preserve the memory of those who paved the way for us, who gave their lives and souls to the puppetry arts.
Ivan Sivinov started working at the Plovdiv Puppet Theater in 1954 and during his long creative career he participated in more than 65 performances, several of which he also directed. Among them is the author's show of the Sivina family troupe, which he created with his daughter Nina and his wife Vanya Sivinovi - "Metamorphoses". The performance became "the face" of Bulgarian puppet theater before the world. The performance was presented in 22 countries on 4 continents in the 1980s and 1990s.
Honorary citizen of the city of Plovdiv and winner of many prestigious awards, including the first individual prize for puppeteering in our country, awarded to him at the 1st Review of Puppet Theaters in Sofia in 1967 for his roles in "Detective Rutsa", directed by Yana Tsankova and for Petrushka in the play of the same name directed by Julia Ognyanova.
In 1977, together with Vanya Sivinova, he founded the "Impression" Puppet Theater studio, which found and nurtured the talent, imagination and love of theater in countless children and adolescents during its long existence.
Ivan Sivinov's book "A Journey with Puppets" is one of the most honest and detailed accounts of the history of the Plovdiv Puppet Theater. It shows his unceasing care and love for the troupe, the audience and the theater itself. In his book, Sivinov summarizes his life:
"My life does not pass in vain, because I gave it to the most noble profession - the art for children. With the responsibility that it was my calling to enstow human virtues in people's souls. (...) I leave my favorite art in the hands of those, who come after me."
On June 18 at 7:00 p.m., on his 100th birthday, we will celebrate the work of Ivan and the entire Sivinovi family - exemplary artists who gave their hearts and souls to the theater and to their audience.