If he doesn’t sign a quitclaim deed, he won’t see a stage for the rest of his life. So Vasil Vasilev threatened the actress Nadia Novoselska while he was the director of the Pleven theater “Ivan Radoev”. The actress herself told about what happened during the march organized by the new culture movement. She was present to support her colleagues in demanding the resignation of the director of the National Theater Vasil Vassilev.
“After my child turned 3 and a half, he called me and said he had a great offer for me. He looked at the program and he couldn’t cast me in any show for the next five years, he talked to a lot of directors and they they refused to work with me, which is a complete lie. And his great suggestion was that we sign a mutual exit document. I didn’t want to do that, and he threatened me that if I didn’t sign that document, I wouldn’t see a scene until the end of her life,” said Novoselska, who is currently not working anywhere as an actress.
In her words, Vasil Vassilev told her: “We can no longer lie to each other that you are an actress, and I am not a person who delivers salaries to homes.”
The actress went on maternity leave and then had to return right during the Covid pandemic. “I was not assigned to a single performance for a year under the pretext that this is the situation and almost no one works. I repeatedly begged to be assigned. I have no idea why they did not give me a role,” says Nadya Novoselska.
According to her, it was common practice to give written explanations in the Pleven theater during Vassilev’s rule. Every day she saw colleagues outside his office who were waiting for some occasion. According to Novoselska, the actors had to explain why they are not in Pleven until they have rehearsals and performances.
She also received a message from Vassilev’s secretary telling her to report to work. “I was used to giving explanations why I didn’t show up for work during Covid, after he had dismissed the whole theater not to play. For 3-4 days, me and my family were absent. But I was called by a message from the secretary to show up at the theater,” says the actress.
