# Alexander Morfov

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**Alexander Morfov** (Bulgarian: Александър Морфов; born 9 November 1960) is a [Bulgarian](/source/Bulgaria) theater and cinema director.

## Biography

Alexander Morfov was born on 9 November 1960 in [Yambol](/source/Yambol). His father was an officer, and his mother was a teacher in Russian language and literature, music, and also a conductor of a folklore choir in [Sliven](/source/Sliven). After Morfov graduated from mathematical high school, he attended lectures for two years at the [Technical University of Varna](/source/Technical_University_of_Varna).

Morfov's theater career began while he was a student, when he participated as an assistant stage director in [Stoyan Alexiev](/source/Stoyan_Alexiev)'s theater company. After quitting university he began working in the theater in Sliven as a stage worker and later light manager. In 1984 he was enrolled in the [National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts](/source/National_Academy_for_Theatre_and_Film_Arts) (NATFA) in [Sofia](/source/Sofia). He graduated from the Academy with a double major in stage directing for drama and puppet theater (1990) in the class of [Julia Ognyanova](/source/Julia_Ognyanova) and cinema directing (1994) in the class of [Georgi Djulgerov](/source/Georgi_Djulgerov).

## Early work

His earliest works on a professional stage were in the Rhodope drama theater, where he was the author and director of the satire *Political cabaret* (1990). Immediately after his sophomore production he was invited to work at the Little City Theatre "Off the Channel" where he staged *Pere Ubu* by [Alfred Jarry](/source/Alfred_Jarry) (1991), followed by *[The Tempest](/source/The_Tempest)* (1992) and *[Hamlet](/source/Hamlet)* by [Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare) in the La Strada Theater.

## Professional career in Bulgaria

From 1994 to 2000, Morfov has been the Chief director at the [Ivan Vazov National Theatre](/source/Ivan_Vazov_National_Theatre) of Bulgaria. Morfov's first shows at the National Theatre were his original version of *[Don Quixote](/source/Don_Quixote)* by [Miguel de Cervantes](/source/Miguel_de_Cervantes) and a revised version of *The Tempest*. These two productions launched a new process of attracting young and modern-thinking audiences to the theater. With his next production of Shakespeare's *[A Midsummer Night's Dream](/source/A_Midsummer_Night's_Dream)*, Morfov became one of the most prominent theater directors in Bulgaria. His original version of *The Decameron, or Passion and Blood* after [Boccaccio](/source/Boccaccio), also bears the traits of his stylistics. *[The Lower Depths](/source/The_Lower_Depths)* by [Maxim Gorky](/source/Maxim_Gorky) reflected Morfov's civil opinion and his typical theatricality. *Exiles* (2004) after a novel by [Ivan Vazov](/source/Ivan_Vazov), the national poet and writer, is the logical continuation of the latter. His other productions on the leading stage in the country include: *Night of Miracles* after [Beckett](/source/Samuel_Beckett), [Mrozek](/source/Mrozek) and [Ionesco](/source/Eug%C3%A8ne_Ionesco); *Dom Juan* by [Molière](/source/Moli%C3%A8re); *One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest*; and *Life Is Beautiful* after [Nikolai Erdman](/source/Nikolai_Erdman)'s *[The Suicide](/source/The_Suicide_(play))*.

In 2000 he was appointed managing and artistic director of the Ivan Vazov National Theater. He was dismissed from this position following a major conflict with the [Bulgarian Ministry of Culture](/source/Ministry_of_Culture_(Bulgaria)). All of his productions were taken off the theater's repertory.

## International success

Since 2001 he has been working in Russia. His first show, *The Tempest*, in the [Komissarzhevskaya Theatre](/source/Komissarzhevskaya_Theatre) in [St. Petersburg](/source/St._Petersburg), was honoured with Russia's most prestigious theatre award, the [Golden Mask](/source/Golden_Mask_(Russian_award)). Immediately after that he was invited to [Moscow](/source/Moscow), to the theatre of the Russian actor [Alexander Kalyagin](/source/Alexander_Kalyagin), Et cetera, where he staged *Don Quixote* and *Pere Ubu* with Kalyagin in the leading role. Both productions were nominated for the Golden Mask Award and Kalyagin received the award for Best Performance for the role of Pere Ubu. Between 2003 and 2006 Morfov was appointed chief stage director in the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre, where he staged five productions and received the Golden Soffit Award for *Dom Juan* by [Moliere](/source/Moliere) and was again nominated for the Golden Mask Award. He also staged productions of *One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest* with [Aleksandr Abdulov](/source/Aleksandr_Abdulov) and *The Visit of the Old Lady* with [Maria Mironova](/source/Maria_Mironova) in [Lenkom Theatre](/source/Lenkom_Theatre). Morfov has received more than twenty national and international theatre awards, including the Golden Mask Award, [Chaika](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A7%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BA%D0%B0_(%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%8F)) [seagull], [Crystal Turandot](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A2%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%82), and others.

In 2005 he worked in the [United States](/source/United_States) with [Mikhail Baryshnikov](/source/Mikhail_Baryshnikov) on the theatre project *Doctor and Patient* by [Rezo Gabriadze](/source/Rezo_Gabriadze).

In 2006 he returned to the [National Theatre of Bulgaria](/source/Ivan_Vazov_National_Theatre) as a chief stage director – a position he has held since. Morfov's shows were presented at international theatre festivals in [Vienna](/source/Vienna), [Casablanca](/source/Casablanca), [Kyiv](/source/Kyiv), [Toruń](/source/Toru%C5%84), [Ohrid](/source/Ohrid), [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade), [Wrocław](/source/Wroc%C5%82aw), and [Hamburg](/source/Hamburg). He has also worked on projects in France, Sweden, [North Macedonia](/source/North_Macedonia), [Romania](/source/Romania), [Latvia](/source/Latvia), and Israel. He is currently[when?] working at the [Ion Luca Caragiale](/source/Ion_Luca_Caragiale) [National Theatre](/source/National_Theatre_Bucharest), [Bucharest](/source/Bucharest), [Romania](/source/Romania), staging *[The Tempest](/source/The_Tempest)* by [William Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare).

Morfov is also a cinema director and scriptwriter. He has had acting roles in *[Ivan and Alexandra](/source/Ivan_and_Alexandra)*, *[Friends of Emily](/source/Friends_of_Emily)*, *[The Last Sunday](/source/The_Last_Sunday)*, *[The Goat Horn](/source/The_Goat_Horn)*, *[The Love Summer of a Schlep](/source/The_Love_Summer_of_a_Schlep)*, *[Travel to Jerusalem](/source/Travel_to_Jerusalem)* and others.

## Personal life

Morfov is married to actress [Reni Vrangova](/source/Reni_Vrangova), with whom he has two daughters.

## TV and cinema

**TV films**

- 1994–2000 *Cinema Kings*, scriptwriter and director ([Bulgarian National Television](/source/Bulgarian_National_Television) (BNT))
- 1997 *Nights of Miracles*, scriptwriter and director (BNT)
- 2009 *Exiles*, TV series, scriptwriter and director (BNT)[1]

**Cinema**

- 2001 *Blueberry Hill*, Cia Advertising and BNT

## Honorary awards and prizes

From the Society of theatre critics in Bulgaria:

- 1994 Best stage director and Best production for *Don Quixote*
- 1995 Best stage director and Best production for *Midsummernight’s Dream*
- 2004 Best production for *Exiles*
- 2007 Best production for *Dom Juan*

From [Ohrid](/source/Ohrid) theatre festival:

- 1992 First prize for the production *The Tempest*

[Askeer](/source/Askeer) theatre award in Bulgaria:

- 1994 Best stage director and Best production for *Don Quixote*
- 1997 Best stage director and Best production for *The Lower Depths*
- 2004 Best stage director and Best production for *Exiles*
- 2007 Best stage director and Best production for *Dom Juan*

Icarus theatre award given by the Bulgarian Actors' Union:

- 1997 Best stage director and Best production for *The Lower Depths*
- 2004 Best stage director and Best production for *Exiles*
- 2007 Best stage director and Best production for *Dom Juan*

“The Golden Muse” Russian award:

- 2000 Special prize for the production *[The Lower Depths](/source/The_Lower_Depths)*

“[The Golden Soffit](/source/The_Golden_Soffit)” award in [St. Petersburg](/source/St._Petersburg):

- 2004 Best stage director and Best production for *Dom Juan*

Chaika ("seagull") Russian award:

- 2006 Best production for *One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest*, Lenkom Theatre, [Moscow](/source/Moscow)

Crystal Turandot Russian award:

- 2006 Best production for *One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest*, Lenkom Theatre [Moscow](/source/Moscow)

National Festival for TV and Cinema, [Plovdiv](/source/Plovdiv), [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria):

- 2001 Best director for the cinema production *Blueberry Hill*
- 2009 Special prize of the jury for the cinema production *Exiles*

Bulgarian cinema award:

- 2002 Best directing debut for the production *Blueberry Hill*

Bulgarian Cinema Academy

- 2009 Best cinema production *Exiles*, and many others

Nominations: [The Golden Mask](/source/Golden_Mask_(Russian_award)) Russian award:

- 2000 Best stage director for the production *The Tempest*, Komissarzhevskaya Theatre, [St. Petersburg](/source/St._Petersburg)
- 2002 Best production for *Pere Ubu*, Et Cetera Theatre, [Moscow](/source/Moscow)
- 2004 Best stage director of the best production *Dom Juan*, Komissarzhevskaya Theatre, [St. Petersburg](/source/St._Petersburg)
- 2006 Best stage director of the best production *One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest*, Lenkom Theatre, [Moscow](/source/Moscow)
- 2007 Audience prize for *One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest*, Lenkom Theatre, [Moscow](/source/Moscow)

Theatre awards in [Romania](/source/Romania):

- 2012 Best production, *The Visit of the Old Lady*, [National Theater of Romania](/source/National_Theater_of_Romania), [Bucharest](/source/Bucharest)

He has also received the Bulgarian award of the [Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius](/source/Order_of_Saints_Cyril_and_Methodius), first rank, "for special merit in the field of culture and arts in Bulgaria". Morfov is [doctor honoris causa](/source/Doctor_honoris_causa) of the University of Audiovisual Arts ESRA, in Paris, Skopje, and New York.

## References

1. ["Българска национална телевизия - Филми и сериали - Българско кино - Хъшове/1/"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140222051356/http://archive.bnt.bg/bg/movies/details/768/hyshove_1). Archived from [the original](http://archive.bnt.bg/bg/movies/details/768/hyshove_1) on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-04.

- culturebase.net. ["Aleksander Morfov artist portrait - culturebase.net"](http://www.culturebase.net/artist.php?3863). culturebase.net. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ["Alexander Morfov | The catcher in the sand"](http://dan.romascanu.net/tag/alexander-morfov/). dan.romascanu.net. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ["alexander morfov | Blazing Bulgaria"](http://blazingbulgaria.wordpress.com/tag/alexander-morfov/). blazingbulgaria.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ["Александр Морфов"](http://www.kinopoisk.ru/name/63083/). kinopoisk.ru. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ["Александр МОРФОВ | ХРУСТАЛЬНАЯ ТУРАНДОТ"](http://www.1turandot.ru/winners/winner_morfov/). 1turandot.ru. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ["YouTube - Александр Морфов — вручение премии "Хрустальная Турандот""](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcouRVt_N_E). youtube.com. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ["www.timeout.ru/person/22071/"](http://www.timeout.ru/person/22071/). timeout.ru. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ["Александр Морфов"](http://www.vashdosug.ru/persons/12112/). vashdosug.ru. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ["Режиссер Александр Морфов представил фильм "Изгнанники" в Севастополе | РИА Новости"](http://ria.ru/culture/20090722/178236523.html). ria.ru. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 2014-02-09.

## External links

- [Official website](http://morfov.com/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230212134157/http://morfov.com/) 2023-02-12 at the Wayback Machine

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alexander Morfov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Morfov) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Morfov?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.