Girish Mahajan (Editor)

The Phoney Civilization

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Written by
  
Dobri Voynikov

Playwright
  
Dobri Voynikov

Genres
  
Satire, Comedy

Date premiered
  
1871

Original language
  
Bulgarian language

The Phoney Civilization uploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen663Krivorazbra

Characters
  
Hadzhi Kosta Zlata Anka Margaridi Mariyka Grandma Stoyna Mityu Dimitraki

Setting
  
Late Bulgarian revival (The end of 19th century)

Adaptations
  
The Phoney Civilization (1974)

Similar
  
Comedy plays, Other plays

The Misunderstood Civilization (Bulgarian: Криворазбраната цивилизация / Krivorazbranata tsivilizatsiya) is a five-acts satirical play written by the Bulgarian playwright Dobri Voynikov published in 1871.

Contents

In a comical folklore manner, the play satirizes the way of understanding of the foreign fashion waves as an evolution in the human progress. This is the most popular work by Voynikov who is among the pioneers of the Bulgarian theatre. The Misunderstood Civilization is a classic work of the Late Bulgarian revival period in the end of 19th century.

The best known production of the play is probably the 1974 TV musical adaptation directed by Hacho Boyadzhiev, featuring some of the prominent Bulgarian comic actors as Georgi Partsalev and Georgi Kaloyanchev. Because of its actual sound, the play is still staged at the theatres more than a hundred years after its first publishing.

Characters

  • Hadzhi Kosta: The head of the family.
  • Zlata: Hadzhi Kosta's wife.
  • Anka: Hadzhi Kosta and Zlata's daughter.
  • Margaridi: Greek doctor, Anka's suitor.
  • Mariyka: Anka's friend.
  • Mityu: Young man in love with Anka.
  • Grandma Stoyna: A matchmaker.
  • Dimitraki: Anka's brother.
  • Raycho: A domestic servant.
  • Georgi: Mityu's friend.
  • Pencho: Mityu's friend.
  • Maystor Stanyu: Mityu's father.
  • Synopsis

    The action takes place in a small town during the late Bulgarian revival period in the end of 19th century. Hadzhi Kosta, a storekeeper, is concerned about the significant amount of money spent by his daughter and his wife for a variety of foreign fashion accessories and clothes that are totally unnecessary, according to him. He is also concerned about the neglect of the family traditions and the susceptibility of his daughter, his son and his wife to the emerging “fashionable” trends in behaviour fueled by the foreign brands and local snobs.

    References

    The Phoney Civilization Wikipedia