Alexander Morfov

“Icarus” theatre award given by the Bulgarian Actors’ Union

Morfov is married to actress Reni Vrangova with whom he has two daughters – Neda and Sara.

He has received the prestigious Bulgarian award order of “St. Cyril and Methodius”, first rang, “for special merit in the field of culture and arts in Bulgaria”. Alexander Morfov is doctor honoris causa of the University of Audiovisual Arts ESRA (Paris – Skopje – New York).

Bulgarian Cinema Academy: 2009 Best cinema production “Exiles”, and many others

In 2006 he returned to the National Theatre of Bulgaria as a chief stage director – a position he has been occupying since. Morfov's shows were presented at international theatre festivals in Vienna, Casablanca, Kiev, Torun, Ohrid, Belgrade, Wrocław, Hamburg, etc. He has numerous successful projects in Europe – France, Sweden, Macedonia, Romania, Latvia, and in the recent years in Israel. He is currently working at the Ion Luca Caragiale National Theatre, Bucharest, Romania, staging The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

In 2005 he worked in the United States with Mikhail Baryshnikov on the theatre project Doctor and Patient by Rezo Gabriadze.

Bulgarian cinema award: 2002 Best directing debut for the production “Blueberry Hill”

Since 2001 he has been successfully working in Russia. His first show – The Tempest in the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre was a landmark event in St. Petersburg's theatre life and was honoured with Russia's most prestigious award in the field of theatre, the Golden Mask Award. Immediately after that he was invited to Moscow, to the theatre of the famous Russian actor 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 Alexander Kalyagin received the award for Best Performance for the role of pere Ubu. Between 2003 and 2006 he 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 and was again nominated for the Golden Mask Award. His productions One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Alexandr Abdulov and The Visit of the Old Lady with Maria Mironova in Lenkom Theatre also proved to be significant events in Moscow's theatre life. Morfov has received more than twenty national and international theatre awards, among which are the Golden Mask Award, Chaika [seagull], Crystal Turandot, etc.

From 1994 to 2000 he has been occupying the position Chief director at the “Ivan Vazov” National Theatre of Bulgaria. Morfov’s first shows at the National Theatre were his original version of “Don Quixote” by Cervantes and a revised version of “The Tempest”. These two gave start to a whole new process of attracting young and modern-thinking audience to the theater. With his next production – “Midsummernight’s Dream” by W. Shakespeare, Alexander Morfov became one of the most popular theater directors in Bulgaria. His original version of “The Decameron, or Passion and Blood” after Boccaccio, also bears the traits of his stylistics. “The Lower Depths” by Maxim Gorky is Morfov’s way of sharply stating his civil opinion without betraying his typical theatricality. “Exiles” (2004) after a novel by Ivan Vazov, the national poet and writer, is the logical continuation to the latter. Among others, his productions on the leading stage in the country include: “Night of Miracles” after Beckett, Mrozek and Ionesco; “Dom Juan” by Moliere; “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, “Life Is Beautiful” after Nikolai Erdman’s “The Suicide”, etc. 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 Ministry of Culture in Bulgaria. All of his productions were taken off the theater’s repertory.

His earliest works on a professional stage are 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 (1991), followed by “The Tempest” (1992) and “Hamlet” by Shakespeare in the “La Strada” theater.

Morfov's theater career began in student's years, when he participated as an assistant stage director in 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 “Krastyo Sarafov” in 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 and cinema directing (1994) in the class of Georgi Dyulgerov.

Alexander Morfov (Bulgarian: Александър Морфов, born 9 November 1960, in Yambol) is a Bulgarian theater and cinema director.