Sofiya Ivanova

Promotional Activities of Drama Theaters in Bulgaria: How Modern Marketing Concepts Challenge the Promotional Activities of the Drama Theater Scene in Bulgaria Sofiya Ivanova

As a classical art form drama theater represents a huge part of the Bulgarian cultural scene. The political changes in the country after 1989 led to many economic and social alterations and the cultural sector was not an exception. The hundreds of state-owned cultural institutions, including theaters, had to adjust to a new environment, which to the most part of the employed in the sector was petrifying. The drama theater performance, which to that moment had had very few alternatives as a leisure time activity was standing in front of a whole palette of entertainment options that obviously the thirsty-for-novelty public preferred. Therefore, theater managers needed to adopt new, inexistent to that moment in Bulgaria, techniques to bring the audience back in the theater halls. That was when the word ?promotion? began to appear more and more often in culturally related publications, theater experts' conferences, directors' interviews. How is theater management in Bulgaria challenged by modern marketing concepts and is it successful? ?Promotional Activities of Drama Theaters in Bulgaria? attempts to find out.