Three young women run theatre workshops for children with disabilities at three centres in Burgas, and they are looking for volunteers to expand their work.
Theatre educators Daria Dimitrova and Silvana Gateva of the association Theatre Kaleidoscope lead the workshops with Gabriela Mavrova, a language teacher. The children work with them at St Nicholas the Wonderworker, at Chadara and at the ЦОП centre.
It all started with an invitation. Mavrova asked the two educators to run a workshop at the day centre for children with disabilities in Burgas, which her sister attends. The first session was in 2024. In 2025 two more centres joined, and the team began working on a project with Burgas Municipality.
For the three women, theatre is a way to talk to the children and connect with them. They encourage the children to share, to find out what they can do and to believe in their abilities. Children who speak and children who do not speak both take part in the sessions.
"In our work we see the children's self-confidence, which grows enormously," Dimitrova told Bulgarian National Radio. She said self-confidence is the most visible result and is always a goal of the sessions. She believes theatre has the power to change people, inspire them and bring them closer together.
Gateva said the children feel included because at every session they are made as much a part of the process as possible. They express themselves in their own way and the people around them accept them, so they discover new things about themselves and what else they can do. "Through theatre they can step out of their everyday life and develop imagination," she said.
Dimitrova studied applied theatre and education in London. Gateva took the same course there and finished it in 2021. She has taught in Bulgaria for five years. At the association she mostly works with non-professionals and leads the workshops for children with disabilities. Mavrova is a student of preschool and primary school education.
Mavrova said that for now the three take on as much as they can. They want to bring in more people and hold sessions more often and in more centres, so they can reach more children and help them build their skills.
Anyone who wants to join can find Theatre Kaleidoscope on Instagram, visit its website and write to the team.