Patriotic organisations protest in front of the National Theatre against a play by Bernard Shaw

A protest is being held tonight in front of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre against the premiere of the play Arms and the Man by Bernard Shaw, staged by John Malkovich, which will open at 7 p.m.

"This play should not be staged at the National Theatre, and in general, because it is full of false statements, lies and deceptions that slander the Bulgarian people and especially the characters it is about," said one of the participants, Hristo Ivanov.

He explained that the plot referred to the Battle of Slivnitsa and the Serbo-Bulgarian War. "In that war our heroic grandfathers managed to defend the Bulgarian Union. In the play, these same heroic grandfathers, their wives and children are portrayed as primitive, unbathed, as people who do not know what a library is," Ivanov said. He added that the play was being performed today, on November 7, the anniversary of the Battle of Slivnitsa.