Based on the novel by Sayaka Murata
Margarita Ukegawa
Mariy Rosen
Petya Boyukova
Alexander Evtimov-Shamancheto
Yanitsa Atanasova
Boryana Yovcheva, Alexander Tonev
Keiko has been strange since childhood. Every action of hers is governed by her own logic, which, however, does not fit into the overall model of society, whose rules she cannot comprehend. This is why she decides to withdraw into herself and imitate the behavior of those around her in order to be "normal" rather than a "foreign body." At age 18, she starts working in a konbini (convenience store) and discovers her earthly paradise. Konbinis are stores in Japan where you can find everything 24/7. They look the same everywhere; employees wear uniforms, and the service is standardized, using rehearsed and masterfully practiced phrases for customers. In this perfectly functioning mechanism, Keiko speaks and acts exactly as expected of her. To be a cog in the konbini machine is not just a means of survival for her, but an ideal of existence.
"Many themes are visible in Sayaka Murata's novel. The entire mechanism of human existence is mirrored in a 'foreign body.' And the konbini—the beating heart of buying and selling—paradoxically turns into a kind of Zen garden. All of this is presented with lightness, absurdity, and humor," says Mariy Rosen.
Sayaka Murata (b. 1979) is among the most prominent representatives of modern Japanese literature. Every one of her creative endeavors brings her critical acclaim and reader recognition, as well as prestigious awards. Convenience Store Woman (2016) is her 10th novel, which has sold more than 1 million copies in Japan; it has been translated into many languages and was honored with the prestigious Akutagawa Prize.
Sayaka Murata herself has worked in a convenience store. Her painfully honest first-person narrative about the "uniformed" daily life of a woman who has dedicated herself to her konbini is simultaneously absurd, comical, and shocking.
Mariy Rosen (b. 1977) is a Bulgarian director, actor, poet, songwriter, musician, and lecturer at New Bulgarian University (NBU). He graduated in "Theater Direction" from the class of Stoyan Kambarev and Yulia Ognyanova at the NATFA "Kr. Sarafov" in 2000. He has staged productions at the National Theatre, Sofia Theatre, Theatre 199, Satirical Theatre, Sofia Puppet Theatre, and RCCA Toplocentrala. He was awarded the 2015 Ikar for Best Direction for The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (an independent theater project) and was nominated for the 2023 Askeer for the direction of Lungs (TR Sfumato). He works on the independent theater scene, creating experimental, site-specific, interactive, and devising theater performances. He is the frontman of the synth-pop group "Help Me Jones."
Convenience Store Woman is the fifth project to be realized under the "Apostol Karamitev" Program. The program launched in 2023 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Bulgarian actor Apostol Karamitev. The main goal of the initiative is to provide opportunities for the presentation of various forms and aesthetics, to offer new, interdisciplinary perspectives on theater-making, to discover interesting authors, ideas, and practices, to present new artistic challenges to the theater's troupe and team, and to give visibility to authors—either new or unknown to the National Theatre—who bring their unique understandings of a stage work.
Anelia Yaneva
Reneta Ikonomova
Nikolay Dimitrov NAD
Stefan Zdraveski
Premiere: January 31 and February 1, 2026.
