The Snake Bites the Hardest when it Knows it is Dying is a multi-form, documentary performance based on the true story of Dessislava Ivancheva and Biliana Petrova, two independent civil servants targeted and imprisoned by the Bulgarian state for standing up to corrupt redevelopment plans in Sofia’s Mladost district. Their crime? Denying powerful developers access to green space. Their punishment? A show trial, media smear campaigns, and prolonged house arrest.

​

Developed through devising, testimony, and digital adaptation, The Snake Bites… exposes the tangled relationships between urban planning, state power, and private capital where opposition becomes criminalised, and green becomes gold. Originally performed inside a private home in Sofia to echo Ivancheva’s confinement, the piece was later adapted for online audiences, maintaining its intimacy and urgency.

​

Part documentary, part protest, this performance asks: what happens when your home becomes your prison?

​

Originally programmed at Calm Down, Dear at Camden People’s Theatre and the VAULT Festival (both cancelled due to COVID), an online R&D and sharing were supported by the Bulgarian National Fund for Culture in 2021.

​​​​​​

TEAM​

Director and deviser: Lora Krasteva

Performers and devisers: Lilia Nova and Victoria Valcheva

Digital producer: Violeta Valcheva

Funded by the Bulgarian National Fund for Culture.