Object Theater Workshop with Martina Novakova | FAT Festival 2026

Object Theater Workshop with Martina Novakova

The workshop is a space for exploring the complex and mysterious world of objects and their potential to preserve memory, tell stories, unlock poetic worlds, and interact with bodies and spaces.

Participants will be introduced to a wide range of techniques for observation, thinking with their hands, exploring with all the senses, seeking out the voices of objects, handling and partnering with them, reimagining their meanings, and analyzing materials.

Through individual and group dynamics, participants will experiment with the performative potential of their own personal objects, as well as with unfamiliar and familiar objects, such as a sheet of paper. The workshop is a space for discussion, reflection, and sharing. Participants will gain practical experience, become familiar with basic philosophical terms related to objects, and explore the work of artists from Europe and Latin America who are developing the “theater of objects” genre. They will receive guidance and recommended reading to help them explore their interests after the workshop ends.

At the end of the third day, we will invite a friendly audience to the cozy atmosphere of the Toplocentral bar. Each participant will present the story of an object developed during the workshop. At the end of the event, we will present “The ‘Panoptikum’ Box” by Martina Novakova—a one-person show about a man in his home and the first “autoplay” of its kind in Bulgarian.

Object theater has historical ties to puppetry, but it has also developed its own means of expression. In Bulgaria, it has not yet established itself as a distinct genre on the theatrical scene. The workshop draws on techniques from sensory theater and the practices of artists Javier Bobes (Spain) and Shadai Larios (Mexico).

The Object Theater Laboratory ties into this year’s FAT theme, “Resistance,” by contrasting the unhurried pace of objects with the frenetic rhythm of everyday life and the dynamics of consumer society.

Through techniques for training attention and sensory exploration, we offer a space for rediscovering the familiar and deepening the connection with oneself and the material world.

Who is it for?
The workshop is aimed at actors, directors, playwrights, set designers, visual artists, psychologists, curators, museum professionals, antique dealers, collectors, and anyone who works with objects in their daily lives. Whether or not you have a project involving objects, this course will give you a new understanding of them. The workshop includes 7 hours of hands-on work with objects and a final presentation.
Dates and times:
Nov. 27 (Friday): 5:30–8:30 p.m.
Nov. 28 (Saturday): 3:00–6:00 p.m.
Nov. 29 (Sunday): 2:00–5:00 p.m.
Location: Hall 4 & Bar Stage (29.11.26), Toplocentrala
Participation fee: 70 euros
Registration link: https://forms.gle/7ZPXJNvVkyw6KHkS6
The group will consist of a maximum of 10 people, on a first-come, first-served basis
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Martina Novakova is a theater director, playwright, and professor.
She graduated with a degree in “Theatrical Arts” from Carlos III University in Madrid and in “Documentary and Social Theater” from New York University thanks to a Fulbright scholarship and a supplementary grant from “Tuk-Tam.” She currently lives in both Sofia and Madrid, where she creates experiences in galleries, museums, abandoned buildings, urban spaces, around theater stages, and sometimes even on the stages themselves. She is the founder of the “Panoptikum” Foundation, named after her first original performance, in which she discovered her strong connection to objects. This season, you can see her productions *Endless Stages* at the Ivan Vazov National Theater and *A Span Above the Ground* at the Racho Stoyanov Drama Theater in Gabrovo.
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Lora Shchirkova is an artist, graphic and typeface designer, and calligrapher.
In 2022, she graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague with a master’s degree in typeface design.
In her practice, she successfully combines analog and digital approaches. She works with various techniques and materials, colors, and forms. Lora is a typeface designer and calligrapher for “The Panoptikum Box.”
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The FAT Festival is made possible with financial support from the Sofia Municipality as part of the 2026 Calendar of Cultural Events—under the “Significant Events” section and the “Mobility” Program—as well as with financial support from the List Institute Sofia.
The festival is also supported by the “Nikolay Binev” Youth Theater and The Holy Smokes BBQ.