The Phoney Civilization

Криворазбраната цивилизация Krivorazbranata tsivilizatsiya (English: The Misunderstood Civilization)
Written by	Dobri Voynikov
Characters	Hadzhi Kosta Zlata Anka Margaridi Mariyka Grandma Stoyna Mityu Dimitraki
Date premiered	1871
Original language	Bulgarian
Genre	Satire, Comedy
Setting	Late Bulgarian revival (The end of 19th century)

The Misunderstood Civilization (Bulgarian: Криворазбраната цивилизация / Krivorazbranata tsivilizatsiya) is a five-acts satirical play written by the Bulgarian playwright Dobri Voynikov published in 1871.

In a comical folklore manner, the play satirizes the way of understanding of the foreign fashion waves as an evolution in the human progress. This is the most popular work by Voynikov who is among the pioneers of the Bulgarian theatre.The Misunderstood Civilization is a classic work of the Late Bulgarian revival period in the end of 19th century.

The best known production of the play is probably the 1974 TV musical adaptation directed by Hacho Boyadzhiev, featuring some of the prominent Bulgarian comic actors as Georgi Partsalev and Georgi Kaloyanchev. Because of its actual sound, the play is still staged at the theatres more than a hundred years after its first publishing.

The action takes place in a small town during the late Bulgarian revival period in the end of 19th century. Hadzhi Kosta, a storekeeper, is concerned about the significant amount of money spent by his daughter and his wife for a variety of foreign fashion accessories and clothes that are totally unnecessary, according to him. He is also concerned about the neglect of the family traditions and the susceptibility of his daughter, his son and his wife to the emerging “fashionable” trends in behaviour fueled by the foreign brands and local snobs.

...
Wikipedia