Biography
Prodan Dimov, Founding Artistic Director of Metropolis Theater, is an actor and director of Bulgarian origin who has lived in the United States since 1996. He earned a B.F.A and an M.F.A. in Acting in 1983 and a PhD in Theater Arts in 2012 from Krastio Sarafov Higher Institute for Theater and Film Arts in Bulgaria. His abundant professional experience has been accumulated in the areas of acting, directing, and teaching primarily in three countries: Bulgaria, Russia, and the United States.
After his graduation in 1983 and before moving to the US in 1996, he played more than 20 leading roles and directed more than 10 acclaimed shows, in distinguished repertory theaters in Bulgaria and Russia. Besides working in the theater, Prodan participated in several distinctive film and television productions.
During 1989 - 1992, Prodan lived in Russia where he specialized in Theater Directing while working both as actor and assistant professor of Acting. The essence of his studiesat the Moscow State Institute for Theater Arts involved Stanislavsky's theory and the application of his method. At that time, Prodan directed three successful shows in the legendary Koleso Theater where each show played for more than 5 years: Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer, Filomena Marturano by Eduardo de Philippo, and The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco. In 1992, The Bald Soprano won Award for Directing at the International Festival of Dramatic Art in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As a professor of Acting, he taught under the guidance of the well-known Gleb Drozdov and Andrey Goncharov. During the same period, he also played the role of George in the highly acclaimed Same Time Next Year, by Bernard Slade directed by Gleb Drozdov, partnering with Natalia Drozdova, Best Actress of Russia for 1989 and 1995.
After moving to the US in 1996, Prodan began conceptualizing a world art center based in Atlanta, Georgia, in which to integrate theatre, music, film, and multi-media. Later his idea gave birth to Metropolis Theater. Prodan’s first show in Atlanta was in 1998: The Diary of a Madman at 7 Stages Theater. The weekly newspaper Creative Loafing rated the show among the 10 best shows of the year in Atlanta. In 2000, the same show participated in the International Festival of Russian Classical Drama in Togliatti, Russia and won awards for both acting and directing. In 2003, again in 7 Stages Theater, Prodan directed The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco; the show enjoyed a great success in the United States and won awards at the Shanghai International Art Festival in Shanghai, China. After founding Metropolis Theater in 2005, major productions directed by him include new versions of The Bald Soprano, by Ionesco (2006) and Diary of a Madman, by Gogol (2008), but also The Gin Game, by D. L. Coburn (2006); The Proposal, Bear, andThe Harmfulness of Tobacco, by Chekhov (2008). Among the recognitions for the high quality of the shows is the 2008 Suzi Bass Award nomination of Jon Hayden for Best Actor in Diary of a Madman.
Prodan Dimov has always been a proponent of professional collaboration for the advancement of theater production and education. He has sought and established collaborative relationships between Metropolis Theater and a number of other institutions and organizations. In 2004, a project with Savage Tree in Atlanta, GA, resulted in the dramatic reading of The Lowest Depths, by M. Gorky. In 2006, the collaboration with Academy Theater led to the production of The Gin Game, by D. L. Coburn. Later the same year, Prodan directed one of the shows included in A Salute to Sam, a performance dedicated to the Year of Beckett in association with Atlanta’s playwrights’ organization Working Title. In 2007, Prodan was invited to teach theater courses at Tatishchev University in Togliatti, Russia, and to put a show with the students majoring in Theater Acting. In 2010, a theater show based on the letters written between Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse became possible through the collaboration between Metropolis Theater and The Oglethorpe University Museum of Arts. Starting in 2008, Metropolis Theater developed strong relationships with SOLO School of Fine Arts in Atlanta, through a series of mutually beneficial actions: Prodan taught classes in SOLO School, and some of its faculty/actors played in Metropolis’ productions. In 2013 Prodan was invited to serve as a member of the Board of Directors. In 2012, the last product of a long-term collaboration with Koleso Theater in Russia was the highly successful production of Street Car Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams.The collaboration with Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta started in 2013 with a production of Radical Love, by Andjela Kessler, depicting the horrors of war during the 1999 bombing of Belgrade and the religious intolerance that led to them.
Along with acting and directing, Prodan Dimov has always been involved in teaching. Educating people of all ages and backgrounds about the values of theater has accompanied all his professional life. In the early years of his career in Bulgaria, he created a program within the Radnevo Psychiatric Clinic where he taught acting, and he saw the beneficial impact that acting had on mentally disabled people. Later in Bulgaria he gave private lessons. During his specialization in directing in Russia, he was hired as Assistant Professor of Acting in the State Institute for Theater Arts. Upon his arrival in the US, Prodan’s interests in the area of education led him to teach Theater and Acting at Kennesaw State University from 2002 to 2005, and later in Metropolis Theater Acting Studio and the SOLO School. Since 2009 Prodan has worked with autistic children and children with other disabilities in the HAVEN Academy, Cobb County School District, using theater and other fine arts to teach social skills and to develop their emotional intelligence.
While working in theater and school, Prodan was simultaneously engaged in his own growth as a scholar in theater. In 2012 he earned a PhD in Theater Arts. His dissertation reexamined the interpretations and applications of Stanislavsky’s theory and method throughout the 20th century across the world, and it shed new light on them through the scientific discoveries up to the beginning of 21st century in the domains of psychology, physiology and neurology.
Prodan Dimov, Founding Artistic Director of Metropolis Theater, is an actor and director of Bulgarian origin who has lived in the United States since 1996. He earned a B.F.A and an M.F.A. in Acting in 1983 and a PhD in Theater Arts in 2012 from Krastio Sarafov Higher Institute for Theater and Film Arts in Bulgaria. His abundant professional experience has been accumulated in the areas of acting, directing, and teaching primarily in three countries: Bulgaria, Russia, and the United States.
After his graduation in 1983 and before moving to the US in 1996, he played more than 20 leading roles and directed more than 10 acclaimed shows, in distinguished repertory theaters in Bulgaria and Russia. Besides working in the theater, Prodan participated in several distinctive film and television productions.
During 1989 - 1992, Prodan lived in Russia where he specialized in Theater Directing while working both as actor and assistant professor of Acting. The essence of his studiesat the Moscow State Institute for Theater Arts involved Stanislavsky's theory and the application of his method. At that time, Prodan directed three successful shows in the legendary Koleso Theater where each show played for more than 5 years: Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer, Filomena Marturano by Eduardo de Philippo, and The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco. In 1992, The Bald Soprano won Award for Directing at the International Festival of Dramatic Art in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As a professor of Acting, he taught under the guidance of the well-known Gleb Drozdov and Andrey Goncharov. During the same period, he also played the role of George in the highly acclaimed Same Time Next Year, by Bernard Slade directed by Gleb Drozdov, partnering with Natalia Drozdova, Best Actress of Russia for 1989 and 1995.
After moving to the US in 1996, Prodan began conceptualizing a world art center based in Atlanta, Georgia, in which to integrate theatre, music, film, and multi-media. Later his idea gave birth to Metropolis Theater. Prodan’s first show in Atlanta was in 1998: The Diary of a Madman at 7 Stages Theater. The weekly newspaper Creative Loafing rated the show among the 10 best shows of the year in Atlanta. In 2000, the same show participated in the International Festival of Russian Classical Drama in Togliatti, Russia and won awards for both acting and directing. In 2003, again in 7 Stages Theater, Prodan directed The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco; the show enjoyed a great success in the United States and won awards at the Shanghai International Art Festival in Shanghai, China. After founding Metropolis Theater in 2005, major productions directed by him include new versions of The Bald Soprano, by Ionesco (2006) and Diary of a Madman, by Gogol (2008), but also The Gin Game, by D. L. Coburn (2006); The Proposal, Bear, andThe Harmfulness of Tobacco, by Chekhov (2008). Among the recognitions for the high quality of the shows is the 2008 Suzi Bass Award nomination of Jon Hayden for Best Actor in Diary of a Madman.
Prodan Dimov has always been a proponent of professional collaboration for the advancement of theater production and education. He has sought and established collaborative relationships between Metropolis Theater and a number of other institutions and organizations. In 2004, a project with Savage Tree in Atlanta, GA, resulted in the dramatic reading of The Lowest Depths, by M. Gorky. In 2006, the collaboration with Academy Theater led to the production of The Gin Game, by D. L. Coburn. Later the same year, Prodan directed one of the shows included in A Salute to Sam, a performance dedicated to the Year of Beckett in association with Atlanta’s playwrights’ organization Working Title. In 2007, Prodan was invited to teach theater courses at Tatishchev University in Togliatti, Russia, and to put a show with the students majoring in Theater Acting. In 2010, a theater show based on the letters written between Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse became possible through the collaboration between Metropolis Theater and The Oglethorpe University Museum of Arts. Starting in 2008, Metropolis Theater developed strong relationships with SOLO School of Fine Arts in Atlanta, through a series of mutually beneficial actions: Prodan taught classes in SOLO School, and some of its faculty/actors played in Metropolis’ productions. In 2013 Prodan was invited to serve as a member of the Board of Directors. In 2012, the last product of a long-term collaboration with Koleso Theater in Russia was the highly successful production of Street Car Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams.The collaboration with Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta started in 2013 with a production of Radical Love, by Andjela Kessler, depicting the horrors of war during the 1999 bombing of Belgrade and the religious intolerance that led to them.
Along with acting and directing, Prodan Dimov has always been involved in teaching. Educating people of all ages and backgrounds about the values of theater has accompanied all his professional life. In the early years of his career in Bulgaria, he created a program within the Radnevo Psychiatric Clinic where he taught acting, and he saw the beneficial impact that acting had on mentally disabled people. Later in Bulgaria he gave private lessons. During his specialization in directing in Russia, he was hired as Assistant Professor of Acting in the State Institute for Theater Arts. Upon his arrival in the US, Prodan’s interests in the area of education led him to teach Theater and Acting at Kennesaw State University from 2002 to 2005, and later in Metropolis Theater Acting Studio and the SOLO School. Since 2009 Prodan has worked with autistic children and children with other disabilities in the HAVEN Academy, Cobb County School District, using theater and other fine arts to teach social skills and to develop their emotional intelligence.
While working in theater and school, Prodan was simultaneously engaged in his own growth as a scholar in theater. In 2012 he earned a PhD in Theater Arts. His dissertation reexamined the interpretations and applications of Stanislavsky’s theory and method throughout the 20th century across the world, and it shed new light on them through the scientific discoveries up to the beginning of 21st century in the domains of psychology, physiology and neurology.