Dissatisfaction of the writers with the restrictions imposed on them and discontent of the public with the monotony and lack of literary quality of contemporary writing became evident in the mid-1950s. These feelings broke into the open when a mild form of de-Stalinization was put into effect in 1956 (see ch. 9). Although the so-called writers' revolt never reached the proportions of those in Poland or Hungary, it did bring about a short period of relative freedom in literary expression and a number of outstanding literary works that aroused a great controversy. Foremost among these was Emil Manov's _An Unauthentic Case_, which describes interparty conflict. Todor Genov's play _Fear_ also received high praise for its treatment of the corruption by power of a once idealistic Communist. The leaders of the writers' revolt, with one exception, were all loyal Communists who had become disillusioned with what they saw as the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the leadership, which they felt was leading the people into moral bankruptcy. Their main forum was a new periodical, _Plamuk_, edited by Manov, foremost of the rebels. The main demand of the rebels was that an artist should be free to choose his themes and methods of presentation provided he remain loyal to communist ideology. When the exposure in literature of the spiritual decline of individual Communists and of communist ideals became too embarrassing to the leadership, tighter restrictions were reimposed in the late 1950s. The literature of the early 1960s has been termed cathartic. By writing about long-suppressed thoughts and emotions, writers attempted to purge themselves of guilt for the sins of the system that they had supported. The poetry, which was very popular with the young, had a ring of disillusionment and pessimism. The government leadership did not approve of this literature any more than it did of the literature exposing faults in the system. Rather than repress the writers as it had done before, the regime used subtle pressures to guide writers into acceptable subjects. What followed was a wave of naturalistic poetry and novels dealing with purely human problems. THEATER A dramatic tradition was developed as part of the National Revival. Plays intended to arouse the people's national consciousness were written by Bulgarian authors and staged by students and teachers at library clubs in several cities (see ch. 11). After independence in 1878 the National Theater was formed in Sofia, but for several decades it depended heavily on foreign plays and foreign theatrical talent. By the start of World War II, however, government subsidies had helped to develop it to a point where it compared favorably with national theaters elsewhere in Europe.