About Yasmin Mandelli
Yasmin Mandelli is an Italian-Bulgarian set designer and costume designer specializing in drama theater, film, and puppet theater.
Born in 1994 in Sofia, Bulgaria, into a family of artists and fashion industry professionals, she spent part of her life in Milan, Italy, where she was immersed in the fashion industry.
She studied at the National Educational Complex for Culture - Liceo Italiano, before enrolling at the University of Milan, where she initially pursued Linguistic Mediation. However, her passion for the arts led her to shift her focus to ''Stage and Screen Design'' at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA), from which she graduated in 2020.
Since 2022, Yasmin has been the lead scenographer and costume designer at the "Ivan Radoev" Drama-Puppet Theater in Pleven.
Her portfolio includes over 20 professional productions, with her designs featured in the repertoires of renowned theaters in Sofia and across Bulgaria.
In February 2025, she was nominated for the "Icarus" National Award for the set design of "Anna – The Irreparable."
"Ploshtad Slaveykov"
(Cultural media platform)
It is difficult to describe the emotion that transforms the audience into a unified body during the performance. The small hall, the lack of distance between the actors and the audience, the piercing eyes of Nevena Kaludova, who, at that moment, is no longer Nevena but Anna... The gun aimed at the audience's head from the first row. The Kalashnikov rifle carried by Vladimir Solakov, in one of its many exaggerations, walks between the rows like a horrifying reenactment of a terrorist act during the musical “Nord-Ost,” one of the most terrifying events in human history.
And all of this is dominated by the giant head on the small stage – a head that simultaneously resembles the face of Putin and all the dictators of the world. An exceptional work by the set designer Yasmin Mandelli.
For "Anna - the Irredeemable" nominated for ''Cultural Event of 2024''.
"24 Chasa"
(Bulgarian daily newspaper)
"Yasmin designs the costumes, lighting, set design, and even the actors’ makeup when it’s more specific. The entire visual concept of a production is her work – a very important and responsible task, as it’s the first thing the audience sees. The puppets are also created based on her ideas, and once their construction is complete, she takes over to paint them. “Every project has its own sweet challenges; I see them as opportunities,” says Yasmin."
Gergana Pirozova
(Theatrical critic)
"The exceptional set design and costumes by Yasmin Mandelli – and when I say exceptional, I’m not exaggerating. The costumes are period-accurate, set in the 18th century – the Golden Age of Pirates, which certainly helps – lavish, colorful, and true works of art, a rare gem on our stages. In one word – beauty: lace, crinolines, pirate coats, boots, buckles, sabers, and of course – pirate hats. We even have a parrot."
For the work of "Tresure Island".
