I cried under the blanket and begged to be picked up. Why were you so late?" asks Mary of her foster parents. "There are some words that literally hit you in the heart and you realize that you have come all this way for nothing," says Mary's foster mother Tania Ganeva, now an adoptive mother.

The little one comes to their home when she was 3 years and 10 months old and knows no more than 15 words. She hides her food under her arm to avoid having it taken away and is afraid of almost everything. Today, Mary is 13 and you can't shut her up. And when she is jealous that her foster mother gave birth to her foster brother and she didn't give birth to her, she understands that, "I may not have really given birth to her, but she was born in my heart, in my soul."

This and other true stories about how children are born in hearts were told by the foster families themselves in the documentary show "More than roles", and the actors Krasimir Ryakhov, Stanimira Teneva, Stefani Aldimirova and Krasimira Dukovska, who is also the director of the play, played them in real time. "For foster parents, there is no curtain, no intermission. It's love every day. They are the best alternative to social homes", summed up the meaning of the shared stories the director Krasimira Dukovska.

"More than roles" was presented on 20.11.2021, the World Children's Day, which marks the anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The unique production was hosted by Credo Bonum Gallery and initiated by the National Foster Care Association and „The Smarts” Advertising Agency. The show provides answers to questions such as: how Remy, who at 14 only dreamed of.....being white, now embraces the colour of his skin and is casting towards making his dance dreams come true. How a child who at three and a half not only doesn't speak, but doesn't make a sound either when she cries or when she laughs, is now a little Samaritan. She lives with her little brother in the same home. She wants to learn Spanish, become a nurse and help people? How does the dream of becoming a bartender come true for 20-year-old Georgi, who grew up in homes until the age of 14 and has little prospect for the future because of his mild mental retardation. 

The short answer that “More than roles” gives to these questions is that the children were lucky enough to meet their foster parents. And they have given them what every child is entitled to and what every child needs: 'love, a home and a beautiful life, protection, a good father and a dear mother, a bouquet of warm hugs'. Because, "Parents are the garden, family is the root. Parents are support. They give us a hand. They give us courage", sings the song from the show "More than roles", born from the true stories of foster parents.

"Actually, the foster parent plays no role. This is his life. The only thing a foster parent does is to give a hand to the children and give them a chance", says Maria Blagoeva- Vice-president of the National Foster Care Association and the mother who gave wings to Remi.

"Not everyone can become a foster parent. Many people can try and when they find out it's not happening, they just give up. However, many people realize it is their calling and move on. They save lives. They give love and show children that they have a path they can walk. They give them wings instead of cutting them off", adds Tanya Ganeva, a foster mother and then adoptive mother of Mary.