THE 18th ISTANBUL THEATRE FESTIVAL
10 MAY–5 JUNE
The 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival organised by the Istanbul Foundation for
Culture and Arts under the sponsorship of Koç Holding Energy Group
Companies Aygaz, Opet, and Tüpraş will present a rich programme to the audience
between 10 May and 5 June 2012.
The 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival will question issues, states, and realities around
the human life including human rights, migration, war, and violence under the theme
“Freedom - Questionings”. 5 foreign and nearly 40 theatre and dance ensembles
from Turkey will meet with the Istanbul audience with more than 100 performances.
The Istanbul Theatre Festival will host a very special project this year. World famous
contemporary artist Kutluğ Ataman invites everyone to complete their dream sky with
his new project special to the Istanbul Theatre Festival, SILSEL, Letters to Turkey
between 12 May and 5 June during the festival in Galata Greek Primary School.
The Istanbul Theatre Festival brings in a new state as co-producer of four local
projects. Tiyatro Pera with Oh My Smyrna, My Beautiful Izmir, Tilbe SaranCüneyt Türel with Take My Hand in Mine, Istanbul Municipal Theatre
Contemporary Performing Arts Center (ÇGSM) with their co-production İçtima-i
Hakiki and Aydın Teker with Three Phases will meet with the audience as coproductions by the Istanbul Theatre Festival. Furthermore, shows by 9 young
theatre and dance ensemble under the title New Wave will meet with the audience
at their own venues as well as Salon and Sahne Beşiktaş.
The Istanbul Theatre Festival will provide a month full of theatre with performances at
22 different venues in the city as well as panels and workshops with the participation
of internationally known theatre and dance ensembles, conferences and
exhibitions.
The “Year of Chinese Culture in Turkey” events, which aim to reinforce cultural and
political relations between Turkey and China, will herald the beginning of the Istanbul
Theatre Festival. After the shows by Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble and the
Beijing Opera at Fulya Sanat Merkezi starting from Saturday, 5 May, colourful street
parade by Beijing Dragon and Lion Street Theatre on Tuesday, 8 May will take
place on İstiklal Street within the Istanbul Theatre Festival.
The programme of the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival was announced with a press
meeting at Salon İKSV on Tuesday, 20 March. İKSV Chairman Bülent Eczacıbaşı,
Istanbul Theatre Festival Director Prof. Dr. Dikmen Gürün, and Tüpraş
Communications Manager Seval Kızılcan on behalf of festival sponsors Aygaz, Opet
and Tüpraş, representing Koç Holding Energy Group Companies Corporate
Communication Managers participated to the press meeting.
In his speech at the press conference, İKSV Chairman Bülent Eczacıbaşı underlined
the problem of culture and arts venues in Istanbul and said: “We are sorry for having
rejected a number of large-scale productions due to the lack of venues in Istanbul. We
are eagerly looking forward to the days when we will have large-capacity performance
halls such as AKM among the venues of the Istanbul Theatre Festival.” About the
educational programmes of the festival, Eczacıbaşı stated that “We hope that after a
period of two years, our festival will bring new energy to stages in Istanbul. It is of
great importance to ensure that the Istanbul Theatre Festival continues to have a
leading role in Turkey’s theatre scene, and that it strengthens its activities targeting
youth with its educational projects. In the Istanbul Theatre Festival, we are taking
steps towards long-term collaborations with institutions such as Folkwang University of
the Arts, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Traverse Theatre, and Theatre de la Ville.”
Tüpraş Communications Manager Seval Kızılcan stated: “With the inspiration we got
from late Vehbi Koç, founder of our group, as Koç Holding Energy Group Companies
Tüpraş, Opet, and Aygaz, we try to create a value on culture and art as well as our
vital responsibility to cover the energy need of our country's industry. We are very
proud of supporting the Istanbul Theatre Festival at its 18th year. I want to express our
love and respect on behalf of all our employees.” Istanbul Theatre Festival Director
Dikmen Gürün, taking the floor in the press conference gave detailed information
about the festival programme.
The Opening Ceremony of the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival will be held on
Wednesday, 9 May. The Istanbul Theatre Festival Honorary Award will be
presented to two respectable actors, Başar Sabuncu and Cüneyt Türel who will be
on stage together at I Take Your Hand in Mine within the festival. The other Honrary
Award of the festival will be presented to Thomas Ostermeier, Artistic Director of
Schaubühne Berlin.
The 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival events will be held in 22 different venues in the
city during the month: Ali Paşa Han, Sahne Beşiktaş, Caddebostan Kültür Merkezi,
Fulya Sanat Merkezi, Galata Greek Primary School, Garajistanbul, Haldun Taner
Sahnesi, Hamursuz Fırını, Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Sahnesi, Hasköy İplik
Fabrikası, İkinci Kat, Kenter Tiyatrosu, Kumbaracı50, Küçük Sahne, Lütfi Kırdar
Kongre ve Sergi Sarayı, Mekan Artı, Oyun Atölyesi, Salt Galata, Üsküdar Tekel
Sahnesi, Salon, Tiyatro Hal, Tiyatro Pera.
SUPPORTERS OF THE ISTANBUL THEATRE FESTIVAL
Festival sponsors Koç Holding Energy Group Companies Aygaz, Opet, and
Tüpraş as well as performance sponsors Henkel and Enka support the 18th Istanbul
Theatre Festival.
The performances of the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival are realised with the
contribution of Istanbul Municipal Theatres, Turkish State Theatres, Diyarbakır
Municipal Theatres, Beşiktaş Municipality Fulya Sanat Merkezi, Goethe Institut,
British Council, French Cultural Centre, Sweden Consulate General and
Riksteatern.
Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Istanbul Governorate, Istanbul Metropolitan
Municipality, and Beyoğlu Municipality also provide support to the Istanbul
Foundation for Culture and Arts.
The leading sponsor of all festivals by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts
is Eczacıbaşı Holding, the Official Airlines is Turkish Airlines, the Official
Communications Sponsor is Vodafone, the Official Carrier is DHL Express, and the
service sponsors are Ergo Insurance, FidaFilm and GFK.
The publicity campaign for this year’s Istanbul Theatre Festival is prepared by
Alametifarika, which also prepared publicity campaigns for Istanbul Film, Music, and
Jazz Festivals for the 40th Anniversary of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts.
ISTANBUL THEATRE FESTIVAL SPECIAL PROJECT:
KUTLUĞ ATAMAN,
“SILSEL, Letters to Turkey”
Everybody sided with freedom is invited to Kutluğ Ataman’s Project “Sılsel”
The Istanbul Theatre Festival will host a very special project this year. The
performance Sılsel by Kutluğ Ataman, internationally known Turkish artist, will be
open for participation between 12 May and 5 June in Galata Greek Primary School.
Sılsel, which is considered to mean fluttering of wings in Aramaic, is a depiction of the
sky painted on ceilings of old Syriac houses in Mardin and takes the shape of a
rectangular pattern with zigzag lines and painted turquoise. According to legend,
oppressed Syriacs, fearing to set foot on the street, would paint this pattern on the
ceiling of their homes to alleviate their deep yearning for the real sky. This story, retold
to Kutluğ Ataman by Nasıra Hanım, who lives in the Syriac quarter of Mardin,
expresses the common yearning for the sky that has remained just that throughout the
violent history of Anatolia. The performance titled Sılsel is a collaborative weaving of
the one, common sky we yearn to live under with no fear, or at least an attempt to
express this yearning in a joint performance. Kutluğ Ataman invites all who desire a
world that supports freedom to come and become a part of this artistic event.
The performance will begin with the first piece added to the sky by Kutluğ Ataman on
Saturday, 12 May. Everybody can contribute to the performance and be a cocreator until 5 June. Those who want to contribute to the performance will write their
wishes, messages, or criticism on a fabric with pictures, writings or embroidery in the
preferred colour and length, on condition that its width will be at least 45 centimetres,
on whatever language they want. Pieces will be added to one another one by one and
express contributors’ wish to live in freedom without fear.
When it is finished, the performance with the subheading Letters to Turkey will be
made into history as a civil document of history. After the Istanbul Theatre Festival,
Sılsel project will visit other countries in the world for building many other common
skies.
FOREIGN GUESTS OF THE FESTIVAL
The 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival will host 5 world-famous international
ensembles. Guest countries are: Germany, France, Holland, United Kingdom and
Switzerland. Belgium and Sweden will also produce works with the participation of
artists from Turkey.
HAMLET – Schaubühne Berlin (Germany)
A striking interpretation to “Hamlet” by Thomas Ostermeier
Hamlet staged by Schaubühne Berlin, one of the most significant theatres of
Europe, with the interpretation of the artistic director Thomas Ostermeier will meet
with the audience on Saturday, 12 May at 20.30 and Sunday, 13 May at 15.30 at
Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Sahnesi. Lars Eidinger stars as Hamlet on the play where
more than twenty characters of Shakespeare will be played by only six amazing
actors. Famous director, known with his recent avant-garde plays, continues to
discover boundaries with his Hamlet interpretation. Ostermeier presents all details of
the characters and enables the audience see the stage they focused on at the same
time by using a camera with an original technique. Thomas Ostermeier will also be
presented with the Honorary Award of the festival.
The festival audience knows Ostermeier with Nora staged at the 14th Istanbul
Theatre Festival in 2004. Hamlet by Thomas Ostermeier praised by his plays Hedda
Gabler, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Othello sold out in many countries and cities
of the world from Buenos Aires to London, from Venice to Chile. Co-production of
Hellenic Festival in Athens and Avignon Festival, Hamlet sponsored by Goethe
Institut will be one of the plays of the festival that should not be missed. The play will
be staged in German (with Turkish subtitles).
ORPHÉE – Choreographers Montalvo & Hervieu and Dancers of Cirque
du Soleil (France)
You’ve never seen Orphée like this before:
A visual feast from Picasso to Philip Glass, from baroque to hip-hop
The festival welcomes the prestigious French choreographers José Montalvo &
Dominique Hervieu’s interpretation of Orphée, hailed as a “multi-coloured alchemy”.
The tale of this character of Greek mythology is now being told in a spectacular
festivity in which baroque dance mingles with hip-hop on a stage where the video
production of Montalvo & Hervieu, inspired by Bruegel, Rubens and Picasso blends
with the music of Monteverdi, Gluck and Philipp Glass.
The show with 7 dancers selected among the dancers of Cirque du Soleil worldknown Canadian ensemble which grants new aspects to performance arts and 9
musicians will be an amazing visual and audio feast. Semi-god and semi-human
properties of Orphée will be played by an acrobat moving on a wooden leg. Lucas
Patuelli, who has a unique and amazing dance technique despite of complete
paralysis of his lower half, will play young Orphée.
Orphée, the last work of highly awarded duo Montalvo & Hervieu, who has worked
together since the beginning of 80s and has staged countless musicals, will reassure
their approach to dance as a festivity. Orphée, under the sponsorship of French
Cultural Centre, can be seen on Friday, 18 May at 20.30 and Saturday, 19 May at
15.30 at Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Sahnesi.
KAFKA’S MONKEY– Young Vic Theatre Company (United Kingdom)
Performed to full houses in every country, “Kafka’s Monkey” in the festival
Kafka’s Monkey adopted from the short story A Report to an Academy by Franz
Kafka and based on the monologue of a monkey which has learned how to speak and
behave like a human being, will be staged on Saturday, 19 May at 20.30 and
Sunday, 20 May at 18.30 at Kenter Theatre under the sponsorship of Henkel.
Laurence Oliver Awards under her belt and collaborations with eminent directors like
Peter Brook, Kathryn Hunter successfully performs the story of a monkey who tries to
behave like a human being just to be able to exist. The play directed by Walter
Meierjohann questions the feeling of alienation and how each person turns
themselves into monkeys within the identities they created for themselves in the
society. Kafka’s Monkey will be staged in English (with Turkish subtitles) with the
support of British Council.
HANS WAS HEIRI - Zimmerman & de Perrot (Switzerland)
An unforgettable theatre, circus, dance and music show co-produced by the
Istanbul Theatre Festival was awarded with its 360 o turning stage design
Hans Was Heiri, a show extending from drama to dance, circus to music by Swiss
Martin Zimmermann and Dimitri de Perrot, will be staged on Saturday, 26 May at
20.30, Sunday, 27 May at 15.30, and Monday, 28 May at 20.30 at Harbiye Muhsin
Ertuğrul Sahnesi under the sponsorship of Enka with three special shows.
Like magicians conjuring up something out of nothing, Zimmermann & de Perrot
elicit hidden meanings from objects, bodies and sounds. Hans was Heiri builds on the
insight that we humans are surprisingly similar when it comes to basic needs and
desires. The play was highly praised for its 360o turning stage design and won
design award in Switzerland. The play, staged by seven actors including Zimmerman,
projects pleasure of different people, who came together with motion, body language,
objects, different tones, live music, and sounds, out of enjoying from the same event.
Dimitri de Perrot will accompany the play with the live music he performs on the
stage.
Latest work by Zimmerman & de Perrot, creating a number of striking projects for
years, Hans Was Heiri praised in every city of Europe after the premiere on 17
January in Lausanne. Istanbul Theatre Festival is one of the co-producers of the
show. Hans Was Heiri, a dumbshow going back and forth between circus, dance, and
theatre will be watched even without blinking an eye.
RHINOCÉROS - Théâtre de la Ville (France)
What if everyone turns into a rhino, after a rhino attack...?
Renowned playwright Eugène Ionesco’s text which reflects the historical and political
turmoil of the 1950s is restaged by Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, Director of Théâtre de
la Ville and Paris Festival d’Automne, with bold references to the present and the
distinct discoveries of the of the young director
Rhinocéros, on a rhino attack on a city followed by the panic experienced and caused
by people turning into rhinoceroses, will be staged on Friday, 1 June and Saturday, 2
June at 20.30 at Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Theatre. Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota
advocates that it is necessary to go back, from time to time, to the playwrights who
approach the position, the role, the responsibility and the freedom of thought of the
individual in the common consciousness of the history refraining from all sorts of
individualistic forms. He creates a tension between the surreal and the material and
presents chaos with the deafening noise of the city through the use of a stage
language he has created. The play will be staged in French (with Turkish subtitles).
LOCAL PRODUCTIONS IN THE FESTIVAL
The 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival programme includes more than 30 plays which
will meet with the audience for the first time as well as four different plays staged
by Dostlar Tiyatrosu, Kenter Tiyatrosu and Oyun Atölyesi.
Genco Erkal’s new play I am Bertolt Brecht is an adaptation by the veteran actor
from the great playwright’s poems, songs and stories. “Let this be Brecht’s comeback!”
says Erkal and hails the return of the playwright who brings consciousness, widens
one’s horizons, provokes with the questions he poses and seduces his audience.
Genco Erkal shares the stage with actress Tülay Günal in a play that offers a journey
on issues like the world order, position of women in the society and war. The play is to
be accompanied live by pianist Yiğit Özatalay. I am Bertolt Brecht can be seen on
Wednesday, 23 May and Thursday, 24 May at 20.30 at Kenter Tiyatrosu.
The Istanbul Theatre Festival pays respect to Kenter Tiyatrosu that celebrated its
50th Anniversary in 2011. Love Letters by Müşfik Kenter and Kadriye Kenter on
Friday, 11 May at 20.30 and Queen Lear on Sunday, 13 May at 20.30 by Yıldız
Kenter at Kenter Tiyatrosu will be a significant reference to 50 years of history.
The greatest love in history as told by Shakespeare, the love between Antony and
Cleopatra, is to be staged for the first time in Turkey by Oyun Atölyesi since the
production by the Municipality Theatres in 1947. Zerrin Tekindor stars as Kleopatra
while Haluk Bilginer plays as Antonius. Antony and Cleopatra directed by Kemal
Aydoğan will represent Turkey at the Shakespeare’s Globe’s 2012 International
Shakespeare Festival on 26–27 May in London and meet its audence at the Istanbul
Theatre Festival on 1–2June at 20.30 at Oyun Atölyesi.
Shakespeare Meetings
Three classics by Shakespeare will be on the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival stage.
Schaubühne Berlin production Hamlet from Germany is followed by Antonius and
Kleopatra by Oyun Atölyesi and the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival ends with
Macbeth by Tiyatro Pangar. The story of power wars, betrayal and decay, Macbeth
directed by Mehmet Birkiye has Demet Evgar in one of the leading roles.
Tiyatro Oyunbaz takes part at the festival with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead by Tom Stoppard. The play uses Hamlet by Shakespeare as the background
and focuses on the story of the “little men” who have got stuck in the middle of big
events and cannot change their destiny – cannot even do anything to change it.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead will meet with the audience on Saturday,
2 June at 20.30 and Sunday, 3 June at 15.30 at Üsküdar Tekel Sahnesi.
Freedom, silence, war and resistance...
It was a Calm and Chilly Morning the Day I Left is written and directed by Yeşim
Özsoy Gülan, founder of VEDST Theater Group which has performed many time in
the festival. The play states everything about today’s Turkey where violation of liberty
and polarisation peaks but does not actually mention anything. The play will be staged
on Friday, 11 May at 20.30 and Saturday, 12 May at 15.30 and 20.30 at Hamursuz
Fırını Sahnesi.
Antigone, questioning the dichotomy of justice and the law, by Sophokles directed by
Celal Mordeniz at Diyarbakır Municipal Theatre is in the festival programme. The
story of Antigone, who is on the side of a humane order, will be staged in Kurdish
(with Turkish subtitles) on Friday, 25 May at 20.30 and Saturday, 26 May at 15.30 at
Haldun Taner Sahnesi.
Tiyatro Avesta production Trap written by Aykut Oran and directed by Murat
Garipağaoğlu is the story of conflict and arguments between two soldiers in the
border at guard. The play is also about ordinariness of violence, simplicity of death,
and how people become violent with the gun in their hands. Kapan will be staged in
Kurdish (with Turkish subtitles) on Friday, 3 June and Monday, 4 June at 20.30 at
Garajistanbul.
İçtima-i Hakiki meaning “True Assembly” in Arabic will be realized altogether with the
intellectuals, journalists, artists from different disciplines and participants who have
come to watch us on the “social media” network and a preferred venue with the
recordings of the body language and video-art, of the multimedia and of the sounds as
action will have the first priority. This striking work written and directed by Emre
Koyuncuoğlu based on the texts by Amin Malouf will be staged on Thursday, 17
May and Friday, 18 May and Saturday, 19 May at 20.30 at Eminönü Ali Paşa Hanı.
The play produced by Istanbul Municipal Theatre Contemporary Performing Arts
Center (ÇGSM) will be staged with co-production of the Istanbul Theatre Festival.
Separation, longing, and beyond
Oh My Smyrna, My Beautiful Izmir written and directed by Nesrin Kazankaya is
about the traumatic marks of the war and the forced immigration of Greek and Turkish
communities in İzmir after the Bill of Population Exchange in 1923. The play, with the
Istanbul Theatre Festival as co-producer, will be staged on Sunday, 20 Monday, 21
and Tuesday 22 May at 20.30 at Tiyatro Pera and on Thursday, 24 and Sunday, 27
May at 16.00 at Caddebostan Kültür Merkezi.
Encounter/S focuses on the stories of siblings fallen apart from each other and
discusses the impact of the social transformation Turkey has been experiencing on
the various sections of the society. The play will be staged by Boğaziçi Performing
Arts Ensemble on Tuesday, 29 May and Wednesday, 30 May at Haldun Taner
Sahnesi.
Human Landscapes is a project developed and composed by Selim Doğru, who
lives in the Netherlands. It is based on the poetry of Nâzım Hikmet and Judith
Herzberg. An unusual collaboration of literature, theatre and music, the project will be
presented as a theatrical concert. Human Landscapes is performed by actress,
singer Hazal Selçuk, Trio To be Sung and three soloists and promises a unique
experience for the audience. The show will take place on Sunday, 3 June at 20.30
and Monday 4 June at 18.30 at Haldun Taner Sahnesi.
A man and a woman...
The Room and The Man is based on a single text which discusses, from two different
perspectives, the man and the woman who both complete contradict with each other.
Arslan/Theater Onderhetvel, Kunstenfestival 0090 and Toneelhuis co-production
The Room and The Man written by Eric de Volder and directed by Mesut Arslan will
be staged on Saturday, 26 May and Sunday, 27 May at 20.30 at Garajistanbul.
Human Voice stages the last phone call of an abandoned woman in love. The story,
which bears the impressions of the marginal life of the marginal playwright Jean
Cocteau, integrates with Ayşe Lebriz Berkem’s performance as an actress. The play
will be staged on Monday, 28 May at 20.30 and Tuesday 29 May at 18.30 at
Üsküdar Stüdyo Sahnesi.
The Chekhov Machine, which features Chekhov as one of its characters evolves as
the great playwright meets with the characters he has created in his plays during his
life cycle till his death. This poetic play directed by Müge Gürman will be staged by
the Istanbul State Theatres on Sunday, 13 May, Monday, 14 May and Tuesday, 15
May at 20.30 at Üsküdar Tekel Sahnesi.
I Take Your Hand in Mine is about the short relationship of Anton Chekhov and
Olga Knipper, who met in 1898 at rehearsals of The Seagull by Chekhov directed by
Stanislavsky in Moscow, continuing with letters and short meetings. The play was
written by American Chekhov expert Carol Rocamora.
I Take Your Hand in Mine, is about the affair, which has lasted six years sustained by
the correspondence from Yalta to Moscow and the brief dates, between Anton
Chekhov and Olga Knipper who met during the rehearsals of Chekhov’s The
Seagull, staged by Stanislavsky in Moscow. Written by the American Chekhov
specialist playwright and translator Carol Rocamora by collecting more than 800
letters, I Take Your Hand in Mine has brought old friends together. Başar Sabuncu,
Metin Deniz and Cüneyt Türel, who first worked together fifty years ago, come
together again for this play, supported by the festival as co-producer, at Küçük Sahne
on Monday, 14 May and Tuesday, 15 May at 20.30. Başar Sabuncu and Cüneyt
Türel will be presented with the Honorary Awards at the Opening Ceremony of the
Istanbul Theatre Festival.
And... Violence Against Women...
“SEVEN”
Pioneer documentary reader’s theatre Seven based on the interviews conducted with
seven women struggling for women rights all around the world will be staged at
Kenter Tiyatrosu on Wednesday, 16 May at 18.30.
Seven based on the interviews conducted by seven awarded play writers with seven
women from different countries of the world from Afghanistan to Guatemala, from
Russia to Nigeria will display struggle of these women against violence against
women in their societies and the social change they made. Stories of these women,
who continue their struggle, will be a real proof that violence against women has no
boundaries, no ethnicities, and class.
Reader’s theatre Seven will be staged within the Istanbul Theatre Festival and 7
famous actors, journalists, and human right activists from Turkey will read the
texts of interviews with Farida Azizi (Afghanistan), Inez Mccormack (Northern
Ireland), Marina Pisklakova-Parker (Russia), Anabella De Leon (Guatemala),
Mukhtar Mai (Pakistan), Mu Sochua (Kambodia) ve Hafsat Abiola (Nigeria).
Seven, which has been staged in 8 countries since it was written in 2007, has been
read by more than 300 politicians, activists, and actors with the active participation
of more than 60 international organisation and institution. It is considered as
“power of theatre to change the world”. Hillary Clinton presented Seven before its
staging in the USA. Academy Award Winner Meryl Streep and seven male Swiss
parliamentarians from EU Parliament are among the readers of the play. The
Seven, read in Istanbul at Muammer Karaca Tiyatrosu in 2010, will be staged under
the sponsorship of Swedish Consulate General and Riksteatern within the Istanbul
Theatre Festival.
Absurd Theatre
Eugéne Ionesco’s The New Tenant, which is one of the best leads of absurd theatre,
directed by Laçin Ceylan, founder of BiTiyatro, criticizes the mentality of the
consumer’s economy imposed by capitalism revealing absurdity of our lives in which
our personal relations, human values and even our genuine feelings of love and
affection have been razed by this imposingly consumptive economic system. The New
Tenant will be on Küçük Sahne on Saturday, 2 June at 20.30 and Sunday, 3 June
at 18.30.
The Play written by Samuel Beckett and directed by Şahika Tekand projects the
difficult struggle of today’s bourgeois cornered in their small worlds to exist and
express themselves and the complicity they are in while in search for peace and quiet
within the framework of a story on a routine and tragicomic love triangle. The Play will
be staged on Tuesday, 22 May, Wednesday, 23 May and Thursday, 24 May at
20.30 at Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Sahnesi with the cooperation of the Istanbul
Municipal Theatres.
A Carefree Play last part of the project “Kumbaracı50’de Gece Hikayeleri”
(Bedtime Stories at Kumbaracı50) 2011-2012 design of Altıdan Sonra Tiyatro can
be seen on Friday, 11 May, Saturday, 12 May, Sunday 13 May, and Monday, 14
May at 23.00 at Kumbaracı50. The audience for the play written and directed by Yiğit
Sertdemir will find 12 people watching a play. A Carefree Play is a dumbshow
researching how expectations and state of watching of the audience transform and
where the thing being watched goes.
“New Wave” in the Festival
A special section of the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival will be the “New Wave”
allocated for the performances of nine young theatre and dance ensembles. Plays
will meet with the audience at the venues of “New Wave” ensembles İkinci Kat,
Tiyatro Hal and Mekân Artı as well as Salon and Sahne Beşiktaş.
The Loner’s Club written and directed by Sami Berat Marçalı is based on the
induvidual’s “effort” for socialising. The play tells the story of a group participating to
gym class, created by a person, who has suicidal tendencies, in order to change the
course of her suicidal life and to share the exercise, from the first class to the last. The
Loner’s Club will be at İkincikat Tiyatro on Saturday, 12 May and Monday, 14 May
at 20.30.
Aslıhan Erguvan stages stories the story of the interchange of the soul and the body,
of the homeless and of the ones who have their homes, of the inner world of the
individual who resists the outer world, of trying to cover oneself but failing to do so, of
love which is “betwixt and between” and of a throwaway and a pet cat who are lost in
this pandemonium in Lullaby “A Cihangir Story”, written and directed by herself.
Aslıhan Erguvan working with artists such as Murat Daltaban, Mehmet Ergen, Işıl
Kasapoğlu, and Zeynep Günsür will be at Salon on Sunday, 20 May and Monday, 21
May at 20.30.
Leyla Postalcıoğlu and Benjamin Block met at Folkwang Hochschule and danced
together at the Kassel State Theatres. They have been working together since 2010 in
Berlin as independent dancers and choreographers. In the Roof structured on silence
they tell the story of two people who try to slow down while running and to get closer
when they are apart. The premiere of the Roof by the couple who also was a part of
Pina Bausch’s Tannhäuser Bacchanal and had international success, was on last
October in Berlin DOCK11. This performance will be staged on Monday, 14 May and
Tuesday, 15 May at 18.30 at Salon.
Tiyatro Hal, taking significant steps to stage domestic plays and opening its doors to
the young domestic playwrights, carries on by performing the stories of their own
geographical region. In the Collar is White written and directed by Özer Arslan, the
ensemble projects the state of being from a rural area and from city from the private
life of a manager in a plaza. The play will be staged on Wednesday, 16 May at 20.30
and Thursday, 17 May at 18.30 at Tiyatro Hal stage.
With the Open Window, combining Den Starkere by August Strindberg and Spiel
by Samuel Beckett, Entropi Tiyatro, aims to present an innovative structure by
keeping enthusiasm, fun, and dynamism at high points, meets two texts
simultaneously on the same stage under a certain structure. By creating its own
language and discourse after gathering a hopeless discourse together with a
discourse of hope, the ensemble focuses on the encouraged roles, burdened and
oppressed on people, which are accepted without any conditions after forced to be the
other, human under these roles and understanding the human. The Open Window
will be staged on Tuesday, 22 May at 20.30 and Wednesday, 23 May at 18.30 at
Sahne Beşiktaş.
The Queen of Hearts, concept and choreography by İlkay Türkoğlu, will be staged
on Friday, 25 May and Saturday 26 May at 18.30 at Salon. İlkay Türkoğlu, who has
worked abroad –particularly in Budapest– with various dance companies and
choreographers after her graduation from Modern Dance department of the Mimar
Sinan University of Fine Arts.
The Party by EKİP focuses on a bachelor party where six old friends meet years later.
The Party written and directed by actor Cem Uslu will be staged on Saturday, 26
May at 20.30 and Sunday, 27 May at 18.30 at Tiyatro Hal stage. The main aim of
EKİP is to achieve a dramatic performance which is of high caliber, modern, candid
and responsive to the problems and issues of the country in which live in.
In their new project Isn’t it?, Studio 4 İstanbul focuses on the childhood of the youth
they focused on in their latest play Atış Serbest (Shoot in the Bull) staged in Istanbul
and questioned their lives nested with violence and how their lives were structured by
the world they grew in. The Studio 4 İstanbul has performances built and designed
by them as well as the projects where they interpret plays by foreign and domestic
authors in a new theatrical perspective. The Isn’t it? will take place at Salon on
Thursday, 31 May at 20.30 and Friday, 1 June at 18.30.
The Tiyatro Artı, applying different staging techniques, enables the audience, who
were placed in a simulative structure; find themselves in the play by taking them away
from the reality with the Not In Our Custody. The play aims to change the perception
of watching and makes the audience a part of the play. The Not In Our Custody
focuses on recent Turkish history by looking at the capturing, captivity, and the triangle
of authority, power and victim. It completes its structure with Saturday Mothers by
focusing on Turkish political history and human rights process. The Not In Our
Custody can be seen on Friday, 1 June and Saturday, 2 June at Mekan Artı stage
on 16.00, 17.30, 19.00 and 20.30.
Dance and Performances in the Festival
The Body Of Desire, a performance expressing the pain rising because of the desire
felt through dance, is performed by Ayrin Ersöz who is also the choreographer of the
performance. By starting out from the idea that existence gains meaning through
body, The Body Of Desire is a performance built on jealousy, satisfaction, and
happiness in the world of the “other”. It will be on Üsküdar Stüdyo Sahnesi on
Friday, 11 May at 20.30 and Saturday, 12 May at 18.30.
Tuğçe Tuna, who prefers to be an artist open to all creativity and research disciplines
required by her projects, work productions specific to the venue, and all the
approaches of “body, thought and venue”, participates to the festival with the
Displacement at RemDans, which was founded by her. The show will be staged on
Tuesday, 15 May, Wednesday, 16 May and Thursday 17 May at 20.30 at Hasköy
İplik Fabrikası.
The Three Phases changing levels by using active platforms questions body’s
relationship to these levels and place. The choreography of the performance, where
Bilge Sürmeli and Irmak Altınbulak meet at three risky situations via platforms, was
prepared by Aydın Teker. The performance, with the Istanbul Theater Festival as coproducer, will be staged on Thursday, 17 May and Friday, 18 May at 20.30 at
Garajİstanbul.
By starting out from a series of data constructed by powerful images such as getting
lost, disappearing, losing, melting, being invisible, and wiped away the performance,
Tales In No Language, concept and choreography of which belongs to Aslı
Bostancı, is based on ”chromatic” stories occasionally with same names but different
sounds. The performance will be staged on Wednesday, 23 May and Thursday, 24
May at 20.30 at Üsküdar Tekel Sahnesi.
The Turkish Delight by Prospero Dance Company Talin Büyükkürkciyan is an
ironic research on an Armenian woman who tries to be size 36 but never achives her
aim due to her addition to foods. The performance will be staged on Thursday, 24
May at 20.30 and Friday, 25 May at 18.30 at Üsküdar Stüdyo Sahnesi.
The noland joins the festival with their latest work sOYUN. In sOYUN, the team
consisting of musicians and audience presents a joyful story on naturalness of
simplicity and reality of intimacy to the audience through a naive narrative. The
sOYUN will be staged on Tuesday, 29 May at 20.30 and Wednesday, 30 May at
18.30 at Üsküdar Tekel Sahnesi under the directorship and choreography of Esra
Yurttut.
The Jajed Secrets is staged by IDT+ (Istanbul Dance Theatre), produces
interdisciplinary projects enriched with Anatolia’s history and cultural diversity in the
national and international milieu. Founder and creative members of the company,
Geyvan McMillen, Dilara Akay, Sernaz Demirel and Tan Temel search for their own
artistic languages through their social and cultural environment.The Jajed Secrets will
be staged on Wednesday, 30 May and Thursday, 31 May at 20.30 at Garajistanbul.
EXHIBITIONS, PANELS, MASTERCLASSES AND WORKSHOPS IN
THE FESTIVAL
The 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival programme will also include exhibitions, panels,
interviews, street events, and workshops with the participation of famous guests
during the festival. Applications to workshops and masterclasses will be made through
application forms at tiyatro.iksv.org/en as of 15 April.
Exhibition

Ottoman Theatre Posters From Refik Ahmet Sevengil Archive
Ottoman Theatrical Posters from Refik Ahmet Sevengil archive with their Turkish
transcriptions will be on display at Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Stage’s foyer during the
festival.
Panels

Ubor Metenga Meets Murat Gülsoy, Yekta Kopan and Ayfer Tunç
Innovator writers of contemporary Turkish literature, Murat Gülsoy, Yekta Kopan and
Ayfer Tunç will focus on “The Institute for the Readjustment of Clocks” by Ahmet
Hamdi Tanpınar in deep within the festival for the 50th year of his death. Ubor
Metenga will take place on Sunday, 27 May at 18.00 at Salt Galata and will be free of
charge.

“Remembering Refik Ahmet Sevengil” Documentary Screening and
Discussion
There will be a panel on works of Refik Ahmet Sevengil along with the documentary
screening Dramatik Belgesel Film “An Enlightened Man, Refik Ahmet Sevengil”
directed by Mehmet Eryılmaz. The panel will take place on Monday, 28 May at
Salon. (Speakers and the exact time of the panel will be announced later).

“Eugene Ionesco”Documentary Screening and Discussion
After the documentary screening “Quoi de Neuf?” by Sonia de Leusse –Le Guillou &
Frédèric Romade on the famous playwright Eugene Ionesco and a panel with
Eugène Ionesco’s daughter Marie-France Ionesco and Emmanuel DemarcyMota, the director of Rhinocéros will take place in the event. The event will be held on
Saturday, 2 June 16.00 at French Cultural Centre.

Screening of Video Work Wedding and Panel Discussion
Prof. Dr. Leyla Neyzi, Prof. Dr. Arzu Öztürkmen, Adnan Yıldız and Köken Ergun will
discuss ritual dynamics, dance, migration, identities, and collectivism in the panel
organised based on the video “Wedding” by Köken Ergun on wedding ceremonies of
Turkish migrants in Berlin. The Panel will be held on Saturday, 2 June at 14.30 at
Salon.
Master classes

Deciphering Shakespeare
There will be a two days applied workshop by Gürhan Elmalıoğlu and Mark Olsen
on “how” to activate motives in order to determine and decipher ciphers such as voice,
image, physical activity, emotion, idea, characteristics, and atmosphere provided to
the actor by Shakespeare, and selects the correct form for turning these decoding to
actions. Number of participators to the masterclass on Tuesday, 29 May and
Wednesday, 30 May between 10.00–13.00 and 14.00–17.00 at Kadir Has Sahne will
be limited to 25 people.

Folkwang Universität Der Künste Dance Master class
Master class with Franco Schmidt will take place on 24, 25 and 26 May at Yıldız
Technical University Dance Studio. The master class will last for 3 days and
number of participators will be limited to 20 people. The exact time of the event will be
announced later.
Workshops

Spolin Workshop
Run by actor/director Ege Maltepe, founder of SPOLIN-IST, this two-day workshop
will focus on sensual awareness, awareness through movement and intuitive
awareness as well as Spolin plays. The workshop will be on Sunday, 27 May and
Monday, 28 May between 10.00-13.00 and 14.00-17.00 at Kadir Has Sahne.
Workshop will last for 2 days and number of participators will be limited to 20 people.

Hans was Heiri Movement Workshop and Orphée Dance Workshop
Date, place, and details of these two workshops will be announced later.
ISTANBUL THEATRE FESTIVAL TICKETS ON SALE
BEGINNING ON SATURDAY, 7 APRIL
Tickets for the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival can be purchased beginning on 10.00
Saturday, 7 April at;
 BILETIX sales points,
 BİLETİX call centre (+90 216 556 98 00)
 www.biletix.com
 İKSV centre (10.00-19.00; closed on Sundays, except Sunday, 8 April.)
The credit cards can be used for ticket sales and each performance will have full
tickets as well as discounted tickets for students.
Tulip members enjoy the lowest ticket prices in the Festival
The Tulip members will have a chance to see the performances with lowest ticket
prices during the festival. Tulip Card members will have a special discounts up to
25% for their ticket purchases. The discounted pre-sale period for Tulip Card
holders is 2-6 April.
Do you want to support students with “OneFullOneStudent” Project?
İKSV expands the scope of the project “OneFullOneStudent” started in 2007 with
support of the various non-governmental organizations in cooperation starting from
2012 and continues to bring everyone sensitive to art and students who do not have
the opportunity to attend cultural activities together to art. The lovers of art enable 3 to
10 students attend to shows during the festival by supporting the project
“OneFullOneStudent” through Biletix sale system or İKSV center with 15 or 50 TL
contributions.
Further
information
at
www.bitambiogrenci.org
and
www.biletix.com/anasayfa/TURKIYE/en
Further information on the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival:
tiyatro.iksv.org/en
Follow the festival at social media:
facebook.com/istanbultiyatrofestivali
twitter.com/tiyatrofest
For high-resolution images from the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival:
ikvpress.com/tiyatro2012