Turkish theater admired in Greece
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Anatolian Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 17, 2008 00:00
ANKARA - 'Rembetiko,' a play on the population exchange during the Ottoman Empire, welcomed a Greek audience as part of the 'Theater Meeting' in Thessalonica. The play has garnered alot of attention and has been invited to Athens.
"Rembetiko," a play highlighting the period of population exchange during the Ottoman times and the sad events that took place in this period, has generated great interest in Greece. The play, performed by the State Theaters, will be staged in Athens next year.
State Theaters' international relations and festivals official and theater artist, Sükun Işıtan, said they staged "Rembetiko" in October in the Greek city of Thessalonica. She said the play broke box office records in the country, and added: "Even anti-Turk people viewed the play and acclaimed it. They couldn’t find enough words to congratulate us. There were 700 people in the 600-person capacity hall and we performed the play five times."
Işıtan believes the play received so much interest from Greeks because they already had an in-depth knowledge of the events during the period of population exchange. "At first they did not know what they would see, because they didn’t know us. But they loved it so much that they proposed we go to Athens and extend our tour program to one month."
Noting that such tours showed the world that Turkish theater had much professional talent, Işıtan explained the reason for the interest they attracted: "They are particularly curious about our system. The existence of state theater, which is highly criticized in our country, is appreciated in other countries and taken as a model."
"Rembetiko," which welcomed the Greek audience as part of the "Theater Meeting" in Thessalonica, has been translated into Turkish by Başar Sabuncu. Thesia Panayiotou composed music of the play. Can Atilla was the play's music director, the stage design was completed by Zeki Saraylıoğlu and the performance was choreographed by Deniz Gebeshuber.
Vagon Sahne goes to Europe
Işıtan said the European Theater Convention’s, or ETC, fall meeting was held in Istanbul with the participation of theater managers from various European countries, and that Turkish theater had been promoted in the best way during the meeting.
She said the participants’ reactions were very positive following the meeting, adding countries including Poland, France, Britain and Germany had sent congratulatory messages.
Işıtan said one of the projects initiated by the State Theaters in conjunction with other European theaters was "Vagon Sahne" (Mobile Stage). "The project was proposed during a meeting of the ETC in Hamburg. Turkey ran the project and this stage has been successfully designed with the collaboration of the Turkish State Railways, or TCDD, and State Theaters," she said.
Işıtan explained how a train had been transformed into a stage for the project, adding that the stage would be shown during a festival to be attended by Turkish and European project partners. She said theater groups from Turkey, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Germany would take part in the festival, where Turkey would be represented by the State Theaters. She added that each country would stage a never-before-performed play written by its own writer.
"The world will gain eight theater plays thanks to this festival. Turkey, the owner of the project, will perform its own play in all these countries," said Işıtan. Işıtan said the activities would start next April, continuing for two and a half months before closing with the festival in July.
State Theaters' international relations and festivals official and theater artist, Sükun Işıtan, said they staged "Rembetiko" in October in the Greek city of Thessalonica. She said the play broke box office records in the country, and added: "Even anti-Turk people viewed the play and acclaimed it. They couldn’t find enough words to congratulate us. There were 700 people in the 600-person capacity hall and we performed the play five times."
Işıtan believes the play received so much interest from Greeks because they already had an in-depth knowledge of the events during the period of population exchange. "At first they did not know what they would see, because they didn’t know us. But they loved it so much that they proposed we go to Athens and extend our tour program to one month."
Noting that such tours showed the world that Turkish theater had much professional talent, Işıtan explained the reason for the interest they attracted: "They are particularly curious about our system. The existence of state theater, which is highly criticized in our country, is appreciated in other countries and taken as a model."
"Rembetiko," which welcomed the Greek audience as part of the "Theater Meeting" in Thessalonica, has been translated into Turkish by Başar Sabuncu. Thesia Panayiotou composed music of the play. Can Atilla was the play's music director, the stage design was completed by Zeki Saraylıoğlu and the performance was choreographed by Deniz Gebeshuber.
Vagon Sahne goes to Europe
Işıtan said the European Theater Convention’s, or ETC, fall meeting was held in Istanbul with the participation of theater managers from various European countries, and that Turkish theater had been promoted in the best way during the meeting.
She said the participants’ reactions were very positive following the meeting, adding countries including Poland, France, Britain and Germany had sent congratulatory messages.
Işıtan said one of the projects initiated by the State Theaters in conjunction with other European theaters was "Vagon Sahne" (Mobile Stage). "The project was proposed during a meeting of the ETC in Hamburg. Turkey ran the project and this stage has been successfully designed with the collaboration of the Turkish State Railways, or TCDD, and State Theaters," she said.
Işıtan explained how a train had been transformed into a stage for the project, adding that the stage would be shown during a festival to be attended by Turkish and European project partners. She said theater groups from Turkey, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Germany would take part in the festival, where Turkey would be represented by the State Theaters. She added that each country would stage a never-before-performed play written by its own writer.
"The world will gain eight theater plays thanks to this festival. Turkey, the owner of the project, will perform its own play in all these countries," said Işıtan. Işıtan said the activities would start next April, continuing for two and a half months before closing with the festival in July.