The Theatre Festival not only invites international theatre groups to İstanbul but also focuses on co-productions to lend support to Turkish theatre companies and artists on their way to establishing themselves in the international sphere. The first such co-production took place back in 1997 with the Attis Theatre, in which Turkish and Greek artists performed in the "Heracles Trilogy," directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos. Following the Theatre Festival, the play was also staged in Athens and at the Delphi Meeting of Ancient Drama. Later on, the play were invited to Shizuoka to participate in the 2nd Theatre Olympics.
Robert Wilson's play, "The Days Before: Death, Destruction and Detroit," was another co-production staged in the Festival. "Deers Curse", "Dumrul and Azrael", "Neos Cosmos", "Ashura", "Home Sweet Home", "Where is Oedipus?", "In Trust In the Near East" and "Oedipus In Exile" were some of the other plays co-produced by private or state-funded theatres, and staged in several international festivals. The European Cultural Center Delfi, Zuercher Theatre Spektakel, Brussels Kuntsen Festival des Arts, Berlin Hebbel Theatre, Berlin Tanz im August, Rotterdamse Schouwburg and Utrecht Stadtschouwburg are among the co-producers that have supported the festival over the years.
11th International İstanbul Theatre Festival (May 19-June 2, 1999)
14th International İstanbul Theatre Festival (May 17-June 4, 2004)
IN TRUST IN THE NEAR EAST
Written and directed by award-winning Turkish author Özen Yula, “In Trust in the Near East” tells the story of a Man who has committed suicide during a civil war. While we are entrusted with his tale, we also witness the myths of human history in the background, as if they are his subconscious. Centered mainly on mythical archetypes, “In Trust in the Near East” deals with one of the oldest conflicts in the world: war and peace. Music and movement are also important elements of the play. “In Trust in the Near East” is the second part of Özen Yula’s “Near East Trilogy”. “In Trust in the Near East” had its world premiere in April 2003 at the Toga Festival in Japan where it received critical admiration.
Co-producers: International Istanbul Theatre Festival and Japan Performing Arts Foundation
Playwright and Director Özen Yula
PRAYER FOR FIRE
... “Never before have I felt such a yearning for some absolute faith in a god, in any god, one that I could address with thanksgiving, all overwhelmed by the joy of coming down on my marrowbones. For sake of reaching the fullest expression of this thanksgiving moment, the faithful acquire in time a somewhat blunt virtue which they call forbearance. But Gods are not good at trading. When engaging with them in the exchange of goods, the promise to make a prompt delivery is always broken, and the blame for the delay is always shared reciprocally. They could easily admit that they could err too; yet, should there be a gross error, its responsibility should be shared evenly. To them, no crime is possible to commit on one’s own.”…
Written, Designed, Directed by Berkun Oya
OEDIPUS IN EXILE
Studio Oyuncuları are well known to have rewritten and performed “Where is Oedipus?” (which is based on the tragedy “Oidipus Rex” by Sophocles) in Delphi (2002) to participate in the Meeting of Theatres of Antiquity within the context of the Athens Olympic Games 2000 -2004 . Şahika Tekand comes up with “Oedipus in Exile” this year, having been inspired by yet another Sophocles tragedy, “Oedipus at Kolonos.” After the play comes to the Istanbul Theater Festival stage, it will go to Greece and be performed at the Ancient Stadium in Delphi within the framework of “the 2500th Anniversary of Sophocles.” “Oedipus in Exile,” co-produced by the European Culture Center of Delphi and İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, can be resembled to court proceedings in pursuit of unveiling the much suspected truth about Oedipus.
Co-producers: İstanbul Theatre Festival, European Cultural Center Delphi and Studio Oyuncuları.
Written & Directed by Şahika Tekand
ASHURA
Ashura is a transhistorical narrative relating us the story of people, all their languages and religions, who had to undergo painful exiles as a result of the intention to engender a “homogeneous” society on the Anatolian soil. Ashura is condolences offered for “the others,” presented on the tenth day of the “Muharrem Month” in the Islamic Calendar (the time for making “Noah’s Pudding”). Ashura is an act of reverting to the truth and a verbal history of cultural culmination. Made from wheat, rice, water, sugar, beans, chickpeas, almond, chestnut, hazelnut, currants, rose water, clove and ginger… With its name as old as the human history… It is Ashura that comes to the fore now to show us the routes exiles were on the move. Mustafa Avkıran
Co-producers International Istanbul Theatre Festival, Züercher Theatre Spektakel, Rotterdamse Schouwburg, Utrecht Stadtschouwburg
Designed and Directed by Mustafa Avkıran
HOME SWEET HOME
The project idea started as; to pursue an art project investigating the international theme of the relationship between people with different social and cultural background and the particular space / place they inhabit, by bringing together artists (professional, non-professional) from a variety of disciplines and cultural environments in Turkey and Europe. The performance had its first premiere in Diyarbakır on October 2003 as a joint project of Diyarbakır Arts Center and Belgium Kunsten Festival des Arts. Home Sweet Home have been staged in Diyarbakır, in an historical Armenian church, which is today abandoned. The major problematic of the project concerns the production of contemporary art – an art that feeds on the different indivuals’ life experiences in Turkey from different age, culture, language and social background and questions it in immediacy. Accordingly, the people’s own stories, subjective history memories are the center of the project and its chief material.
Co-Producers:Brussels Kunsten Festival Des Arts, Berlin ‘Tanz im August’ / Hebbel Theater, International Istanbul Theater Festival and Anatolian Culture / DSM.
Directed by Emre Koyuncuoğlu
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Pina Bausch - Nefes
In 2003, the International İstanbul Theatre Festival presented yet another first: A special and comprehensive project devoted to İstanbul itself. The Tanz Theatre Wuppertal Pina Bausch and the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts collaborated in a production of "Nefes". The choreography was dedicated to İstanbul, one of the most remarkable cities in the world, by Pina Bausch, the uncrowned queen of dance theatre. "Nefes" was first staged in İstanbul and sold out for an entire week. The production met with the same success in Wuppertal, Paris and Berlin. Now a part of Pina Bausch's repertoire, "Nefes" continues to appear in theatre events the world over.
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13th International İstanbul Theatre Festival (May 18-June 4, 2002)
TRIBUTE TO NÂZIM
Concept and Directed by Genco Erkal
Producer: International İstanbul Theatre Festival
2002 is the centennial of Nâzım Hikmet, the renowned poet of the Turkish language. It is also announced by Unesco as the “Nâzım Hikmet Year”. In this respect, various performances are presented in Turkey and abroad. The opening ceremony of the 13th International Istanbul Theatre Festival is dedicated to Nâzım Hikmet. “Tribute to Nâzım” is a theatrical adaptation of his poems and it is realised by Genco Erkal who is also the director of this theatrical event.. The valuable actresses of the Turkish theatre; Yıldız Kenter, Ayla Algan, Zeliha Berksoy, Jülide Kural, Zuhal Olcay, Tilbe Saran, Sema, Zeynep Tanbay, Işık Yenersu will be sharing the same stage. Selim Atakan is the musical director. Set design of “Tribute to Nâzım” belongs to Metin Deniz and the costume designer is Artisan-Bilge Mestci. The spectacular tribute will be presented at the Rumeli Fortress reflecting the colours of the beloved city of Nâzım Hikmet.
WHERE IS OEDIPUS?
Based on the tragedy “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles
Adapted and Directed by Şahika Tekand
Co-producers: Uluslararası İstanbul Tiyatro Festivali, European Cultural Center of Delphi
The modern man has lost his tragedy.
He abandoned his projects, renounced his principles and virtues.
He gave up wondering about, questioning, and changing his life.
By reconciliation, he preferred to make a game out of life.
And this is the tragedy of modern man: to pretend not to see his reality.
In "Where is Oedipus?” life is questioned by means of a game against the case of making a game out of life. This is done by creating a real exploring process in which life/game/ stage and man/ acting part/ actor are presented simultaneously for both Oedipus and the audience in a puzzle with the movement of the actors and the lights.
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12th International İstanbul Theatre Festival (May 18-June 4, 2000)
THE DAYS BEFORE Death, Destruction & Detroit III
Co-producers: Change Performing Arts, Lincoln Center Festival New York, International Istanbul Theatre Festival, MC93 Bobigny – Paris.
“The Days Before” is conceived, designed and directed by Robert Wilson.
It is a journey through the spaces explored in Umberto Eco’s text. In this story, a shipwrecked man, Roberto, from the 17th century, searches endlessly fort he meridian, the line hat separates today from yesterday, where on one side it is still the day before. “The Days Before” contains two acts and twelve scenes. Between each scene is a Knee Play or entr’acte. For its imagery and ideas, it draws upon Western mythologies of the Apocalypse. As a piece in continuous development, it contains elements of both destruction and reconstruction. Past, present, and future coexist tangibly. The music is composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto. His score for Bertolucci’s film “The Last Emperor” had won him an Oscar, a Grammy, and a Globe Award for best soundtrack. “Little Buddha”, “Wuthering Heights”, “Forbidden Colors”, “Snake Eyes”, are some of his renowned film themes. The famous model and actress Isabella Rosellini made her cinematic debut with Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s “Il Pratto”. She received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her role in “Crime of the Century” and an Emmy Award nomination for “Chicago Hope”. Semiha Berksoy, a Prima Dona of the Turkish opera is the special guest actress of “The Days Before”
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11th International İstanbul Theatre Festival (May 19-June 4, 1999)
DUMRUL AND AZRAİL
“Dumrul and Azrael, the Angel of Death” is a co-production of The International Istanbul Theatre Festival, Hebbel Theatre, Berlin and 5th Street Theatre. Mustafa Avkıran adapted to stage Murthan Mungan’s text reflecting upon the myths of contemporary theatre. This contemplation is based on the re-construction of myths in their contemporary guise. The performance also draws from drama’s earliest roots in shamanic ritual in order to alter the function of words, music and dance while nurturing a different understanding of theatre. The five actors or narrators or characters in “Dumrul and Azrael” simultaneously remind the audience of the primal aspects of acting.
HERACLES TRILOGY
The “Heracles Trilogy”, composed of three different plays, is based on the texts of Heiner Müller, Euripides and Sophocles and it examines and questions the past, present and future. The first play “Heracles” is based on the texts “Heracles 2 and 13” by Heiner Müller and will presented by the Greek actors of the Attis Theatre “ Descent”, the second play is based on the texts “Heracles in Rage” by Euripides, “Tracchiniea” by Sophocles and “Heracles 5” by Heiner Müller and will be presented by Turkish actors. The last play of the trilogy “The Descent of Heracles” is a synthesis of the texts of the two former plays and will be presented by Turkish and Greek actors together. The “Heracles Trilogy” is the first international co-production of the International Istanbul Theatre Festival. After its world premiere in Istanbul, the trilogy turned to Japan to take part in the Theatre Olympics. This significant production bringing together Turkish and Greek actors plans to take part in additional international festivals.
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