I had the opportunity to watch three plays at the 23rd Istanbul Theatre Festival organized by IKSV. The festival ended at the beginning of the month. I would like to share some of my opinions about the plays that are quite different from each other.
***
Trap Town
The first play I watched was Trap Town by a dance company from Belgium, “Ultima Vez”. The play showed the differences between social classes. The conflict between the Mythrisians and the Odinese was told through Marduk, who was trying to show his goodness. It was interesting how the play was very connected to how society works in the 21st century but what impressed me the most was the way they used their bodies for sure. Of course, being a dance company plays a significant role in this. They moved in a way I can’t even imagine myself moving as if it was the easiest thing to do. The décor was used for some of these exact moves I’m talking about. Apart from the performance we watched on stage, there was a film that was integrated with the play on the background. So we could see what was happening in Trap Town apart from what we saw on the stage. I think it was a nice combination of dance and theatre.
Clean City
Another play I watched was Clean City. It was a documentary theatre that portrayed real stories instead of a fictional plot. The play was almost like storytelling. For me, the most impressive part of this play was its text. We listened to the stories of five women who have migrated to Greece and work as cleaners from the real owners of the stories. Although all their stories had their differences, they met at how certain aspects of their lives went in Greece, where they hoped for a better life. The play also had a part about conflicts about identity in these women’s families. I remember that they said when there was a quarrel between one of the women and her son, her son would argue “Mum, I am Greek but you aren’t.” to have the higher ground. I really enjoyed the play that went on like this, with anecdotes from these women’s lives.
Yevgeni Onegin
The third play I watched was Yevgeni Onegin, one of Pushkin’s classics. I don’ think I should be sharing any opinions on this one. I hadn’t read the novel when I went to see this play and since it was in Russian it was hard for me to read the subtitles and watch the play at the same time. With all the flashbacks in the play, it was very confusing for me. If you’re interested here’s a video for you.
…
All photos are from IKSV’S website.