For seven years in a row the Lefkoşa Belediye Tiyatrosu – Nicosia Municiple Theatre – one of our theatre companies of high standard under the management of Yaşar Ersoy have - for many years and through various hard times - organised the theatre festival in North Cyprus. The programme includes nine plays of different genres to be performed by well-respected theatre companies in order to present to the audience the wide spectrum of theatre.
The venue for all the plays will be the Atatürk Cultural Centre at the Near East University at 21:00 hrs except one play “Kimin Eşek Kulaği var?”by the Satirigo Theatre on September 22.
September 1:
“Images of Ottoman History” by the Konya State Theatre
Playwright: Turgut Özakman; Director: Murat Atak
Satirical images to show how uprisings only bring unhappiness to people and how we should learn from history.
September 5:
“The Return of Marx” by the Dostlar Theatre
The play portrays the return of Karl Marx. Marx is given permission to return from some secular afterlife to give his opinion on today’s circumstances.
September 8:
“Cabaret” by Istanbul City Theatre
Playwright: Joe Masteroff; Director: Yücel Erten
The musical portrays Berlin in 1931 and tells the love story of a cabaret star and an American writer. The play became famous through the film which starred Liza Minelli.
September 11:
“Those with Masks” by the Istanbul City Theatre
Playwright: Ilan Hatsor; Director: Taner Barlas
The dramatic relationship between three brothers in wartorn Palestine (written by an Israeli).
September 16:
“Educating Rita” by the Adana State Theatre
Playwright Willy Russel; Director Işil Kasapoğlu
In this dramatic comedy a literature professor meets a hairdresser who prefers to read trite romances. With the help of the professor, she learns to broaden her literary taste through learning to discriminate, thus gaining self-confidence.
September 21:
“Animal Farm” by the Sivas State Theatre
Playwright George Orwell; Director: ?
Animal Farm is a dystopian novel published in England in 1945. The book reflects events leading up to and during the era of Stalin before World War II. Orwell was a critic of Stalin. In Animal Farm, the animals revolt openly against the unfairness of human beings.
September 22:
“Who has a Donkey Ear?” by the Satirigo Theatre
A puppet show discussing human characteristics as they should be in an ideal world, with respect to nature, environment, honesty… (The performance starts at 19:00 hrs)
September 24:
“Praised for a comfortable living” by the Pera Theatre
Adaptation of Bertold Brecht’s texts; Director Nesrin Kazankaya
A musical cabaret uncovering the currents under the surface of bourgeois life: poverty, corruption…
September 26:
“The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare adapted by playwright and director: Nesrin Kazankaya
Shakespeare’s text is adapted to today’s circumstances and reveals the position and relationship of Christians and Jews.
Tickets to individual plays are TL 15; a ticket to all the plays is TL 100. Tickets are available at the Lefkoşa Belediye Theatre, Tel. 22 78 782;
email: lefkosabelediyetiyatrosu@hotmail.com
I am sure that tickets will also be available at the usual outlets such as Deniz Plaza.
All plays are in Turkish, but as I said before in my website, good theatre can be understood in any spoken language as the body language will prevail and it is very interesting how scenes are built up in comparison to plays one has perhaps seen before on other stages.