Afife Theater awards presented

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

The 18th Yapı Kredi Afife Theater Awards were announced on April 28 at a ceremony held at Istanbul’s Haliç Congress Center. The awards were presented in 14 categories.

Afife Theater Awards Executive Board Chairman Salih Başağa said this year they had developed a transparent online application for 33 jury members to make their decision as soon as they viewed the plays.

“This season jury members viewed 208 plays and went to the theater 1,700 times in total. They evaluated 2,336 nominees in 11 different categories and then determined the winners of the award,” he said.

This year, the Muhsin Ertuğrul Special Award was given to veteran actor Münir Özkul, whose daughter Güner Özkul picked up the award on his behalf. The Cevat Fehmi Başkut Special Award, meanwhile, was given to Ahmet Sami Özbudak, while the Yapı Kredi Special Award went to Professor Zehra İpşiroğlu.

In the main categories, Zerrin Tekindor won the Best Actress Award for the third time for her performance in the play “Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Tardu Flordun won the Best Actor Award for his performance in the same play.

Defne Halman and Taner Ölmez were presented the Best Actress and Best Actor in a Supporting Role awards respectively for their performances in “Killer Joe.”

Ümit Aydoğdu was presented with the Best Director Award for “The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui.” The play also won the Best Production of the Year award for the Tiyatro Adam company, while Oktay Köseoğlu received the Best Stage Music award for the same play.