Afife Theater Awards presented in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

Turkey’s 21st Yapı Kredi Afife Theater Awards were presented at a ceremony at the Haliç Congress Center on April 24, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Among the major awards, the best actress and best actor awards went to Şerif Erol and Merve Dizdar, respectively. 

Bakırköy Municipal Theaters received the Best Production Award for Wolfram Lotz’s “The Ridiculous Darkness.” 
Among the special awards, the Muhsin Ertuğrul Award went to director Işıl Kasapoğlu, while the Yapı Kredi Award went to actress Ayla Algan. 

The ceremony’s special award, which was given in the name of theater actor Haldun Dormen for a second time, was presented to “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” a glam rock musical. 

Yapı Kredi Afife Theater Awards Executive Board President Salih Başağa said they were working to be a “culture and arts bank.” 

“Theater has had a different place for us since the very beginning during our adventure. Participating in the founding of the first Turkish private theater with Muhsin Ertuğrul, who was a symbolic name for Turkish theater, is a matter of pride for us. We are striving to honor Afife Jale’s memory and continue to support efforts to theater,” he said during a speech at the ceremony.

Jale was a Turkish stage actress, best known as the first Muslim theater actress in Turkey. Since 1997, the Afife Jale Theater Awards, established by the banking and insurance company Yapı Kredi, have been given to distinguished actors and theater workers annually in her honor.