Adana Theater Festival ready to kick off

ADANA

Organized in collaboration with the Sabancı Foundation and the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the 21st Adana Theater Festival will kick off on March 27 World Theater Day.

One of Turkey’s longest-running events, the festival will run through April 30.

A press conference was held in Adana on March 11 to launch the festival’s program.

Sabancı Foundation General Director Nevgül Bilsel Safkan said the Sabancı Chamber Theater would raise the curtains for the first time on the festival, adding: “We are happy that we introduced one more permanent place to our hometown. We increased our viewer capacity to 500 during the opening held a few days before March 27.”

Mustafa Kurt, the director of Turkey’s State Theaters, said they had prepared a wide range of programs including performances by Turkish and foreign theater troupes from across the world, from Argentina to Uzbekistan. “It also makes us happy that the Adana Chamber Theater was made ready before the 21st festival. This new theater will become an important culture and art venue in Adana with its technical equipment and modern architecture.”

The new theater is made up of the Fine Arts Gallery on the first floor, a 140-person capacity hall, foyer, rooms for preparation and light and sound rooms on the second floor.

The Adana Theater Festival this year will present eight foreign theaters along with seven state theaters, two city theaters and 14 private theaters. The number of plays to be performed will be 31.

The opening of the festival will be made on March 27 by the Shaman Dance Theater, performing a musical play titled “Anatolian Legends of Love.”

Poland’s “Romeo and Juliette,” Georgia’s “Julius Caesar,” Spain’s “Chefs” and Argentina’s “Mandragora Circo” are among the plays to be staged in the festival.

From Turkey, Duru Theater, Istanbul Temaşa Theater, Tiyatro Adam, Yolcu Tiyatro, Semaver Kumpanya, Antalya, Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir State Theater and Eskişehir City Theater are among the Turkish theaters to take part in the festival.

The Sakıp Sabancı Lifetime Achievement Award, which has been granted every year since 2005, will be presented at the opening of the festival.

Tickets for the festival will go on sale on March 17.