Women to invoke dreams of an equal society through origami cranes in new play

ISTANBUL

The play will premier on Jan. 14 at Istanbul’s Emek stage in the Asian Hasanpaşa district.

A Japanese legend says anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted the same in wishes. Other versions of the story promise eternal fortune, everlasting happiness coupled with a long and healthy life.

With a brand new play, actresses of Istanbul’s Tiyatro Tatavla (Tatavla Theater), one of the city’s newest troupes able to convert stages into small cocoons of creativity, are preparing to fly paper cranes to invoke that women can live in a more democratic and more peaceful society, sharing equal rights with those individuals rumored of being sent on earth from Mars.

“Three women and a thousand cranes” is a silent, gestural act, where words give place to wishes written on the wings of the folded cranes. 

For the special act that will premiere on Jan. 14 at Istanbul’s Emek stage, a thousand paper cranes were gathered from all across the world, as tens of people in countries such as Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France, Italy and Australia supported the play by sending their folded wishes.

The play’s concept and choreography was invented by Arda Alpkıray. The three women are embodied by talented actresses Ayça Bildik, İrem Erkaya and Yeşim Egemen Özaydın. 

Famous actresses such as Hasibe Eren, Özge Borak and Ayça Varlıer have also given their support to the project via video footage.

Through its plays and performances, Tiyatro Tatavla also carries the mission of pioneering for the opening of Turkey’s first shame museum dedicated to violence against women in Istanbul.

Interactivity and improvisation are also part of the play as spectators can also contribute to the artists by writing down their own wishes onto paper. Those will be exhibited in a foyer area during the length of the staging. And perhaps, they will yield to the legend, carrying the thousands of dreams into reality.