Theater enthusiasts meet in Adana
ADANA
Theater is making its annual return to Turkey’s south, with the 17th State Theaters Sabancı International Adana Theater Festival set to begin on World Theater Day on March 27.The festival will offer the people of Adana an enjoyable program throughout the month with 24 plays, including 16 local and eight international plays.
The festival, which often attracts upward of 80,000 spectators year to year, will begin with the play “This Burdensome Thing We Call Life” by the Istanbul State Theaters and the Ankara Directorate of State Theaters at the Hacı Ömer Sabancı Cultural Center.
The foreign plays that will be performed at this year’s festival include Summer Nite Theater’s “Marat / Sade” from the United States; the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center’s “The Face of the Dog” from China; Demons Et Merveilles’ “Lulu Nuit Banche” from France; Espetaculo da Dobrar’s “Goda” from Portugal; the Skopje Turkish Theater’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” from Macedonia; the Greek National Theater’s “Cake” and the Kyiv Modern Ballet Theater’s “Carmen TV” from Ukraine.
A number of Turkish theaters are also participating in the event, including the Istanbul State Theater with “This Burdensome Thing We Call Life;” the Trabzon State Theater with “Roulette;” the Sivas State Theater with “Blood Wedding;” the Ankara Art Theater with “Halktan Biri” and “Tesadüfen Kadın Elizabeth;” Semaver Kumpanya with “Birds” and “Data;” Tiyatro Adam with “Arturo Ui’nin Önlenebilir Tırmanışı;” İkinci Kat Tiyatro with “Fü;” the Çolpan İlhan-Sadri Alışık Theater with “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and the Pürtelaş Tiyatro with “War.”
The festival plays will be staged at the Hacı Ömer Sabancı Culture Center in Adana and at the Sabancı University Performing Arts Center in Istanbul. There will be dance, playwriting and reading theater activities for those with visual impairments, mask and puppet making with children and different workshops throughout the festival until April 30.
A special open-air show, “Transition,” has also been prepared by the world-renowned German Panoptikum team. The performance will be staged on April 10 at 8 p.m. at the train station in Adana. Activities on Atatürk Boulevard between April 17 and 26 will also carry the festival spirit to the streets of Adana.
Sakıp Sabancı Lifetime Achievement Award
The Sakıp Sabancı Lifetime Achievement Award, which has been presented since 2005 to pay homage to masters who have played a profound role in the development of the art of drama, will be doled out at the opening ceremony of the festival.
Theater legends who have previously been given the Sabancı Lifetime Achievement Award include Cüneyt Gökçer (2005), Macide Tanır (2006), Bozkurt Kuruç (2007), Yıldız Kenter (2008), Genco Erkal (2009), Müşfik Kenter (2010), Gülriz Sururi (2011), Haldun Dormen (2012), Rutkay Aziz (2013) and Professor Zeliha Berksoy (2014).
The Adana Theater Festival is also opening the stage to young theater ensembles to present alternative performances. As part of the festival, there will be five young theater ensembles at the Adana State Theater Fuaye Genç Sahne. The Kulis Sanat Theater’s “Man at the Bridge,” the Seyyar Theater’s “Dangerous Games,” the Ters Ağaç Kukla Theater’s “Last Fig,” the Ray Theater’s “Window” and Tiyatro Evi’s “Ugly” will all go before audiences.
The Adana Theater Festival has hosted more than 5,000 Turkish and foreign players and 79 international theater ensembles from 40 different countries in the last 16 years, while drawing audiences from different parts of Turkey.
