Turk actress starring in British play

LONDON - Doğan News Agency

Pınar Öğün plays the character Gabriella in ‘Pentecosta’ on London stage.

Turkish actress Pınar Öğün, who is known for her role in a TV series featuring the life of late Turkish physician Türkan Saylan, is starring in famous British playwright David Edgar’s play “Pentecost” in London.

Öğün, who plays the character Gabriella, performed the play during a special press event also attended by critics from famous magazines and dailies such as Time Out, The Guardian, The Independent and Stage. Öğün’s husband, actor Mehmet Ali Alabora, and the director of the play, Gavin McAlinden, also viewed the play.

The setting of the play, which is staged at historic St. Leonard Church, where William Shakespeare also took the stage, is a church in the Balkans. Öğün plays a character who is fighting alone against intellectuals. “The struggle of Saylan was for helpless people. Now I am trying to play a different character. I am playing both a Bulgarian and Turkish character,” she said.

Saylan was famous for fighting leprosy, and for founding a charitable foundation called the Association for the Support of Contemporary Living (ÇYDD).

The play will run until April 8.