'The Man with a Flower in his Mouth' 

By Heidi Trautmann

 A public space somewhere, two tables under a tree, two people sitting, separately….one of them deep in contemplation, the other a traveller, the one clothed in black, the other in beige.

The man in beige, a businessman is waiting for the next train, he had missed his, gets impatient, bored perhaps, and to pass the time wants to strike up a conversation with the man in black….and so  a dialogue is starting….actually it is more like a monologue…. between a man, a normal citizen with a schedule on his hands, and another whose time line has worn thin, he is about to die of cancer in his mouth, the flower he feels growing.

A one act play realised by the young Lefkoşa Sanat Tiyatrosu /Nicosia Art Theatre at the Arabahmet Cultural Centre with its nice small theatre with the chairs in black velvet. The theatre was founded in 2008 by the young academic actor Diren Özdoğal, born in Güzelyurt in 1989, and some friends; today, one young member told me, they are about 20 members altogether doing the work a theatre group is faced with, from scrubbing the floors, selling tickets, doing the costumes and designing stage and posters etc. The plays they have brought out so far over the last years have attracted the attention of the media and the public.

Now, for this project the Pirandello play, they had the cooperation from Nehir Demirel, director, and the actor Erdoğan Kavaz, both members of the Lefkoşa Municipality Theatre and I must say, it was a pleasure for me throughout the play. Cast: Diren Özdoğal, Erdoğan Kavaz and Suzan Polat who also did assistance to the director Nehir Demirel. It is professional acting, concentrating on language, on the visual dialogue between the persons on stage, an exchange of body language so that you can visualize the strings of relationship that develop, even when only one person is talking and the other listening, the listening is just as intensive in expression.

It is about the importance of life, of the small things in life, that become so clear when you know that time is running out while the individual opposite you has not even understood what the importance of life is; it is as if one person stands on top of a hill with everything open to his view, the other in the valley having his view blocked by the hills surrounding him.

It was a beautiful experience to see young professionals doing a good job.

The atmosphere in the freshly renovated Cultural Centre always makes a special impression on me whenever I attend an event there,  just as walking through the Arabahmet district as if those moments were not from this space of time.

The play will be still on the next two Wednesdays, which is Jan 21 and Jan 28 at 20.30 hrs: Information and tickets: 05338487207 – 05338681989.