Sevdasiyla ve Kavgasiyla
Bir Ülkenin Yasaminda
Rol Almak
Yenilmek Ama Teslim Olmamak
Yaşar Ersoy’s new book : Acting in the Life of a country – with love and struggle – Defeated but not giving up
By Heidi Trautmann
The title of the book says everything: It is about theatre, about the first 30 years of the Nicosia Municipality Theatre, but also a glimpse through the lens of theatre on the North Cypriot community, its social, cultural and political aspects and development, its victories and its losses, the intrigues behind the curtain, with Yaşar Ersoy as the captain, the witness of it all.
Yaşar Ersoy was born in Limassol in 1951 and is the founder and director of the Nicosia Municipality Theatre, actor and playwright.
“Theatre is viewed as a school for the public, a school of democracy since the ancient times with its alphabet of humanism,” says Yaşar Ersoy, and adds “Theatre is the effort of human beings to tidy the lives of other human beings – that is, society – and to reshape and recreate it. It is not an entertaining art to pass the time. Isn’t theatre the mirror of life? It may be concave or convex, but it still reflects society. It increases the sensibility and sharpens the mind and conscience; it develops awareness and incites the heart. Theatre is also a platform from which to question personality, identity, existence, behaviour, tradition, relations and the world we live in.”
This is what he said when I met him for the first time for an interview some years ago. At that time it looked as if they had the worst behind them and would look into a brighter future, at least theatre wise. The last year we all have witnessed the new obstacles again which have been put in the way of the professional theatre company.
About all this the book is about. A document with many proofs of the theatre’s history, with many photos of past plays, of their struggles and their successes on stage.
A beautiful book of 694 pages, with hundreds of photos, newspaper cuttings and documents...
ISBN NO: 978-605-4511-61-7
The book was published by Khora Publishing.
It can be obtained from Khora Bookstore and Café, Işık Bookstore, and all other known bookstores and also from Nicosia Municipality Theatre.
The price is 60 TL
PS: I have in my possession Yaşar’s other books “Toplumsal ve Siyasal Olaylarla Içiçe...Kibris Türk Tiyatro Hareketi” a written and photo documentation of 336 pages on the history of the Turkish Cypriot theatre; accompanied by a four-hour film. Another book “109 Yazarin Kaleminden Nicosia Belediye Tiyatrosu” concentrates on the development, plays, actors, newspaper cuttings with criticisms by our local artists, and also on political interventions which shook the “structure” of this theatre so many times. A third book “Umut en son ölür” (Hope dies last) with thoughts on playwrights, theatre, art and actors. What a heritage, I think, a heritage he is bequeathing to his people.
Published in Cyprus Observer Sep 8