By Heidi Trautmann

An absurd play. Absurd, really?

The première on this Saturday of Feb 03, 2018 at the LBT, the beloved, small theatre, that is fighting for more space for so many years now, was full with 150 seats, among the guests the new Premier Minister Tufan Erhürman and his wife and the Deputy Premier Minister Kudret Öserzay and his wife. It’s been a while that we have seen a new play lately, as the company has been travelling with their last plays, successfully, in the South and in Turkey. I was missing them. BRT 1 was there for the première with Kadri Esemen and his equip and a handful of cultural journalists, so you may read about it.

‘Absurd?’ commented my friend sitting next to me, ‘No, it is often every day’s reality.’ A couple working themselves up into a frenzy while a war is happening outside their windows and if it touches them, they take the things as they come. People wrapped up in their own small senseless world hardly ever realizing what is going on around them, fighting their daily fights about nothing.

It was so well played by Hatice Tezcan and Osman Ates, so easily and convincingly that I gasped at the ring of reality of it. Nehir Demirel, who directed the play, gave the absurdity of the play, the irony of it, the right platform and the stage and costumes design by Özlem Deniz Yetkili was just perfect, a modern concept.

From now on the play will be shown every Friday and Saturday at 20:00 hrs. It is in Turkish but even without understanding much of the dialogue, it is a pleasure to watch the acting. Please call (0392) 227 87 82 for tickets.

Frenzy for Two by Eugène Ionesco, translated by Ülkü Tamer

Man: Osman Ateş

Woman: Hatice Tezcan

Neighbours: Aytunç Şabanli and Melek Erdil

Soldiers and Civilians: Izel Seylani, Melihat Melis Beşe, Cem Aykut, Pinar Inandım, Umut Ersoy.