“Canını En Çok Ne Yakar
/What is the thing that hurts most – a children play at
the Nicosia Municipality Theatre
By Heidi Trautmann
There is a village in faraway
Africa where the children are educated by the community, by tales that are told
in the evening by the common fire where the villagers meet to talk about the
matters of the day; parents talk openly about the wrong doings of their child,
but also the mistakes of adults are brought forward. However, the situation is
told in images and the advice then given is again in images, a parable is told.
Such a parable is ‘The Thing that
hurts most in the World’ and Paco Livan, the author has based his story on such
an oral traditional story from the Ivory Coast and the Nicosia Municipality
Theatre has adapted the story – the translation into Turkish is done by Esin
Güngör – into a play.
What is the most hurtful thing in
the world? This is the question the hare
one day asks the hyena while they are out fishing after having caught him
stealing his fish from the bucket because the hyena is a lazy and most
mischievous chap in the kingdom of animals.
The children in the auditorium of the
LBT Theatre take sides and shout and tell what they have seen that in fact the
hyena had stolen the fish, they are involved. So am I, right in the middle of
the crowd and I turn around and see their eyes lit up, their mouths open and
the arms waving in
protest.
The hyena laughs loud when the hare
says: the most hurtful thing in the world is a lie! He does not believe it and
walks away. The hare says to himself: I am going to prove it and intends to
play him a prank. He places a huge, brown, stinky cake in front of the palace
and the king is furious. The story starts to develop with the search of the
culprit by so-called smell experts among the animals.
A music and dance show by an
equally enthusiastic group of actors:
In
alphabetical order: Asu Demirçioğlu, Aytunç Şabanlı, Cem Aykut, Erdogan
Kavaz, Melek Erdil, Melihat Melis Beşe, Osman Ateş and Zeliş Şenol.
Director: Hatice Tezcan; Assistant
Director: Nehir Demirel; Dramaturg Aliye Ummanel; Music: Ersen Sururi;
choreography: Osman Ateş; Stage and costume design: Özlem Deniz Yetkili;
Technique: Firat Eseri; Set realisation: Riza Şen, Stage works: Mehmet Eseri;
costumes: Mehmet Doksöz; Sound recording:
Kadir Evre; Stage hand: Mehmet Demir;
Drawing on poster by Roger Olmos;
Poster and brochure: Umut Ersoy.
The actors and actresses came
forward and spoke to the children and wanted them to take side with the truth and
it is touching to see how they succeeded. At the end they were all invited to
come on stage and celebrate the happy end when even the hyena has to agree that
a lie is the most hurtful thing in the world!
The play is still on for the rest
of the month on Fridays at 10:30 and on Saturdays at 14:00 hrs.
For tickets call Tel No. 227 8782.