Izmir Festival > Program > Premiere “As A Dream As A History, As Real As A Dream” HAYAL - İ TEMSİL

2 Acts / 2 hours 15 minutes

Age limit: +12

 

Written by Ahmet Sami Özbudak

Director Gürol Tonbul

Decor Design Tayfun Çebi

Costume Design Funda Çebi

Light Design Mustafa Derler

Composer Nihat Demirkol

Coreography Meltem Yorulmaz

Asst. Director Ömer Polat

Assistants İlayda Algın İntepeler / Ece Can

 

ACTORS

 

ABOUT THE WORK “HAYAL-İ TEMSİL”…

“Do you know what passion is? I think one should be passionate about certain

things... Passionate, e.g., about the sea, the ferry, the airplane, music, the soil,

the homeland, love... I think what makes a person human is not his ability to

learn, but his passion. Passion is a feeling that ignores even death.”

 

Hayal-i Temsil is the passionate, last tale of Dikran Efendi, the makeup artist, in a life he thought would never end.

Anyway, Dikran, the lonely and forgotten make-up artist who tells a fairy tale to whoever he finds, who opens the door to fairy tales by saying “name resembles name, neighbourhood resembles neighbourhood, people resemble people”, starts telling his fairy tale as soon as he finds someone who will listen. When we crack open the door of a hundred-year-old fairy tale, lies and truth intertwine with each other and we witness the life story of two protagonists who are pioneers of the Republic and the theatre. Bedia Muvahhit and Afife Jale, who never met in their lifetimes, are brought together in the memory of makeup artist Dikran as an imaginary scenario. Taking Dikran as one of the witnesses of the pre and post-Republican period in the theatre, author Ahmet Sami Özbudak tells the story of ongoing violence against women, the prohibitions and difficulties women face, in short, their struggle to exist in life - using the story of two women for his fantasy creation...

Intertwining fiction and real life, reality and imagination, the play takes us to a

fairy tale environment giving us a point of view that is “as imaginary as history, as real as a dream”. It is based on two female characters and confronts the audience with their love, their passion, the price they pay for their passion for theatre, the difficulties of being a woman in a male-dominated society and the values of the Republic...

The play enfolds us into this 100th anniversary of the Republic with the same fears, the same violence, the same passion, the same rebellions, the same falls and rises, the same sadness, the same joy.

Within this fairy tale, you will also hear a tale of Smyrna you have never heard before. You will also witness the struggle of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who is believed to have emerged on crystal horses from a mussel shell’s pearl in the Gulf, to bring the Turkish nation into existence.

You will also witness the difficulties through which the hundred-year-old Republic was established.

Beginning from the years of occupation in Istanbul, the adventure extends to the Republic and - from our viewpoint - to the present day.

Hayal-i Temsil interlinks the journey of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as the firefly of society, bringing a nation into existence and a society out of darkness into the light, with the journey of two female protagonists, the fireflies of the theatre.

Welcome to the centenarian world of a fairy tale and of an atmosphere we have created with music, dances and scenes of the period...  Gürol Tonbul/ Regisseur

 

AHMET SAMİ ÖZBUDAK, Playwright

Born in 1980 in Hatay, Ahmet Sami Özbudak spent his childhood and youth in Alanya. He received his university education at Istanbul University, Faculty of Literature, Department of Archiving.

His play Stain (İz), set in an abandoned building in Tarlabaşı, was staged in 2013, making him the award-winner of the Heidelberger Stückemarkt European Young Writer Award, one of the most prestigious awards in Europe. For the same play, he was awarded the playwright of the year award in 2013 by “Tiyatro... Tiyatro” Magazine. In 2014, he received the Cevat Fehmi Başkut Special Prize at the Afife Theater Awards.

His first novel Masturi Kabare was published by Artemis Publishing in 2014.

Özbudak's play Hayal-i Temsil, which portrays the life of Afife Jale and Bedia Muvahhit, was included in the repertoire of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality City Theaters. For this play, Özbudak was awarded the Aydın Arıt Prize for Playwright of the Year at the 4th Edition of the “Yeni Tiyatro” Magazine Labor and Achievement Awards in 2016. Most recently, his play A Rabbit in the Snow Globe (Kar Küresinde Bir Tavşan) was staged at the İkinci Kat.

In the 2016-2017 season, he adapted “Romeo and Juliet” for Nilufer Municipality Theater. His play “İz” was published by Artemis Publications in novel and theater text format and introduced to the readers. In the 2017-2018 season, the play “Sherlock-Hamid” written for Bakırkoy Municipality Theaters was staged. Again this season, he directed the play “Mutluyduk Belki Bugüne Kadar” for Two Two Production. With this play, he was among the nominees for best director at the Afife Awards. He introduced the play “Red Speedo”, another work by Two Two Production, to the audience at the pool of Pera Palace Hotel. In 2018, his play “Meçhul Paşa” was staged by Tiyatro Adam, and his play “Süleymankurt” was presented at the Studio R of the Maksim Gorki Theater in Berlin. For the 2019-2020 season, he wrote the play “Klan”, a production of Tebdil-i Mekân. 

Ahmet Sami Özbudak lives in Istanbul and writes his plays there.

Plays

Meçhul Paşa - 2018

Red Speedo - 2018

Mutluyduk Belki Bugüne Kadar - 2018

Sherlock-Hamid - 2017

Romeo and Juliet - 2016

Kar Küresinde Bir Tavşan - 2015

Hayal-i Temsil - 2015

İz - 2013

Novels

Masturi Kabare - 2014

İz - 2016

Balkonlu Bakkal - 2019

Awards

2013: Hidelberger Stückemarkt, European Young Writer Award;

2013: Playwright of the Year Award by “Tiyatro... Tiyatro” Magazine;

2014: Cevat Fehmi Başkut Special Prize at the 18th Edition of Afife Theater Awards for the play “İz”;

2016: Aydın Arıt Prize for Playwright of the Year at the 4th Edition of the “Yeni Tiyatro” Magazine Labor and Achievement Awards

2016: Playwright of the Year Award for Hayal-i Temsil by the Ekin Yazın Dostları Theater Awards

2017: Special Jury Award by Direklerarası Seyircileri Awards; Balat Monologues Museum. (Project Design)

2018: Best Play Award by the Turkish Critics Association for the adaptation play “Martı” (The Seagull)

2018: Best Ensemble Award in the category of Directing by Direklerarası Seyircileri Awards for the play “Mutluyduk Belki Bugüne Kadar”;

2018: Playwright of the Year Award by Türkan Kahramankaptan Special Awards for his play “Sherlock Hamid”;

2019: “The Most Successful Playwright of the Year” Award by Üstün Akmen Awards for his play “Meçhul Paşa”; 

2022: Cevat Fehmi Başkut Special Prize by the 24th Afife Theater Awards for the play Gomidas;

 

GÜROL TONBUL, director

Gurol Tonbul studied theatre at Izmir’s Faculty of Fine Arts, specialising in Acting and completing his master’s degree in Theatre. He then worked as an actor-director for Milliyet Dost Çocuk and Hürriyet Çocuk theatres. In 1983, he auditioned successfully for the State Theatres and started work at Adana’s State Theatre. He has also worked for the Ankara, Izmir and Diyarbakir State Theatres.

Tonbul has studied mime with the German Nemo, Commedia Dell Arte’s acting techniques with actor and director Chris Harrison and acting with Roberto Cuili at Theater an der Ruhr. He also studied puppet and acting techniques.

In 1986, Gurol Tonbul began to teach the theatre arts. Up until today, he has been teaching the art of speech, acting, movement and puppetry.

Tonbul has taken part in various programmes with the Izmir Foundation for Culture, Arts and Education (IKSEV) and the Izmir State Symphony Orchestra.

He has directed many radio plays, Arkası Yarın and Children’s Hour programmes, and he has prepared and presented Culture & Arts programmes, telling stories of the songs and composers in the programme Dede Makamı on TRT Nagme.

He has also prepared and presented Culture & Arts programmes on TRT 2 and local television channels.

The artist is the author of the memoir-essay books “İyi ki Tiyatro Var” and “Tiyatroya Bir Bilet”.

Working as an actor and director at Izmir State Theatre, Tonbul continues his writings in Psikeart Magazine.

The play “Masallar İnsanlar Bir de Türküler/ Son Kuşlar”, which the artist prepared, wrote and directed for prisons in Turkey, has been staged in many such institutions.

Gurol Tonbul has staged a large number of trial plays in unusual places – such as train and ferry stations, old houses, old hotel rooms, Cortejo houses, churches, bookstores, archaeological sites and abandoned areas.

He is winner of the award for Best Director in theatre and the Homeros Prize.

 

HAKAN ÖZGÖMEÇ, Dikran

In 1986, he entered H U Ankara State Conservatory Theater Department. After graduating in 1990, he started working at Diyarbakır State Theater.

Hakan has been working at the Izmir State Theatre since 2001, having also worked for the Ankara State Theatre. Hakan has made voice-overs for TRT’s Arkası Yarın programmes and documentaries and also played roles in productions which include Gılgamış, Fareler ve İnsanlar, 12. Gece, Korku, Macbeth, Geyikler ve Lanetler, III. Richard, Albay Kuş, Güneyli Bayan, Bir Efes Masalı, Aşk Delisi, Yoksun,

Vişne Bahçesi, Kanlı Düğün and Oyuncu / Ben Feuerbach.

The recipient of the Özdemir Nutku Best Actor award, he plays the role of makeup artist Dikran in the production of Hayal-i Temsil.

 

ÖZLEM BAŞKAYA, Bedia Muvahhit

In 1992, she entered AÜDTC Theater Acting Department and graduated in 1999.  During her school years, she gained stage experience at the Özgür Tiyatro and Ankara Deneme Sahnesi. She has acted for TRT and also on private channels.

After her graduation, Başkaya worked for Van State Theatre, and now she is currently working as an artist for the Izmir State Theatre.

Başkaya has also acted in many television series and had roles in important productions - such as The Secret Lives of Henry and Alice, Nora, Sıçan, Vişne Bahçesi, Ağaçlar Ayakta Ölür and Vahşet Tanrısı.

Playing the role of Bedia Muvahhit in the play Hayal-i Temsil, Özlem Başkaya is also the winner of the Sadri Alışık Best Actress award.

 

BURCU ONGUN ALTAY, Afife Jale

Burcu Ongun Altay graduated from Dokuz Eylul University’s Architecture department in 2004. Since her childhood, she has been interested in different branches of art. As a trainee during her high school and university education, Burcu attended the Opera & Singing department of Dokuz Eylül Universit, She also received training in music from various institutions - such as TRT Izmir Radio Polyphonic Youth Choir and the Department of Opera & Singing at Izmir’s Karsiyaka Municipality Conservatory.

In 2006, Burcu was accepted by Dokuz Eylül University’s Fine Arts Faculty for the Acting Department, thus stepping into the acting profession which had always been her dream, graduating in 2010. Her graduation thesis was the musical “Evita”.

In the same year, she entered the auditions for the State Theatres and was appointed to Sivas State Theatre.

During her tenure at Sivas State Theatre she has acted in many plays, including

Murtaza, İstanbul Efendisi, Kanlı Düğün, and Nikah Kağıdı in particular.

Burcu is currently working for the Izmir State Theatre.

 

NİHAT DEMİRKOL, pianist

Born in Ankara, Nihat Demirkol started playing the piano in 1969 and continued studying music with private lessons. He took Turkish music theory and repertoire with Mülkiye and Turhan Toper, Kadri Şarman, Cahit Ünyaylar, Ali Şenozan and Avni Anıl, and piano lessons with Erkan Yüksel. He was encouraged in composition studies by Melahat Pars and İsmail Baha Sürelsan, and graduated from his studies with Mülkiye in 1982. Working as a chorister, soloist, pianist and conductor for various Turkish music ensembles, he also participated in radio

and TV programmes with them. In 1985, he began to perform ‘Piano and Qanun’ recitals with Haluk Derinöz, and in 1991 ‘Piano and Kemenche’ with Gülten Yeğin. With the participation of oud player Yıldan Dirik, the project ‘bir nefes alaturka (bna)’ came to life, and he played the piano at various ‘bna’ concerts.

Between 2013 and 2018, he performed ‘Recitals on Thematic and Instrumental

Works’, and in particular ‘Feyzi Aslangil’e Mektuplar’, organised by IKSEV at MUZIKSEV.

In 2014, Nihat won first prize in the Rüştü Şardağ Lyrics Competition, and in 2017 he founded the ensembles Bassallaturca with Bass Alparslan Mater and Sopranoallaturca with Soprano Oya Ergün, bringing them together in  2019 at the 33 rd Izmir International Music Festival in the ‘New Interpretations Repertoire’ and accompanying them on piano.

From 2019 onwards, he gave recitals in Azerbaijan (Baku and Kyrgyzstan) and

Bishkek at the invitation of our Embassies. In the same year, he started to perform the repertoire of ‘Allaturca’nın Efelenen Büyüsü – Zeybekler’.

Since 1995, he has been writing articles about culture and art for Hürriyet-Ege and

giving “art interviews” for Folkart magazine. His essays and articles have been collected in 7 volumes.

Demirkol has more than 30 compositions consisting of instrumental and vocal works.

For the 36 th Izmir International Music Festival in July 2023, he performed the

‘Makam Müziğinde Çeşitlemeler’ repertoire as a “duoallaturcaimpropiano” duo with

pianist Dr. Cemile Cabbar. He performed the same repertoire in Baku in February 2024 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev’s birth.

In October 2023, he performed the ‘Feyzi Aslangil’e Mektuplar’ repertoire at the Bellapais Monastery in Cyprus.

The “HAIKULARLA ALLATURCA” repertoire, created by the duo, has been registered as an event marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic

relations between Japan and Turkey, and will be performed in concerts in Ankara and Tokyo in September 2024.