‘Artists Who Don’t Support the Government are Punished in Different Ways’

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The staging of "Letters to Taranta-Babu" theater play by poet and playwright Nazım Hikmet Ran and dramatized by Oyun Sandalı (Play Boat) theater has been prevented by Amasya Municipality, which finds it "political."

We have spoken to actor Cansu Fırıncı, who has staged his one-person performance in many cities before, about the de facto ban of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) municipality that found the play which is set in fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's Italy 'political.'

While a theater hall was allocated to the play at first, the allocation was cancelled the day after and the play has been banned in a de facto manner.

'We are not the only theater group that experiences it'

Speaking to bianet about the prevention of the municipality, actor Cansu Fırıncı reminds us that the confiscation of theater actor Müjdat Gezen's passport and the de facto ban imposed on their theater play by the municipality made news on the same day and continued as follows:

"The passport of Müjdat Gezen was quickly returned to him by stating 'It was seized by mistake.' And the theater hall allocated to us has been taken away from us at the same pace. It is literally a comedy of errors.

"What has actually happened is the following: Artists who do not support the government are punished and intimidated in different ways and this method is being implemented here as usual.

"We, as the Oyun Sandalı theater group, is certainly not the only theater group that cannot stage its plays because doors are slammed in their faces.

'Even finding a theater hall is now a big surprise'

"The same thing happening to several theater groups in Turkey every month has happened to us as well. In fact, to be able to find an available date in theater halls controlled by the government and municipalities is almost a big surprise for artists regarded as 'dissident.'

"It has been the case in Turkey for a really long time now. Amasya Mayor first told the university students who wanted to organize our play, "If you are making such a contribution to our city, we will announce it to Amsaya and allocate our theater hall to you free of charge.'

"Next day, he 'brought the play under suspicion' in his own way on the ground that it is 'political' and cancelled the allocation of the hall verbally.

'Don't leave a single seat empty'

"The day after, Merzifon [District] Municipality contacted us and said, 'If Amasya Municipality found the work of Nâzım Hikmet objectionable and imposed a de facto ban on the play, then, we are opening the doors of our cultural center wide open to this play.'

"After I shared this de facto ban on Twitter, an extraordinary sensitivity has build up around this issue in a short time.

"I have received thousands of retweets and messages in support, which shows that we, the people of Turkey who are on the side of enlightenment, are full of life and do not have any reason to lose our hopes."

Concluding his remarks, Fırıncı has made a call to people: "Lay claim to our play banned in a de facto manner by Amasya Municipality on the ground of being 'political', fill the halls without leaving a single seat empty and, just to spite fascism, bigots and capitalists, show that we are still here."

(PT/SD)