The Latest ELIT Production "Blood Wedding": An Interview
The Department of English Language and Literature recently produced a play, "Blood Wedding," by Federico Garcia Lorca. The premiere of the play was a huge success and attracted the attention of many theater lovers. Here is an interview with the director, the project manager and some of the students taking part in the project on the subject of this latest production.
-We know that the ELIT department has been staging different plays for three years, and this year you decided on Federico Garcia Lorca's "Blood Wedding." What were your criteria for choosing this particular play?
Gül Kurtuluş: When we first embarked on staging a play in 2009, I thought it would be nice to come up with a comedy. We first performed Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," and subsequently a George Bernard Shaw play, "Arms and the Man." This time I thought it was high time we staged a tragedy. The first dramatist that came to my mind was Shakespeare. Nevertheless, as I shared this idea with my students, I realized that they had certain hesitations and fears about Shakespearean tragedies. Therefore, we switched to Lorca's play, whose themes -- including the woman question, death, revenge and a feud -- are still relevant today.
-You are working with a Bilkent graduate, Erdi Mamikoğlu, who is a professional director and playwright. What was your motivation for this collaboration?
Gül Kurtuluş: Since we held an academic conference in 2011, we had to put aside the theater project. When I took theater into consideration again at the beginning of this academic year, I strongly believed that Erdi should be a part of our project as well.
-How long have you been rehearsing for the premiere, and are you satisfied with the performances of the ELIT students?
Erdi Mamikoğlu: Absolutely! I guess we've been rehearsing since October, generally three times a week; so that makes it around a four-month rehearsal period. They've made incredible progress, and their current performances are genuinely quite impressive. They've come a long way!
-"Blood Wedding" is a tragedy that has underlying surrealism in it. What was your interpretation process like?
Erdi Mamikoğlu: Our writer is already a surrealist one, so we basically make use of what he offers us in the text. We have (the personifications of) Death, the Moon; and honestly I think it is one of those plays that can easily be staged surrealistically.
-You are an award-winning playwright and have become the youngest person ever to have his plays staged by the state theaters. Could you tell us about your upcoming projects?
Erdi Mamikoğlu: My latest play, "Nobody's Story," is still being staged at the Bursa State Theater, and also, in İstanbul preparations are going on for a new production in a private theater. In fact, the play is being turned into a movie right now, and shooting will start this summer. Currently, this is our only project.
-Considering your academic background, how hard was it for you to stage a play professionally?
Erolcan Talas: The frequency of rehearsals has tired us both physically and mentally, especially during the last fifteen days; even so, the play has turned out to be great meditation for us, especially in order to escape the struggles of our daily lives.
Ülkem Önal: It was quite an important opportunity to work with a professional director, because we had to adapt ourselves to his working schedule and methods, and that made us all professionals to a significant extent.
-Did literature help you penetrate the depths of your characters and the play's themes?
Erolcan Talas: Indeed! Especially when you think of gender politics and the artificially constructed gender roles that have been craftily imposed on us, it's impossible to ignore the effect of literature, because these issues have always been major topics in our curriculum.
Ülkem Önal: The play is very concerned with the dynamics of patriarchy. In particular my character, the mother of the bridegroom, is a perfect reflection of a role in a typical patriarchal society. Thus, our education has enabled us to understand the themes, and also the symbols and messages given by Lorca.
Erolcan Talas: Blood Wedding is quite a serious play that has occasional surrealist elements, so I can't imagine how the play would turn out if we were unable to recognize these details.