"IF THEY TALK THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER", Meltem Kerrar, Cumhuriyet

Why Koltes and "The Night Just Before the Forests" ?
M.G.-There had been a big change for Tiyatro Oyunevi this year. With the new theatre season, we started to perform in a new venue called Istanbul Sanat Merkezi 2. Kat. The region we settled is a very special place for Istanbul, and Beyoglu. This place is just as 'east' side of Beyoglu... A region, which shelters people from every colour, language, belief, and culture. So, the connection between the world Koltes describes in "The Night Just Before the Forrest" is quiet clear! Obviously, we're in the 'east' side of Beyoglu but we're also a bit "alien" to this world. So, we thought we could go a step further in this issue. The work we're going to make, had to be built on a very strong text. But, in "in the Penal Colony" during the rehearsals for a long time we tried to create our own (stage) text, so this time we looked for a different process. And finally, we found the hardest and the strongest text we've ever find.

The text is about just one person. While you were staging it with seven people, what kind of process you followed?
M.G.- This text is a 23 pages sentence; one quotation mark opens in the first page and then closes in the final. Even though it is for one person, we followed the way splitting and make it for a multi-personal play.

Does this way give you the chance of asking many questions at the same time?
M.G.- If we can multiply the questions we can achieve. There are some other reasons for us. This person -in the text- could have been somebody who lives in Beyoglu, Tarlabasi. A prostitute, a homosexual, or a Kurdish person... The person in Koltes' text -with a director's interpretation- could be any of these characters. Without destroying the feeling of "being single" important feature of play -we split the text to seven actors.

When you read the text, it doesn't give so many clues about how it can be staged. There's only a storyteller and a "you" which he/she is running after. Who should they be?
M.G.- The special feature of play is, it's more than a monologue; it's a solilogue. One person is talking -but not to him/herself- to somebody else. But in this text there isn't "somebody else". For us, "you" is sometimes the audience; or because of the actors are more than one and acting with not loosing the feeling of "being single", each may become an "other" for the others sometimes. And moreover, "you" can become "her/his other self"
We tried to bring out the political aspect

Essentially, you're building new role players here.
M.G.- It's true. And with the concept of "alien", the audience can think as- am I an alien?- if yes, what kind of an alien?- What type of alien I would be inside these characters?-. I mean if it would be performed with one actor these questions might never been asked. This is also a sign for an interaction between the play and audience.

The play underlines a political view of being an alien.
M.G.-- Yes, it's a very political text and we tried to bring this side up. The part, which tells about "stupids/idiots", is referring French people in the original text. Koltes says "Those stupid French!" and repeats this sentence maybe fifteen times in the text. We didn't have the purpose of adapting the text but we changed it to "eighty percent of these are stupid" which refers to a Turkish author. The word "rat" in French is referring the Algerians and Arabs and other strangers. And the expression "rat hunters" are the fascists who hunt those people. This character in text is also a "stranger"; a person who's in danger of being a hunt. And just as pictured in this play, all around is full of men who doesn't allow discrepancies and even himself couldn't realize that he's a fascist. We already know this. Actually, the political side is beginning just after this part. There's a sentence strongly matches with Tiyatro Oyunevi's ideas: " Do never touch these boys, the ones walking as louts, the ones just got off their mothers, since they are kids. In need of being defended not being balled up."
Without rejecting them a 'they are fascists, fundamentalists, racist', we need to regain those people. This is very important in my point of view. And another important sentence from Koltes: "If people would talk they would understand each other, they will understand, they will understand, they will understand...

Feuerbach the Player before the Forests, Mehmet Baydur, Cumhuriyet

Everyone thinks thousands of different things concerning the modern theatre. However I think of Chehov, Ibsen, Strinberg. It seems impossible to me to perform an "abstract" text before staging an "heavy" text. One of the authors of these heavy theatre texts is Bernard Marie Koltes. Theatre Oyunevi performs The Night Just Before The Forests of Bernard Marie Koltes under the direction of Mahir Günsiray. The writer has written a sentence with a length of an hour for a single player. A magnificent text. M.Günsiray has staged the play very

skilfully by slicing the text to seven players without touching it(except some abridgements). Here we are faced with an arrantly "heavy" theatre for the ones believing in the power of the words. The Night Just Before The Forests is a work of first quality with its stage design, music, lighting, make up, costume and brochure. As we mentioned the brochure, it contains the whole text of the play including the parts Gunsiray has abridged. It's a fair attitude inviting the audience or critics to reading and discussion.

THE "ALIENS" IN TARLABASI, Nazan Ozcan, Radikal, 28 January 2001

The reasons for Theatre Oyunevi for choosing The Night Just Before The Forests are naturally the text's poetry, strength of political approach and the similarity with the group in the way they are looking to the theatre. Nevertheless, the main reason is different. Let us clarify it; Theatre Oyunevi began to perform at the second floor of Istanbul Sanat Merkezi(Istanbul Art Center) at this new season. In other words, at the east of Beyoglu. For Gunsiray, tarlabasi, in which people from every language and religion is living is close to the world in Koltes' monologue. And also they are a bit alien to Tarlabasi as a theatre. The Night Just Before The Forests with a lenght of 1 hour and 25 minutes is in fact a play for a single player. But the director found it suitable to perform with seven players. "Because," says Gunsiray "we wanted to tell that there can be more than one person who shares that feelings, ideas and life. And all of them shares one single world. We aimed to multiply the uniqueness by this diversion in such a world where a person might exist without getting an identity & struggle to defence his/her identity" Therefore the audience meets with seven "aliens" including an eastern, a whore or a gypsy. So the audience first observes the aliens then asks him/herself if he/she is an alien or not. Of course it was not easy to perform a play for a single player with seven players. Because the interpretation was multiplied for seven instead of creating for one.

The stage design of Claude Leon is really nice. You are seated between the wet streets in a rainy night. Because the seats are settled between the streets at the stage. But as M. Gunsiray has told this proximity couses some audiences to offend. Some of the audiences offended when a player uttered "Stupid!" Ain't it the power of the play actually?

Another striking aspect of the monologue is its direct attitude towards French nationalism, racism, conservatism, bourgeous way of understanding and small bourgeouise life. The text uses the term of "These french are stupid" numerously. Naturally it was adapted to "us". "We use the concept Aziz Nesin had created; 'The 80% of these are stupid' We had to say something to our own avarege. This is one of the most essential political aspects of the play" says Gunsiray and continues "The more political aspect of the text is the concept of ordinary fascism in which we live and don't see as great danger.