Political messages from 'Shakespeare in Love' to today's Turkey

We are living in several different Turkeys all at once.

The other day, I had the chance to watch—or rather, not watch—the trial of journalist Merdan Yanardağ at the Istanbul Courthouse.

At the courthouse, where I have been hundreds of times as a journalist, this time, unfortunately, there was no opportunity to enter the high criminal court hall. First, we encountered a barricade in the corridor of the Istanbul Courthouse. The officers behind the barricade struggled hard to keep the crowd of defendants' relatives, lawyers, journalists, citizens, and politicians, who were piling up in a scuffle, out of the corridor.

Then we passed this corridor, and the same scuffle occurred in front of the high criminal court. It was said that there were only 20 seats for spectators in the hall; because young journalists, in particular, were very insistent and made noise to get inside, the start of the hearing was delayed for hours.

For some reason, the case was not moved to a hall that could accommodate more spectators. In the end, the defendants' relatives, a few lawyers, and a few journalists were admitted, the hearing began, and we had to leave without being able to see the trial.

All of this reflected a scene of Turkey: imprisoned journalists being tried in a high criminal court and facing heavy prison sentences, their families, the lawyers defending them, colleagues who came to support them, members of parliament, citizens, and security officers watching this crowd from afar.

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Coincidentally, that same evening, the play "Shakespeare in Love" had its opening night at Zorlu PSM, and at the invitation of friends, we went to the Zorlu Shopping Center this time. The scene of Turkey here was very different:

First of all, the 4-5 story parking garage of the Zorlu Shopping Mall is packed with luxury vehicles, while tourists from neighboring countries with money to spend wait in lines in front of world-famous brands that seem cheap to them due to the exchange rate.

Those who came to watch 'Shakespeare in Love' represent a different Turkey. The theater's lobby is filled with stylish men and women who seem largely unconcerned with inflation, unemployment, justice, the national economy, the hundreds of thousands of prisoners, the migrant crisis, the war in Syria, or politics. The women look as if they stepped out of Paris fashion week, while the men, keeping up with the spirit of the times, are busy showing off their various styles of beards. At the end of the play, the lines at the parking payment machines lasted for minutes, and the same queue was repeated at the mall's exit.

While watching the play, the conversation between two friends sitting right behind me, which I couldn't help but overhear, was a striking example reflecting this different Turkey.

"What are you doing for New Year's? We're going to a friend's invitation in Germany. Actually, they invited you too in the WhatsApp group, they invited everyone; Berlin is beautiful at New Year's, you should come too, we'll have fun."

"No way, we're going to Montenegro. I'm thinking of setting up a company there; they even grant citizenship if you just spend 1,800 liras a month to establish a company. I'm going to take care of that because Montenegro will soon be an EU member, and I won't have to worry about visas anymore."

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Anyway, let's get to the play 'Shakespeare in Love'.

The Çolpan İlhan-Sadri Alışık Theater, led by Kerem Alışık, has produced a very successful production, adapting the 1998 Oscar-winning film 'Shakespeare in Love' into a theater-musical. More than 30 actors and dancers deliver a wonderful performance for 100 minutes, accompanied by beautiful music; the costumes and choreography are also excellent.

The actors, especially those in the lead roles, have created a magnificent work; Nezaket Erden and Uraz Kaygılaroğlu deserve a standing ovation. I congratulate Kerem Alışık and everyone who contributed, and I highly recommend you do not miss this play.

However, one must also add some of the messages conveyed by the play 'Shakespeare in Love' to all of this.

It turns out that an environment very similar to the one currently in Turkey was also experienced in Shakespearean England four and a half centuries ago:

"Laws moving as slowly as possible, while shamelessness proceeds at full speed."

If you go to file an ordinary lawsuit, they give you a date for at least a year later, and it takes at least a few years for a case to conclude; the Court of Cassation and the Court of Appeal are at a standstill, yet those who brazenly challenge others on TikTok by saying 'I'll even do cocaine, damn it' are met with applause and live their lives to the fullest.

There is another message, also experienced during the Shakespearean era, that we can partially take pride in. The English also considered women acting in theater to be 'immoral,' and this ban was overcome four and a half centuries ago.

As is well known, in Turkey, thanks to Atatürk, we only overcame this 100 years ago, three and a half centuries later. Due to the courage of the first Turkish female theater actress, Afife Jale, and her near-sacrifice for the sake of acting, this ban on women was lifted. Fortunately, those watching the play were aware of this and gave the stage a standing ovation.

While on the subject of England, theater, and journalism, one final note: The British newspaper The Times made it mandatory for journalists assigned to write theater reviews to purchase their own tickets two centuries ago to ensure objective evaluations. I do not believe there is a single media organization in Turkey today that does this. (If there is, I apologize immediately.)

I tried to reflect two scenes of Turkey to you in one day.

I hope that the first scene, which does not quite suit the Turkey of 2023, becomes even shorter, and the second scene, which aligns much better with Atatürk's goal of a modern Turkey, becomes more widespread.