'War and Peace' play meets theater lovers
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality City Theaters is bringing War and Peace, written by Leo Tolstoy, adapted by Eva Mahkovic, translated by Aslı Önal, and directed by Aleksandar Popovski, to the audience.
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War and Peace; beyond being a family epic, a historical chronicle, and a philosophical work, is a piece where passion and change, Europe and war, wealth and poverty, innocence and corruption coexist.
In the play, where the dramaturgy is by Başak Erzi, music by Kiril Djaikovski, set design by Sven Jonke and Vanja Magic, costume design by Canan Göknil, lighting design by Osman Aktan, sound effects design by Erhan Aşar, and photography by Nesrin Kadıoğlu;
Ayşegül İşsever, Berfin Berber, Can Başak, Defne Gürmen Yüksel, Deran Özgen, Dilara Demirdüzen, Doğan Altınel, Ersin Bağcıoğlu, İlker Sami Kılıç, İpek Uğuz, Levent Üzümcü, Melisa Demirhan, Mesut Çırak, Murat Bavli, Mutlu Güney, Nevzat Sinan Taştan, Ogeday Erkut, Osman Kaba, Salih Şimşek, Sefa Turan, Taha Karakaş, Yağmur Topçu are starring.
The play's director, Aleksandar Popovski, describes the emergence of War and Peace as follows:
“When I received the call from General Artistic Director Ayşegül İşsever to collaborate with the Istanbul City Theaters again, I didn't need to think much. I have very beautiful memories and collaborations with this theater. I love its actors and working with them. The idea of doing War and Peace seemed very brave to me, and I accepted immediately. The idea of introducing classics to young audiences in a modern way in the theater is of great importance to me.
One of the most exciting moments was the auditions for the young characters in the book. I watched 370 actors from all over Turkey; they are wonderful young people. As a result, I selected a group of extremely talented young actors who pleased me throughout the entire process. Nothing would have happened if I hadn't had such good actors. I knew some of them from before, and I met some for the first time. Nothing could have been done without them. The combination of the two generations was what I loved and enjoyed the most.
War and Peace is a story about time; it is almost impossible to fit the entire novel into one night. I chose the parts that seemed important to me. These two words, War and Peace, resonate strongly around us. I often see the poster held by Yoko Ono and John Lennon - WAR IS OVER. With the situation in the world as it is, it seems to me that our poster says PEACE IS OVER.”
The play will be at the Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Stage between October 4-7 and October 11-14, 2023.