A play that
belongs to the movement in-yer-face, Mojo has been adapted to stage one more
time this year. Originally written in 1995 by British writer Jez Butterworth, the
play was directed by İlham Yazar and its art director was Edal Beşikçioğlu. The
play was performed in Cermodern, Stürdocer on 7th of April, 2013.
The actors of the play consisted of famous Turkish actors mostly known for
their television projects; Nurset Şenay, Doruk Nalbantoğlu, Ali Yoğurtçuoğlu,
İnanç Konukçu, Berkan Şal and Engin Öztürk. The floor of the hall which led to
the entrance was with scattered hand-outs of Parlak Johnny – a future star that
takes stage at the Atlantic Club. The
audience was accompanied by the song “These Days” by The Black Keys, which in
my opinion wrecked the atmosphere to know the song beforehand also to know that
the song is contemporary. It was conflicting with the time period that the play
set forth. The seats for the audience were placed in a U-shaped setting and
were facing the bar of the club and between the bar and the seats were the
tables and chairs of the club.
Born in 1969,
Jeremy Butterworth is a dramatist and film director. He was born in London and
attended Verulam Comprehensive School, St Albans and St John’s College,
Cambridge. He had a major success with his third play Mojo which was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, and the play
won the Laurence Olivier, and Evening Standard and the George Devine awards.
The director of the play Ilham Yazar was born in Ankara in 1968 and he was
graduated from Hacettepe University Conservatory.
After being appointed to Diyarbakır National Theatre, he has been a part of
Ankara National Theatre since 1995. He has directed the play Mojo before in 2009 for Dib Sahne and
for this, he was nominated for Sadri Alışık Theatre Awards The Best Director of
the Year. According to the newspaper article of Radikal, İlham Yazar requested
the acts to be almost identical to the ones performed in 2009 therefore there
was not much change between two versions.
The play is set in Soho and is in the
form of a black comedy. The plot is about a day of lives attached to Atlantic
Club and their possible salvation through their precious Parlak Johnny and
dreams that include America. One day with the death of the owner of the club
and Johnny going missing, things go upside down and their dreams collapse. There rises a new power struggle between the
abused son of the club owner and the seemingly loyal manager of the club.
.jpg)
The play
began with Şekerci and Potts on stage with implications from their speech that
Parlak Johnny is in a room having a business talk with some. The audience hears
about their dreams and how Potts discovered Johnny singing by a guitar in the
streets. By their actions and their ways of speech we are given that they’re
high which makes the setting even more realistic considering the time period
and their states. Also both theirs and other actors’ speeches and acts towards
each other is very disturbing which is a necessity for the in-yer-face
movement.
The
costumes of the actors were very simple and daily but also belonging to the
time period. There were skinny leather pants on one of them; hippie-like saggy
cotton outfit on the other, and Johnny was in shiny silver trousers. And Mikey
who is somewhat wealthy manager of the club was in white trousers and
very-mentioned in the game baby animal leather shoes.
The
performances along with coming and going loud music and mist really put the
audience in the mood. The audience felt as if belonged to the club and I
believe at some point this went so far that the language full of curses and
threats only made the audience giggle or even laugh at points. The end of the
play however, shook the audience. Even after the violence had gotten ordinary,
what is revealed in the end that is Mickey being a inside man and getting the
owner of the club killed in order to profit from the club and Johnny himself,
the death of Sıska and especially the reaction Mickey gives to his death was
moving. It was not until then that I realised the power of abuse and its
importance in the play. And it was not until now that I am writing about it
that the most possible reason that Bebe, the son of the dead club owner who was
violated by his father as a child, hated Sıska so much because his abusement
was in the past whereas Sıska was still being abused by Mickey. As it is
written in Radikal, the play has no intention of dictating or giving a message
but it sure pushes the audience to their limits and makes them think.
Works Cited
Izci, Ipek. "Çünkü dünya, her
yerdir!." Radikal 02 02 2013, n. pag. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.radikal.com.tr/radikal.aspx?atype=radikaldetayv3&articleid=1119618&categoryid=41>.Dilara Ecem Ümitli (ELIT III)
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder