Award to director at theater fest

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Thomas Ostermeier receives the last Honorary Award of this year’s festival.

The final Honorary Award of this year’s İKSV Theater Festival was presented to Thomas Ostermeier, art director of Schaubühne Berlin and one of the most prominent directors in the theater world, on May 12.

The award ceremony was held prior to a staging of “Hamlet” at Harbiye’s Muhsin Ertuğrul Stage, as part of the festival. The play was staged a second time on May 13.

Ostermeier is one of the best-known theater directors in the world, and audiences of the İKSV theater festival may remember him as the director of a play titled “Nora” in the 2004 festival. Ostermeier is known for his interpretations of “Hedda Gabler,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Othello.”

In Ostermeier’s current production of “Hamlet,” The play’s 20 roles are played by just six actors.

Ostermeier’s staging gives the play cinematic characteristics, and he interprets the roles of the characters in unusual ways. The play has travelled all around the world, including to Chile, Venice, and London, and its performances are supported by Goethe Institute. The 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival, which will continue until June 5, will bring a month full of theater to Istanbul, with more than 100 shows by five theater and dance companies from abroad and 40 from Turkey.