Diyarbakır State Theaters hosts audience at festival

DİYARBAKIR - Anatolia News Agency

DHA photo

The 10th Orhan Asena Theater Festival, organized by the Diyarbakır State Theater (DDT), opened yesterday and will feature seven plays until Nov. 7.

The festival is being organized to commemorate scriptwriter Orhan Asena, a local of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. In the festival, theater lovers will see selected works from the Ankara, Van, Istanbul, Sivas and Bursa state theaters, as well as a performance by the Ankara Opera and Ballet.

The festival is the only local event supporting local writers and local plays, DDT Director Lebip Gökhan said at a press conference yesterday.

He said this year’s festival would also organize meetings and talks with artists that once worked in Diyarbakır.

He said the Diyarbakır State Theaters opened the season with “Kanlı Nigar “(Bloody Nigar) to large acclaim.

Viewers are generally interested in comedy and musical plays, Gökhan said. “But the plays which are depicted well also draw interest. We have a long-time audience because the DDT has existed for 24 years. The city is mentioned with some negative incidents from time to time but there is also art in the city. This is a special region. It is easy to make theater in the west but what is important is to make something in such a region. We have some technical difficulties. The artists’ conditions are different from the others. the Van State Theater is performing in a tent.”

The festival, which opened with “Hürrem Sultan,” written by Asena, will close with the Ankara State Opera and Ballet’s “Töre” (Custom).