{"id":804,"date":"2018-12-10T19:25:16","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T19:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/?p=804"},"modified":"2022-02-06T20:55:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T20:55:14","slug":"mr-muhsins-memory-of-hamlet-rewrites-the-history-of-turkeys-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/mr-muhsins-memory-of-hamlet-rewrites-the-history-of-turkeys-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Muhsin\u2019s Memory of Hamlet Rewrites the History of Turkey\u2019s Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Eylem Ejder<\/strong><a href=\"#end\" name=\"back\">*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-light-green-cyan-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Who Is Out There<\/em>? <em>The Last Hamlet of Mr. Muhsin (Kim Var Orada? Muhsin Bey\u2019in Son Hamlet\u2019i)<\/em>. Written and staged by Bogazici Performing Arts Ensemble (BGST), premiered in 2015, in Istanbul.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Last Hamlet of Mr Muhsin<\/em> is a remarkable production, because it brings to the stage the forgotten and concealed story of leading Turkish historical-theatrical figures. The way history is written, there are blind spots which ignore the constitutive role of minorities. For example, Armenian characters, played by actors of Armenian descent, have often appeared as comic figures up till now; Muslim women have had their share of challenges in making it to the stage in the first place. Now, with key concepts metatheatre, collective memory, theatre historiography, Armenian minority, women\u2019s issues, several performances question the history of constructing what we know as Turkish theatre. These performances try to reveal the role of its essential components, such as Armenian contributions. <em>Who is Out There? The Last Hamlet of Mr. Muhsin <\/em>is just one worthy performance among others, such as <em>Imagined Performance<\/em> (<em>Hayal-i Temsil<\/em>) by Istanbul Municipal Theatre, and <em>Forgotten<\/em> (<em>Unutulan<\/em>), by a brand new feminist theatre group Yersiz Kumpanya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Who is Out There<\/em>? <em>The Last Hamlet of Mr. Muhsin (Kim Var Orada? Muhsin Bey\u2019in Son Hamlet\u2019i) <\/em>tells the story of Muhsin Ertu\u011frul (1892\u20131979), director, actor, leading intellectual figure, who had a significant role in shaping theatre from the late Ottoman to the Republican period. The show takes its name from <em>Hamlet\u2019<\/em>s first sentence (\u201cWho is out there?\u201d) and begins with the quotation \u201csomething is rotten in this country\u201d: it is clear from the opening moments that it will toy with <em>Hamlet<\/em> through Muhsin\u2019s journey into the past. In other words, it will struggle with ghosts. So, who might be Muhsin\u2019s\/Turkish theatre\u2019s ghosts or \u201cwhat, has this thing appeared again tonight\u201d on stage? And can we find hope on this \u201chaunted stage\u201d for a better society?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"video-1\">Video 1<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 12px;\" align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L1WLuSPficg?rel=0\" width=\"700\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br>A clip of the show<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A simple set: a writing table at the center, three chairs, a coat stand, a bookcase, and a skull on the table, recalling <em>Hamlet<\/em>. This is Mr. Muhsin\u2019s workroom in his home. There is no specific reference to the exact date, but it should be a night from late in his life, between 1964 and 1979. Three performers: an old man, Muhsin Ertu\u011frul (C\u00fcneyt Yalaz) is writing his memoirs; the cheerful ghosts from his memory, Muhsin\u2019s first instructor, the reputable Armenian actor Vahram Papazyan (\u0130lker Yasin Keskin) and an imaginary actress Latife (Banu A\u00e7\u0131kdeniz) enter to accompany Muhsin. They all are significant cornerstones of theatre. Muhsin represents \u201cwesternized Turkish theatre\u201d during the political-cultural transformation of the country in the late nineteenth century, when the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Vahram represents the Armenian theatre heritage rejected, long-suppressed and forced into exile by the above mentioned process. As a fictive character, Latife is a summary character who represents all the Muslim actresses of the time; history does not remember them all that individually, perhaps since they never had the opportunity to make long-term careers. In fact, other characters know her as the Armenian actress Arusyak, but, toward the middle of the performance, we learn that she is a Muslim named Latife, who disguised herself to be on stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-806\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"520\" height=\"344\" data-attachment-id=\"806\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/mr-muhsins-memory-of-hamlet-rewrites-the-history-of-turkeys-theatre\/muhsin1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin1.jpg?fit=520%2C344&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"520,344\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Muhsin1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Muhsin (C\u00fcneyt Yalaz, centre) leaving for Paris to get training in theatre; Latife (Banu A\u00e7\u0131kdeniz) and Vahram (\u0130lker Yasin Keskin) seeing him off. Photo by Kenan \u00d6zcan&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin1.jpg?fit=520%2C344&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin1.jpg?resize=520%2C344&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-806\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin1.jpg?w=520&amp;ssl=1 520w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin1.jpg?resize=300%2C198&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><figcaption>Muhsin (C\u00fcneyt Yalaz, centre) leaving for Paris to get training in theatre; Latife (Banu A\u00e7\u0131kdeniz) and Vahram (\u0130lker Yasin Keskin) seeing him off. Photo: Kenan \u00d6zcan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What the ghosts want from Muhsin is to stage <em>Hamlet <\/em>one last time. <em>Hamlet <\/em>is no coincidence here. First, these were the actors who played it first in Ottoman Istanbul, in 1911, in Turkish and Armenian, in the same bilingual show. In fact, the Armenian actor Vahram Papazyan became enraptured by <em>Hamlet<\/em> when he first saw it during his tour in Europe. He offers young Muhsin an idea to stage <em>Hamlet<\/em>. Second, Muhsin says that, whenever he is in trouble, he remembers and rereads <em>Hamlet<\/em>. Third, it is a matter of \u201cto be or not to be,\u201d a matter of representing and being represented, \u201ca matter of remembering and being remembered\u201d for them. Fourth, as Muhsin says: \u201cThere is something rotten in this country.\u201d It is the key performance which brought together all these three people yearning for the stage, three important constituents of Turkey\u2019s theatre. Will they manage to revive <em>Hamlet<\/em>? In fact, we do not know whether a Muslim actress played a role in the first production of <em>Hamlet<\/em> by Muhsin Ertu\u011frul and Vahram Papazyan, in 1911. Here, BGST imagines the role of these women both in Muhsin\u2019s real, first <em>Hamlet<\/em>, and the imagined, \u201clast <em>Hamlet.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They perform scenes from <em>Hamlet<\/em> while also enacting their own lives. They want to be remembered on stage, to reveal what the rotten is, both \u201cthen and there\u201d and \u201cnow and here.\u201d But it becomes a performance of an unfinished rehearsal process of their \u201clast <em>Hamlet<\/em>,\u201d since Muhsin proves to be a Hamletic character who always delays what is expected of him: to go into action, to perform, to re-present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-807\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"520\" height=\"341\" data-attachment-id=\"807\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/mr-muhsins-memory-of-hamlet-rewrites-the-history-of-turkeys-theatre\/muhsin2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin2.jpg?fit=520%2C341&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"520,341\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Muhsin2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Muhsin (left) with his co-actors in a scene set in 1911, deciding to stage Hamlet. Photo by Kenan \u00d6zcan&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin2.jpg?fit=520%2C341&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin2.jpg?resize=520%2C341&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-807\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin2.jpg?w=520&amp;ssl=1 520w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin2.jpg?resize=300%2C197&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><figcaption>Muhsin (left) with his co-actors in a scene set in 1911, deciding to stage <em>Hamlet<\/em>.<br>Photo: Kenan \u00d6zcan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through their journey into the past, they revive certain moments, such as their first meeting, their first stage experience, young Muhsin\u2019s leaving home for a life on the stage, Vahram, Muhsin and Latife\u2019s first <em>Hamlet<\/em> performance, Vahram\u2019s escape from the country, in 1915, because of socio-political pressures against Armenians. Muhsin\u2019s becoming a director in 1921, at Dar\u00fclbedayi, which later transformed into the Istanbul Municipal Theatre. All along, they perform certain scenes from <em>Hamlet<\/em>: Hamlet\u2019s encounters with the Ghost and Ophelia, Hamlet\u2019s famous tirades, his exile, his fight with Laertes. They do this in traditional theatrical forms, in acting styles important in the late Ottoman era, only to be ignored and forgotten during the Republic period, after 1923. When they are rehearsing a scene from <em>Hamlet<\/em>, it is always haunted by the past they share. Sometimes they discuss in detail what really happened there and criticize each other, sometimes they feel joy or grief. In this way, the \u201cthere and then\u201d of the past and the \u201chere and now\u201d of the present are crystallized in the moment of performance, in order to allow the audience to feel, to question, to understand the ignored realities and reasons, not only from the past, but also those still current today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"video-2\">Video 2<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 12px;\" align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kk9Jy6AF66k?rel=0\" width=\"700\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br>A 7-minute documentary, produced by the BGST, about the first ever <em>Hamlet<\/em> in Turkey in 1911<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I am puzzled by the stylized, silent scene at the beginning: Vahram and Latife are showing Muhsin a letter and keeping it away from him while Muhsin is trying to get it. This mysterious letter scene is, however, clarified toward the end. It is the letter written by Vahram, in 1964, during his exile in Armenia\u2019s capital, Yerevan, asking Muhsin for a role in Istanbul or Ankara, a letter which Muhsin denies ever receiving. Likewise, Latife\u2019s desire to return to the stage was rejected by Muhsin, since he did not find her a relevant \u201ctheatre figure\u201d for the \u201cnew, modern westernized Turkish theatre.\u201d After the letter is opened and read at the end of the night, the importance of playing \u201c<em>Hamlet<\/em> for one last time\u201d comes to light. This time, Muhsin asks them to join him. But it is \u201ctoo late\u201d at that point, and the sun is about to rise; all that is left is for Vahram to perform is the Ghost, who wants to be remembered. The last thing Vahram and Latife say is \u201cdon\u2019t forget us,\u201d both in Armenian and Turkish. And the last things Muhsin says are: \u201cit will begin \u2018there is something rotten in this country,\u2019 and it will be a perfect performance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There remains one question: Is this performance, we saw \u201cthe last <em>Hamlet <\/em>of Mr. Muhsin,\u201d the one he wants and hopes to stage in order to re-bring together real components of \u201cTurkish theatre\u201d? If it is so, I may say that <em>Last Hamlet of Mr. Muhsin <\/em>appears on stage in order to make the audience feel and think the \u201crottenness\u201d in this country.<a name=\"end\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" data-attachment-id=\"805\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/mr-muhsins-memory-of-hamlet-rewrites-the-history-of-turkeys-theatre\/ejder-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Ejder.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"150,150\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Ejder\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Ejder.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Ejder.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-805\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a name=\"end\" href=\"#back\">*<\/a><strong>Eylem Ejder<\/strong> is a PhD candidate in the Department of Theatre at Ankara University, Turkey. She is a member of the International Association of Theatre Critics\u2014Turkey Section and assistant editor of the theatre journal <em>Oyun<\/em>\u00a0(<em>Play<\/em>). Her PhD studies are supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), within the National PhD Fellowship Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:14px\">Copyright <strong>\u00a9<\/strong> 2018 Eylem Ejder<br><em>Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN: 2409-7411<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/88x31.png?w=750&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:14px\">This work is licensed under the<br>Creative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eylem Ejder* Who Is Out There? The Last Hamlet of Mr. Muhsin (Kim Var Orada? Muhsin Bey\u2019in Son Hamlet\u2019i). Written and staged by Bogazici Performing Arts Ensemble (BGST), premiered in 2015, in Istanbul. The Last Hamlet of Mr Muhsin is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performance-reviews","tag-by-eylem-ejder","","tg-column-two"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/12\/Muhsin2.jpg?fit=520%2C341&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pam472-cY","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1650,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804\/revisions\/1650"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}