Hamlet has Kurdish primiere in Ankara

Shakespeare's "Hamlet" made its Turkish premiere in the Kurdish language Nov. 26 in a performance by the Diyarbakir City Theater, drawing rave reviews from the culture and tourism minister. "The cultural and traditional motives were well-staged in the play," said Minister Ertugrul Gunay. "It was like we were watching a play about Cizre's Botan society." The play, staged as part of the 400th year of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands, was produced by the Rast Theater in cooperation with the Cultural Department of Diyarbakir in the hopes that the adaption of "Hamlet" would bring Kurdish culture to the attention of a wider international audience. Director Ruknettin Gun said the play made its world premiere in Amsterdam on Oct. 17. In addition to Kurdish people living in the Netherlands, the Dutch showed great interest in the play as well. Directed by Rast Theater General Art Director Celil Toksoz, the play cast Yavuz Akkuzu as Hamlet and also features Ozcan Ates, Elvan Kocer, Mesut Erenol, Mehmet Emin Yalcinkaya, Serdar Geren, Ismail Oyur, Rojda, Gulseven Medar and Ali Tekbas. "Hamlet" was translated into Kurdish by Kawa Nemir with the title "Hamlet – Hebun an Nebun." Noting that the play had been previously staged 10 times in Europe, Gun said: "Hamlet is a very controversial text among theater actors and actresses. Interpreting the text in Kurdish has raised much attention among the theater community."