Nejat Birecik, director-general of the General Directorate of State Theaters, announced on Sunday that only national plays will be staged this year in order to reinforce the nationalist, conservative and patriotic feelings of the people.
According to reports in Turkish media, State Theaters will open the season with the motto “Turkey’s theaters raise the curtain on Turkish plays.” It is also reported that along with foreign plays, some Turkish plays will not be staged this year. Therefore, famous Turkish productions of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hamlet,” “Macbeth” and many others will not be seen in state theaters.
Stage actor Orhan Aydın told the T24.com news portal on Sunday that the new administration of State Theaters is also trying to dismiss hundreds of actors from the institution since the deputy director-general has prepared a list of names of dissidents working there. Aydın said, “It’s called ‘fascism,’ and Artists Initiative will not bow to it.”