The powers that be have dropped the retirement age from 65 to 61 in one fell swoop. Despite the Prime Minister's claim that the decision mainly aims to keep the number of public administrators to a minimum, one cannot help but notice that it will also greatly ease the appointment of high-level bureaucrats and enable henchmen to be integrated into important bureaucratic positions without having to bother with courtroom or appeals procedures.

Over 30 expert artists and technical staff from the State Theatre and just as many invaluable staff members of the Municipal Theatre of Istanbul are being retired as a result of this fait accompli. Just take a look at the names included in this list: Zafer Ergin, Ergun Ucucu, Ayten Gokcer, Ferdi Merter, Mehmet Ulusoy, Erhan Gokgucu, Ejder Akisik, Maral Uner, Isık Yenersu.. In other words, a great obliteration is about to take place in subsidized theaters.

So, who will reap the benefits? Let us consider the issue from a familiar angle, that of the State Theatre.

The State Theatre continues to exist in 12 regions under difficult conditions. A variety of criticism is leveled against it: some valid, some deficient, some erroneous and some insidious. "How could the state own a theater?" the critics ask. "Doesn't quality get lost in such a large institution", "Is productivity being taken into account", and some go even so far as to inquire "Is this some kind of ranch?"

Let us explain for the benefit of those not affiliated with the world of theater: Outside of what is visible on stage, the activities of the State Theater include employing a considerable number of skilled staff to create, maintain, move, finance and most importantly coordinate offices, scenery, costumes, sculpture studios, warehouses and vehicle parks. It takes years and a lot of hard work to develop such a group of qualified staff members, each one of who is specialized in his or her own field.

The same goes for the artists. It is common knowledge to all involved in this field that an actor learns far more on stage, from the masters, than he does at school. The way they draw their breath, a certain pose and even a single glance... There is such a great distance that must be covered in order to become a masterful actor that young actors often feel overwhelmed by the task. That is precisely when the master saves the day for him. He warns and teaches with a single touch or an apt silence. When he is speaking onstage, the master listens with such care that if the young actor is smart he understands instantly that a good actor is one who is still acting even when he is silent.

The young actor also lears from his master that he should be quiet and respectful in the dressing room, that he should take good care of his costume and props, that he should not get in the way during scenery changes and that watching the onstage action from the wings might be distracting to his fellow actors.

As for creating, painting, hauling and setting the scenery - there is no school for it. Not any tailor can sew theater costumes. It requires finesse. Someone who has not been onstage himself will have no idea that a two second delay in the delivery of props can seem like two years to the actor onstage. A good usher can silence a noisy, disruptive or belligerently late audience member with a single glance. All these employees come to know the fine points of their specific trade in time, and teach these to their successors. It really saddens me that so many masters will suddenly be forced to leave us. As a result, the crafts of acting, lighting, stage costume-making, stage mechanics and prop design will suffer unconscious abuse at the hands of inexperienced staff who lack the proper expert guidance and this in turn will cause considerable harm to the State Theater.

The State Theatre has encouraged Turkish playwrights and funded them with large copyrights sums by staging domestic plays that no private theater has dared to approach because of boxoffice concerns. It has also publicized the classics, provided scenery, costume, and occasional acting assistance to amateur and school theatres, spread the art of theatre to the entire country through its tours and regular productions in the established regions, organized international festivals, staged largely lauded productions in other countries, availed its audience halls to private theaters, and been the life force of Turkish theatre, if such a thing exists, with its highly qualified artistic and technical staff, studios and halls, never straying from its secular and Ataturk-inspired vision. Now, through various intrigues, skullduggery, internal struggles for power and blows below the belt, this institution has been forced into a dead-end street and is being compelled to advance down this path due to the considerable impact of this sudden decision.

So, who will reap the benefits?

Kemal Basar
Player, Director

kemalbasar@tiyatrokeyfi.com

Translated by Pelin Ariner

"ON THE STATEMENT THAT "WE JUST CAN'T PRODUCE WRITERS"