People now place more emphasis on knowing and finding similarities between others and themselves. In fact, knowing himself and wanting to confirm that human beings are alike is not a new phenomenon. However, settled communities' efforts to build on this basic understanding, knowing and understanding people and management style and the way they live is not deserved us a significant problem with tribal communities.
Why has the profession of drama become a solid requuirement for communities dealing with human? For these communities investments made on theatre people, serious costs allocated from the general budget for construction and maintenance of buildings, significant amounts allocated for projects, that the profession of theatre-man has special work conditions, specifying rights and legislation, making systems to increase productivity are all the results of these communities' seeing the theatre as one of live's necessities which cannot be given up.
Philosophy which sees culture of democracy as people's self-management direction and which wants to spread this responsibility to people has seen theatre culture as a necessity which cannot be given up. Because theatre is a profession which prepares the period of democracy culture. Understanding theatre with such a consciousness of responsibility brings together to be in change of it. Because community's getting used to democracy culture means development of culture of criticizm and self-criticizm. Theatre directly serve for development of such culture.
Theatre man, may be considered running after romantic thoughts, may produce common ideals and try to convince people accordingly. Theatre takes just man as a subject within this perspective and these fraillies, strength, weakness, personal disorders, desires, dreams, likes, unlikes, responsibilities, unresponsibilities, loves human relations which all make subjects for theatre.
The theatre man questions systems and investigates reasons for system weaknesses and people who make such reasons in order to get into the source of problems may go back to pre-history. He may both work on today and future. He deals with traditions.
However, these cannot come out with coincidences. Feelings alone of course is not enough either. All ordinary people who are not aware that their feelings are like other people's think that they are created special.
In fact the thatre man must work on his products with the responsibility of an inventor who is searching for an answer to these problems. The play-wright, director and the actors must feel the excitement of this responsibility.
They must be men who have assimilated their own problems with that of the community, but want to explain themselves by means of drama and desperately wish others understand and share this sensibility.
In order to explain themselves better, they must be developed in knowledge, likes, cultural accumulation and proficiency and can find answers to questions like what kind of playing, what kind of staging, what kind of playing, what kind of interpretation, decors, lights, music and dance. As such being developed will improvingly urge them to get over their own limits. However, there are people who use the profession of theatre as their shop windows and they do not try to improve themselves but only criticize success of people around and yell about them as less successful than themselves. They do nothing but disturb and criticise others so that others will be aware of them and never try to find solutions or die to get to know and try to explain that they do not in fact care for problems that they are incabable of understanding, saying "man is born once", but stay continiously criticising and uninformed and surprised of being still undiscovered although they are such special abilities and dream that the day will give a lesson to people who have progressed better than themselves and they destiny will come and take them out where they are hidden.
Such people are never interested in culture of democracy or for which requirements the theatre has been discovered by human being and in taking responsibilities based there upon or the responsibility and excitement to perform this profession but only in themselves. As having such a narrow and limited fields is utmost ordinary if naturally obstructs the personal improvements.
While there are incidents and materials which have not yet been subjects for our national theatre but could well be of worldwide interest if marked upon. Instead of making new and special plays, it is as if most acceptable to make similar plays on and on, without adding to them anything new. And such infertility is because we do not have the ideals and excitements thereof.
How bad it is to live without knowing such values while even knowing that the theatre is a profession making the period of empathy culture may be a key sentence to let creative thoughts come out and give excitements...
Now the theatre in Turkey has got into a development period which should be accepted consciously.
That is why we have a lot to do in front of us. And I "never lost my trust for the days that will come - knock our door with sunny hands." But I believe this can only be realized by theatre men having the necessary cultural basis who will unite their own jobs and improve a culture to eliminate their own appreciating what has already be done instead of jealousies based on being misunderstood.
In fact this is what it should be. Because if not selfdescribed and explained such responsibilities will be left to others. Such consciousness has to be one day. The time gained will be used as productive as early and knowingly it is.
And thus may be the theatre men able to be a good example of their leadership mission as required by their jobs.
Tamer Levent
State Theatre of Turkey
Assistant Artistic Director
President of TOBAV
Translated by Demet Feyman
