Ibn Haldun University Theater Club staged the play Rhinoceros, which it has been working on since the beginning of the year, on Sunday, May 12 at Emin Saraç Cultural Center. Theater Club played the play critically about the post-World War II period and Nazi Germany to a large audience, thus making its first premiere.
On this occasion, we met with Theater Club President Ahmet Faruk Yıldırım and club members Ahmet Ersagun Şahin, Cennet Tuğba, Emine Bulut and Merve Kaya. In this interview, you can find the difficulties experienced during the preparation process of the game, in which they personally involved every stage from its decor, and accessories to even transportation, and spent a rigorous training period, sweet memories and intense emotions felt after the game:
“We are people who have concern and make theater for it”
First of all, we congratulate you. You got a reward for your hard work for a year. May we know how you feel?
Ahmet Faruk Yıldırım: There is blood, sweat and tears behind this one-year effort. (No exaggeration here, it really happened, for example, we had a friend whose finger was cut while carrying the decor :)) It was a really tiring and difficult process for us. But when you go on stage with that first line that comes out of your mouth or when you run to greet the audience at the end of the play, you forget all the tiredness. In other words, it is a very different feeling to have told something and to have people applaud you in return for what you said. Because here (I don't know, I will speak for myself, but as far as I know, other friends think the same as me) we are doing theater as people who have concern and want to tell something. In other words, we do theater to make an impact on the other side. That's why it's the greatest reward for us to see that influence crossing over and that our work does not go unrewarded. I am very happy to have exhibited such a game.
Merve Kaya: I share the same feelings with my teammates. Because we tried to do something together. So it's really a group effort. And we got very good comments after the game. One of the comments that caught my attention was as follows: You acted so coordinated while changing the scenery on the stage that it was as if you all knew each other's movements beforehand. So we established that coordination and created a teamwork. This is what matters to me, as a matter of fact.
Ersagun Şahin: As our friends said, after the game we played with a lot of hard work behind it, although I was not completely satisfied personally (Because I brought a critic teacher and he buried me in the ground after the game :)), in the feedback we received, everyone said that they were very satisfied with the game. The satisfaction of the audience is probably the highest point we can reach for us. I'm looking at it that way. I hope we have accomplished good things so that we can feel that we have received the reward of our efforts according to the feedback we receive.
Emine Bulut: We have been doing this job for 2 years and one of the most important things is that every time we go on stage, we have always been together, both in our tirades and in our own training. That was one of the most important things. We were able to give each other that love, that unity, that spirit. I think one of the reasons why people really stood up and applauded us while we were saluting on that stage is that we can truly be one. The play, which normally does not end in 4 hours during training and rehearsals, felt as if it was finished 2 and a half minutes after I stepped onto the stage. I didn't see anyone when I stepped onto stage. I only saw Hakkı Hoca and Enes Hoca in the front. After that, I suddenly saw people clapping. We did a good job.
Cennet Tuğba:Theater is a very difficult process because we are already a very small team. When we get out there, people only see our acting, but there's also the behind the scenes. We handled dozens of pencil works ourselves, such as the decor, costume, and transportation, and we were very tired. But after that stage, you say: It was all worth it. People came and watched, we got good comments. Our teachers who support us; and especially Hakkı Hoca's comments made us very happy.
“Preparing Process for the Game Was So Exhausting But It Was Worth It!”
Rhinos is a play that is not easy to stage. A critical piece of work. Why did you choose this game? Is there any special reason?
Ahmet F. Y.: As I just said, we are people who have concern, and we are people who make theater for our concerns. We are people who make theater to convey something. Rhinos was a game that impressed me when I first read it. I wanted to play, but I said: "The game is a difficult and heavy game. I wonder if we tire the audience, will the audience get bored?" I had these questions in my head, but I really liked the message it gave. Other game suggestions came, but in the end, we decided on this game together with Safa teacher. Elhamdulillah, we did not receive any negative comments after the game watched , but we did receive comments that the game was heavy and critical. People had question marks in their minds, which I think is the most important thing for us. If we have put together a game that can make you ask questions, this is a reason for happiness for me. The criticisms in the game are aimed at the intellectuals and people who have more awareness in the society. We are intellectual candidates, we are university students. Our target audience is university students. As a university club, we play this mostly for university students. We wanted to play a game that would have an impact on university students. I believe we have achieved our goal.
Can you talk about the preparation process for the game? What did you experience? What kind of memories do you have left behind?
Ahmet F. Y.: At the beginning of the year, new friends joined us and we set a goal at the end of the year: The game will be released! We don't know yet which game it is. We need to prepare newcomers, include them in our squad and work on that game together. There are those who have just started their undergraduate education, and there are those who take preparatory education among us. And everyone's schedule is pretty busy. We started our work very intensively. A 9-hour training 2 days a week... The 2nd term has arrived; the game is determined, the game date is determined. When the game date became clear, the game was exactly 1 month away and we had nothing but the text of the game, the players and the hall. We've only done market research on needs and we have some ideas in mind, but that's it. In that one month, we handled the decor, costumes and accessories as well as the acting; but ask us how we handled it :) We studied almost 7 days a week: rehearsals were held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, a meeting was held for the decor on Thursdays, shopping for costumes was made on Saturdays and rehearsals were held on Sundays. This game came out after such a process. It was a tiring process and he has a sweet tiredness. He left behind sweet memories for us. For example, when the photo of the design of the cubes we ordered for the decor came, my eyes filled with tears. (I'm not a father, I'm not experienced in this, but) There is that feeling when you see your newborn child for the first time, or this photo created such an emotion in me.
In short, it was tiring, but I think it was a good experience for all of us.
Merve K.: Ahmet Faruk has said everything that needs to be said. He didn't leave much to us :) When I look back, I don't remember things that were so difficult then. There are very few details left in my mind right now. For example, at the decor meeting on Thursday, I remember the moments when we thought brooding question: what material should we make this decor from? We called many places and got prices, went to industrial sites and had long talks with them, bargaining etc. All of this was very new for us, but we let ourselves go with the flow and somehow we got over it… So now I don't remember anything about what happened. But I think this process has given us an incredible life experience.
Ersagun Ş.: In fact, we did the things that are beautiful to the audience on stage as a result of our perceptive, meticulous and in-depth studies. We set it by thinking about every detail in the scene. So nothing in the scene happens randomly. During the preparation process, the effort we spent on other details of the play such as costumes, accessories and decor, apart from acting, went one step further than acting in my eyes.
Emine B.:As a team, we were meeting so often and spending time together that the theater caused a distance between me and my other friends. Because everyone comes and says to me: Are you crazy, are you going to 9 hours a week training? Forget about this theater now! Everyone was telling me this. For example, my friends were calling and saying, "Let's do something tonight". When I said "No, I have a theater", they got jealous after a while. You know, people are jealous of someone else, but saying, "Do you prefer the theater to us?" they were jealous of the theatre.
“The most enjoyable run I've ever done in my life: Running on stage to greet the audience!”
That magical scene where a large audience applauds you on the stage after the play is over. How did this painting make you feel?
Ahmet F. Y.: My favorite moments in a play: The first is when I take the first step on stage and the first line comes out of my mouth. Because before that moment, my heart rate accelerates and my heart is pounding, but after the first line comes out, I calm down. The second is the moment of greeting the audience at the end of the game. Because no matter how much interaction you get from the audience during the game, that is the final decision moment. It might be the most enjoyable run I've ever done in my life. Looking at each other from the corners of the stage with Ersagun and running towards the middle with Yunus and greeting the audience there... This is an invaluable feeling for me. Those who haven't tried will never know.
Ersagun Ş.: None of us in the club are professional actors, but we are people who have been fortunate enough to act in some way, who have taken it by the wayside and tried to continue it. That's why every emotion we experience on stage is actually the emotions we experience inside ourselves. For example, our excitement is also very fresh. Our debut as Ibn Haldun University Theater Club. That's why the excitement was very fresh, in addition to this, the applause we received was very special. Applause was something else for all of us, especially since it was our first game. There is even such a situation. You know, apart from the excitement of going on stage before the play, I also said, "After all could we put something decent out? What kind of reaction can we get from the audience? Will expectations be met? How loud will the applause be?” I was experiencing another excitement filled in my mind by such questions.
Emine B.: Normally, if there was only applause, for example, I would think that people were applauding so that it would not be shameful. But when I saw people standing ovation. At that time, I believed in the sincerity of that applause.
Ahmet F.Y.: It is not easy to see Hakkı Öcal standing ovation.
Cennet T.: Normally the game has 3 phases. Before the game, during the game and after the game. Before the game, people get stressed. There is excitement during the game. After the game, it's time to enjoy. My system was a little different. There was stress before the game; I enjoyed it during the game, but after the game I had a stress again. Because I really wasn't that excited until I got that applause, but after the play I got such an applause, the audience stood up and I got even more excited. Then I went backstage; They called from the backstage, "The teachers are waiting in front of the door, they want to meet you." How did I go out and talk to them? I don't remember that phase.
Merve K.: Now, there is also the play part of it, I don't remember the moments when I was on the stage. What did I do, what did I say? What happened? It's so foggy in my mind... That 2 hour game was such a short thing for me. When we went on stage to greet the audience after the play, I first looked at my family. They were crying. When I saw them cry, my eyes filled with excitement. It was an incredible thing indeed. It was beautiful.
So what's your next goal? What do you dream of?
Ahmet F.Y.: Next year we will probably be a little more crowded with new friends coming. These 2 years were mostly the establishment and sitting process of the club. I think everything will be fine from now on. In other words, for the first time, we had an accessory, a decor and an audience. We are now a club that we premiere and get appreciation from people. From now on, people will perhaps begin to accept us as a club or as a theater team. Our work begins after that.
We currently have the Rhinos game. First of all, we plan to play it as much as we can (at least 8-10 times). We are planning to participate in festivals, university festivals, different events such as City Theater Youth Days and stage our play there. Apart from that, we are thinking of working on a new game and playing it as well. At the moment, we don't know what we will play, but this summer we will do readings, choose a game that suits us and start preparing for it.
