Review: GECE SEMPOZYUMU (NOCTURNAL SYMPOSIUM) at Istanbul Theatre Festival

Apart from the international productions visiting the city, Istanbul Theatre Festival has also introduced us some local productions that will be on during the season. Gece Sempozyumu (Nocturnal Symposium) is one of those. The highly anticipated production is brought to us by Mesut Arslan who originally directed the mentioned play for the Belgian audience. After its run in Belgium he decided to bring it here, to Turkey and stage it with a Turkish cast. The all-star cast includes: Guven Kirac, Derya Alabora, Serhat Kilic, Mert Firat , Ersin Umut Guler, Yasar Bayram Gul ve Pervin Bagdat.

"What family doesn't have its ups and downs?"

Eric De Volder's play tells the story of a family that is far from ideal. It reminds us that the worst kind of cruelty comes from the ones that are the closest. After all, they know everything about you: all your secrets, and all your tricks. And they are careful enough to stick their pins without actually killing you (well, in this particular play, this applies to the relationships between the mom and the sons, I am not going to extend on this as I do not want to give any spoilers.) which turns the whole thing into a never ending power struggle.

Director Mesut Arslan took the play to a whole different level by placing his actors in what looks like a beyblade arena especially when the spinning tops join in. With the installation by Lawrence Malstaf, the production turns into a total experience. These spinning tops create real tension not only in the arena but within the room as they are so fast and some of them are real heavy, they can actually cause serious injury if you are caught off guard.

The spinning tops represent many things throughout the play but the main idea lies in the motion. The circular motion represents emotions and their unpredictability whereas the bar hanging from the ceiling represents the line - starting from the day of birth, ending with the day of death, and its linearity. And life, as we call it, is the clash between the two.

The play also puts an emphasis on the system itself by presenting a family portrait. After all, the corruption starts within the smallest unit and the smallest unit of the society is the family.

Although the production is a unique experience that I enjoyed very much, I must say I was busy being worried about the safety of the actors and the audience in the pit - not in the arena but around it, during the half of it. Serhat Kilic was hit by one of the spinning blades that was very fast at that moment and the crowd went all tense, worried about him.

As I stated in the beginning this is an all-star cast. I remember my shock when I found out Mesut Arslan had managed to gather this amazing ensemble together. However, there is a huge problem going on. Watching this ensemble feels like listening to a group that are singing different songs at the same time. Half of the cast "acts", whereas the other half "performs". The younger cast seem to take the more caricature, more performance art route whereas the big names of the production: Serhat Kilic, Derya Alabora and Guven Kirac seem to have focused on the characters and portrayals. This has created some sort of inconsistency and turned this into a confused production.

Despite its problems, Gece Sempozyumu (Nocturnal Symposium) is a must see. It is a unique experience and probably not like anything you have seen in the city before.