ARUCAD Celebrates World Theatre Day with a Special Program at Bandabuliya Stage

Arkın University of Creative Arts and Design (ARUCAD) celebrated World Theatre Day with a special program held on Thursday, March 26th, at the Bandabuliya Stage. Throughout the day, events bringing together different staging forms showcased the multifaceted narrative power of theatre.

The program began with the reading of the World Theatre Day Message, written by Willem Dafoe, in both Turkish and English. The message was delivered to the audience by Beren Çeliker and Cihan Erol Düzener. Later in the day, Neil Gaiman's "Instructions," with concept and design by Lecturer Şafak Ersözlü, was staged. The performance was presented by Doruk Civelek, Arda Kaba, Abdullah Karaduman, Lamira Günbatı, Kadir Taşcan, and Mert İsmail Aksoy. Metehan Kayan designed the lighting, and Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Morning" was also used.

At 7:30 PM, the play "Tracing Your Little Finger on Your Eyebrows," prepared by the final-year students of the Acting Department of the ARUCAD Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, was staged. Directed by the Dean of the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, Prof. Dr. Kerem Karaboğa, the play featured Ersan Çıkı, Selin Çolak, and Yalın Doğasal, who contributed both as writers and actors. Inspired by Franz Kafka's texts "A Report for an Academy," "The Penal Colony," and "The Metamorphosis," this work brought together different narratives within a single dramaturgical structure.

The play also showcased an interdisciplinary production process bringing together the Acting, Sound Arts Design, and Visual Arts departments. Animation design and implementation were carried out by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pervin Kurçeren, while set design and implementation were done by Kurçeren and the Head of the Visual Arts Department, Assoc. Prof. Dr. The project was realized with the contributions of Raif Dimililer and B. Deniz Yılmaz. Music design was carried out by Lecturer Ataman Kınıs, while technical support and projection were handled by Metehan Kayan, lighting by Ekin Duruk, and sound by Bünyamin İslamoğlu.

The Dean of the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, Prof. Dr. Kerem Karaboğa, in his assessment on World Theatre Day, stated, “Theatre is one of the most direct and honest arenas of encounter between humans and themselves and others. This production process, based on Kafka's texts, allows us to rethink questions about human existence through the stage. At ARUCAD, we believe that such works, bringing together different disciplines, are an important part of the living and transforming structure of theatre.”

The program, held as part of World Theatre Day, showcased ARUCAD's interdisciplinary and intertextual production approach to the stage, making visible the creative relationships students establish between different fields.