SIX AGAINST TURKEY

About

Production team

Written by: Jeton Neziraj / Directed by: Blerta Neziraj / Cast: Adrian Morina, Ernest Malazogu, Shpetim Selmani, Verona Koxha, Albina Krasniqi, Don Shala / Stage Designer: Alice Vanini / Choreographer: Gjergj Prevazi / Composer: Gabriele Marangoni / Costume Designer: Blagoj Micevski / Light Designers: Fabrizio Visconti, Yann Perregaux / Puppets and shadows: FANTASMAS / Assistant Director: Sovran Nrecaj / Art Director: Aurela Kadriu / Research: Latra Demaçi / PR and Communications: Natasha Tripney / Development and Fundraising support: Sven Skoric / Translation: Alexandra Channer / Coordination: Flaka Rrustemi / Technical support: Nikolas Pipero, Bujar Bekteshi, Adem Salihu, Lulzim Rexha.

Shows

Venue

Teatri ODA

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About the production: In 2018, six Turkish school teachers were arrested in Kosovo and deported to Turkey. Their Kosovo residency permits were revoked for allegedly being a threat to national security. The six men were wanted in Turkey because of their alleged links to the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose movement Turkey blamed for the failed coup in 2016. Tens of thousands of alleged Gulen supporters have been arrested or lost their jobs in Turkey since the failed coup. Many have proclaimed their innocence. Gulen has denied he and his supporters were behind the attempt to topple Erdogan’s government. When televisions in Kosovo broadcasted the arrest of six Turkish citizens, people legitimately asked: How was it possible for such a mafia-like abduction to take place in a country that claimed to be democratic, like Kosovo, and surely with the authorization and under the watch of Kosovo’s state leaders? The abduction exposed the fragility of Kosovo’s state institutions, which remain hostage to the political and economic hegemonies of powerful countries. However, the incident also served as a lesson for all of us: authoritarianism is not an ‘isolated island’ but has the tendency to be copied and imported, as was the case with fascism in the past. Since coming to power in 2002 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has overseen a radical transformation of Turkey, which has given way to a one-man rule. According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance the number of countries moving toward authoritarianism is more than double those moving toward democracy and that authoritarian regimes worldwide have deepened their repression. Drawing inspiration from Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, Six Against Turkey takes a nuanced look at Erdogan’s Turkey and asks why do societies founded on pluralism fail to deliver on their promise? Why are so many of today’s politicians resorting to increasingly oppressive ideologies? Six Against Turkey asks timely questions about the reach of oppressive regimes across borders. This is not a play about ordinary people who rise against a government or a state, but a play about governments and/or states who by inflicting terror, violence, persecution and war, lead their people to destruction. The sensitivity of the subject matter in Turkey and elsewhere means that the journey to making this production in Kosovo has not been easy, it has even been challenging. Six Against Turkey is written by Jeton Neziraj, one of Kosovo’s most internationally renowned playwrights. Previously Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Kosovo, he has written over 20 plays and his work has been performed in theatre festivals throughout Europe and in the US. He has been described by German theatre magazine Theater der Zeit as the ‘Kafka of the Balkans’. The show is directed by Blerta Neziraj, whose productions for Qendra Multimedia have toured internationally to places including Lausanne, Milan, Vienna, Hamburg, Lyon, Bern, and New York. Earlier this year she directed a new version of Balkan Bordello in Uppsala, Sweden. She is an alumna of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. Her awards include Best Director in Kosovan theatre in 2020. Qendra Multimedia is a cultural organization based in Prishtina, Kosovo and focused on contemporary theatre and literature. As a production company Qendra Multimedia has gained a reputation for producing some of the most timely and provocative work in South-East Europe with performances that create debate among audiences. Qendra Multimedia has co-produced work with theatre companies across Europe and in the USA, including the Volksbühne in Berlin and La MaMa in New York. Six Against Turkey follows the company’s successful European tours of Negotiating Peace in 2023 and 2024, The Handke Project in 2022 and 2023 and Balkan Bordello, which toured Kosovo, Serbia and Albania before being performed at LaMaMa in New York in 2021. The company’s work regularly features in international press including the New York Times (USA), The Guardian (UK), Der Spiegel (Germany), La Repubblica (Italy), Theater Heute (Germany), and The Stage (UK). “Raucous, irreverent and absurdist (his plays) invoke Ibsen, Molière and Kafka, while raging against corruption and injustice” The Guardian on Jeton Neziraj “Political theatre for when politicians have truly failed you.” Exeunt on the work of Blerta Neziraj @qendramm | https://qendra.org/en