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

ODA Theater

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Other informations

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.

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