Chapter 5. “Humourizing” the theatre of the absurd through reworking and (self-)translation

Abstract

The introduction of written dramatic forms to the oral, performative, and improvisational Turkish theatrical tradition was made through translations, a.k.a. reworkings, of Western canonical works. Reworkings of these works were followed by the production of indigenous texts in the Ottoman, and later Turkish Republican, period(s) and were inherently characterised by “a search of the own voice of the Turkish theatre,” in terms of its dramatic and performative aspects. This search was naturally based on a tension between the very dissimilar Western and Turkish theatrical canons and traditions, a tension which required the possibilities of successfully integrating them. The present research aims at illustrating how the theatre of the absurd was “humourised” by means of the reworkings and recanonisations of actor/director Ferhan Şensoy and the theatre company Tiyatrotem. The research concludes by the discussion of how this act of “humourising” contributed both to the release of this intercanonical tension and to the creation of “the own voice.”