The winners of the 1st Musical and Musical Theatre Play and 1st Alikko and Caher Children’s Play Writing Competition organised by the Municipality of Girne were presented with plaques and cash awards at the award ceremony held on 22nd November.
The competition, organised by Girne Municipality in order to contribute to the development of Turkish Cypriot theatre, attracted many local and international competitors and participants. The contest aims to bring original works to the art of theatre to readers and audiences and to expand the play repertoire of the country’s theatre. Contestants were asked to include the mythologies, epics, tales, memories, and legends of the Turkish Cypriot culture, as well as themes such as peace, love, beauty, and fantastic content, if desired.
Works were assessed on dramatic quality, social dramatic quality, form and style, aesthetic and tonal contribution and music being in harmony with the subject of the musical or musical plays sent to the competition: Awards totaling 27,000 TL were made in the competition; 10 ,000 TL for the winner, 7,000TL for the 2nd place winner, 5,000TL for the 3rd place winner, 3,000TL for the fourth place winner, 2,000TL for the fifth place winner; as follows:
- “Pygmalion A Democracy Musical” by Lik Burçhan Göze.
- Lik Feyzan Korur’s “4 Brides, 4 Wedding Dresses”
- Luk Eşref Karadağ’s “Love Finger Mountain”
- “My Island’s Love” by Lük Özlem Elmalıoğlu
- Lik Birgül Yeşiloğlu Güler’s plays named “Flower of Life” received awards.
A jury decided the award winners in the Alikko ve Caher children’s play writing competition, which was organised to bring new and original plays to the country’s theatre, permanent works and new writers to the theatre culture.
- The winners chosen by the jury were:
- 1st place Cengiz Eşiyok’s The Country of Happy Clowns
- 2nd place was Mehmet Boncukoğlu’s United Animal Forest
- 3rd place was Gizem Bilgi Su Şahin’s play Wonderland Island won an award.
Derman Atik, Girne Municipality General Art Director, said ‘We, as Girne Municipality, aim to organise this competition: to accelerate the TRNC Children’s theatre, to encourage writers and young people who want to adopt theatre playwriting as a profession. We want to leave books, consisting of children’s play texts, in our country libraries and school libraries so that they can be used in our country’s theater environment, with works consisting of well-written children’s play texts, to be used in our primary schools, especially in the theater community. What we have put forward with the vision of culture and art in the last seven years of Girne Municipality are the sine qua non of living in a contemporary city.
Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü said about the competition; “During the pandemic, we have been thinking of what we can do for art. As a result of our efforts, we have managed to bring the competition to life. In this period, the unifying and healing power of culture and art became more important than ever and came to the fore. Art should be made with the feelings of tolerance, cooperation, and love under all circumstances, but especially in difficult times, and should embrace peace. In this context, at a time when the epidemic was felt very intensely and we were at home, we decided to organise a “Musical and Musical Play” writing competition, breaking new ground in the country. Despite the fact that the pandemic and the related difficult conditions still continue in all areas, our municipality has managed to hold many cultural and artistic activities within the limitations imposed. In this period, the unifying and healing power of art gained more importance and value than ever before. While our municipality took the decision to organise the 1st Musical and Musical Theater and 1st Alikko and Caher children’s playwriting competitions, our primary goal was to bring authors and new works to production in art, to the country’s theater, to record the theatrical works created and to transfer them to future generations. Our Mission is to bring together the people of the city and the people of the region with art as long as possible.
Güngördü also noted that the distance they have covered in the last seven years is very significant and stated that they still have a long way to go and a lot of work to be done. Pointing out that asphalt and cobblestone are the same everywhere, but it is important to bring them together with people on the right ground at the right time, Güngördü added that they have come to this day to sow the seeds of a culture of tolerance and peace. Reporting that they will publish a book after each of the two competitions, Güngördü said that their aim is to play a role as the Municipality in transferring these plays to future generations and to bring them together with young readers and writers in places such as libraries and classrooms.
Güngördü also said, “At this point, writers from both our country and Turkey have shown great interest in the competition. Distinguished jury members carefully evaluated the works submitted to the competition and determined the winners. I would like to thank all the jury members for their support and cooperation. I would like to thank all the participants who submitted their works to the competition for their interest, and sincerely congratulate the award-winning authors.
Source (Turkish): Girne Municipality
