The play’s the thing during the 17th International Istanbul Theater Festival, which runs from May 10 through June 10 — and you don’t have to understand Turkish to enjoy the shows.
Actors and dancers from the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Belgium and the Netherlands will perform at more than 15 venues on the city’s European and Asian sides.
Two of the shows will be in English — and both, oddly enough, involve madness in some way.
John Malkovich stars Friday, May 14, as a serial killer journalist in “The Infernal Comedy,” in which the versatile American shares the stage with two sopranos and a Baroque orchestra.
And on May 28 and 29, “Airswimming” by the British playwright Charlotte Jones, tells the real-life story of two women who spend 50 years in an insane asylum.
There are also works in Italian (like Goldoni’s “Holiday Trilogy,” performed by the Piccolo Teatro di Milano) and in German (like “Cinecitta Aperta,” part of René Pollesch’s Ruhr Trilogy, and “The Trial,” based on the Franz Kafka novel).
Then there’s the international language of dance, with offerings like “Sutra” from the Flemish/Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which stars 17 Buddhist Shaolin monks from China.
Tickets are on sale now. Prices range from 10 to 150 Turkish lira (about $7 to $100).
Source : http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com
