A tribute to the unique voice of our theatre

Emrah KOLUKISA

While watching the documentary "Ferhangi Bir Yaşam" (A Life of Ferhan), which focuses on the life and art of Ferhan Şensoy , the question frequently came to mind, "Have we truly appreciated him?" Had anyone truly grasped his true nature, his creations, his productions, and truly grasped what he aspired to achieve? His first master, Haldun Taner, was undoubtedly one of the first to recognize his genius, writing in a short piece on the back cover of "Kazancı Yokuşu" (Kazancı Hill). Şensoy recalls Taner telling him, "You're a cabaret dancer" during one of their first encounters; an understanding undoubtedly true, but also somewhat incomplete, at least considering his later work.

Directed by Selçuk Metin and written by Zeynep Miraç, "Ferhangi Bir Yaşam" (A Life of Ferhan), is a valuable effort to understand him, and this must be acknowledged first and foremost. Along with intimate, insider testimonies (it's possible to see lesser-known aspects of Şensoy through the accounts of Zeliha Berksoy, Derya Baykal, and other family members), "Ferhangi Bir Yaşam" (A Life of Ferhan), a documentary filmed at the historic Ses Theater and crafted with clever tricks, reveals different dimensions of Ferhan Şensoy's art through the accounts of friends who shared the stage and life with him, and his Galatasaray classmates. Despite this, it's hard not to feel a pang of regret when you consider that this documentary has reached audiences almost four years after his death. By now, countless documentaries, books, and dissertations must have been written about him. How many people can you think of who have made such significant contributions to Turkish theater and brought such significant innovations as he? For the love of Dionysus!

Since the 1970s, over a period of approximately 50 years, Ferhan Şensoy has been responsible for many of Turkish theatre's most notable creations. He has developed a unique language as a writer/playwright and has created his own unique style in his acting, which we can consider an extension of this language. Indeed, on the one hand, he has brought a distinct and contemporary adaptation of the storytelling tradition to the present day (even if he may not have intended it), and on the other, he has arguably most accurately adapted the teachings of Bertolt Brecht, a great theatre theorist with a socialist worldview, to our country (see "They Also Shoot the Shahs" and the many plays that followed). Of course, these are all ideas distilled from the history of theatre with which I am somewhat familiar, rather than academic knowledge; those in the field will, and should, be able to better describe them.

The first screening of the documentary "Ferhangi Bir Yaşam" took place at the ENKA Open Air Theater, attended by the documentary's creative team and a large portion of those who contributed their insights, memories, and testimonies to the film. Speaking before the screening, ENKA Art Director Gül Mimaroğlu described Ferhan Şensoy as "a unique artist, a master storyteller, and a voice of resistance with his sharp pen." Speaking after the screening, director Selçuk Metin said, "I spoke with Ferhan Şensoy before the pandemic and conveyed our intention to make a documentary. He was delighted. I wish we could have done it while he was alive, but it's only happened today." The documentary will likely be released on a digital platform sometime soon, but if you're obsessed with seeing it on the big screen (a beautiful obsession, of course), you can watch it at ENKA Sanat on the evening of September 8th; tickets are available from Biletix.

“ALI POYRAZOĞLU WILL KILL ME”

The sections of the documentary where Zeliha Berksoy candidly recounts her memories have generated considerable backlash. The part where she describes how they orchestrated a scheme to seize control of the venue, originally rented to Ali Poyrazoğlu because they wanted to perform at the Küçük Sahne Theatre, drew a lot of laughter, as Poyrazoğlu was unaware of this "catastrophic" plot. We're eagerly awaiting Poyrazoğlu's response to Berksoy's statement, "Ali will kill me when he watches this, because he didn't know about it until now."