Independent Armenian Theater in Istanbul by Hangardz: An interview with Yeğya Akgün
The original interview, conducted by Vartan Estukyan, was published in Agos in Turkish on January 7, 2024 and translated to English for the Armenian Weekly by Vural Özdemir. Estukyan is a journalist at Agos who reports on culture, art, music, human rights and current politics.
Hangardz Independent Theater Ensemble, founded by a few young Armenian actors from Istanbul, debuted on World Theater Day in 2018 with their play “Mer Çunetsadzı İrarmov Kıdnenk” [Let’s Find in Each Other What We Don’t Have] at the Synergy World Theater Festival in Serbia. Hangardz’s new play, William Saroyan’s “My Heart’s in the Highlands,” debuted for audiences in 2023. The group, which continues to stage the play, is preparing for its first tour of “My Heart’s in the Highlands” in 2024. Vartan Estukyan spoke with Yeğya Akgün, co-founder of the Hangardz Independent Theater Ensemble, about Hangardz and the current state of Armenian theater.
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Fantastic Article! Thank you for the translation and publication.
Turkey has done such a “succesful” job of Turkicizing the 50,000 Armenians of Turkey (Istanbul Armenians, since almost all live there), that 80% of the Armenian community don’t know Armenian, and 90% of the Armenian youth don’t know Armenian, and even the liturgy has to be translated into Turkish, let alone cut off from theatre plays in Armenian!