Interview with PQ about Turkey

We grabbed Paulo for a short interview over IM about his tour to Turkey. He tells us about his performances, the festival, and the political unrest which started during his time there:

DF: Hi. Thanks for taking a minute to talk with us.

PQ: Of course, no problem. Thank you.

DF: So first of all, can you give us some basics about this play festival?

PQ: Sure, it was the International Youth & Children Theatre Festival that takes place every year in Ordu, Turkey, which is a city along the Black Sea coast. The city itself is really beautiful. It leans out over a mountain overlooking the sea. We spent just over a week at the festival and performed Billy Bob Boils the Sea for packed houses at the AKM theatre (I'd tell you what it stands for, but as my Turkish is a little weak, I have no idea.)

DF: How did you come to be involved in a Russian play which was traveling to Turkey?

PQ: The show itself was created for the Russian Arts Theatre and Studio by Aleksei Burago, but had been thus far based in New York, where it had a short workshop run previously. For the Turkish tour they happened to need someone for the role of Billy Bob and put out a casting call. They decided to go with me and that was it.

DF: Pretty ordinary casting then.

PQ: Yep.

DF: So how did you like the festival?

PQ: Oh, I really loved it. It was really exciting to see how interested and involved the whole community was in this play festival. There were four different theaters putting up plays at all times, the biggest two were easily 800 person houses, and yet all of the performances that I saw were full. And we were treated so well by the organizers and by the whole city. It was really a treat to be there.

DF: And you got to see a lot of the other plays?

PQ: Oh yeah. We made it a point to try to see every play we possibly could.

DF: Were there any that stood out to you?

PQ: A bunch. There was a French team called Miss O'youk that did a beautiful piece about the sun and the moon meeting during an eclipse. A group representing the national theatre of Poland did an interesting rendition of Little Red Riding Hood based in a sort of gothic landscape that integrated live actors and puppets. We saw a beautiful Turkish narrative dance piece called Alongside River Arda from the Ankara Modern Dance Troup. The standout for me, though was a play from a Spanish group called Teatro La Llave Maestra. I'm not sure what the English title of the piece is, but it used a giant sheet of paper set vertically at the front of the stage, which they proceeded to slowly cut apart throughout the show. I also heard from everyone there that the Teatro Telaio (an Italian group) had a spectacular play, but unfortunately due to our rehearsal schedule we weren't able to see that one. [The photo at the bottom of this article was taken by PQ during an outdoor performance of White Wings, by a group from the Netherlands]

DF: Now, you were in Turkey while the current crisis broke out. How did that affect you and what were your impressions of the political situation from there? Did you ever feel in danger?

PQ: We were never in any danger, but I could definitely feel the environment shift once the protests started. Luckly there was no violence in Ordu, so the festival wasn't interrupted, but there were very large protests in the city. At the end of our trip, we spent three days in Istanbul and that time was very much marked by the political situation. We were miles away from the main square, but even where we were we got hints of tear gas in the air irritating our noses and throats when the wind was blowing accross the river. We kept in touch with our Turkish friends (who had been our guides during the festival) and their experiences in the escalating protests made us really worry about their safety. They in turn, were very distressed and angry at the govenrmnet's crackdown, and many of them went to partake in the main protest once they had left the festival.

DF: Any plans on performing Billy Bob boils the Sea here in the U.S.?

PQ: Nothing I can speak of at the moment.

DF: Last week you were at Tropfest premiering Innocent Creep which we got to see. Great job in the film. How did you like the Tropfest experience?

PQ: Thanks, it was fun. I had no idea how big Tropfest would be. There were 20,000 people there, plus everyone watching at home. They shot us some six months prior, but I hadn't had a chance to see any of the movie before seeing it there with everyone, so I was getting a little bit nervous as it was coming up, but I was actually quite happy with how it turned out.

DF: Well, thanks for chatting with us. We hope to get to see you again soon.

PQ Thank you, Dan. I'll catch you soon.