Examining two Turkish adaptations of classical tragedy: what does Brecht tell us?

Abstract

This study examines two adaptations of Greek tragedies—Kemal Demirel's Antigone (1966) and Aras Ören's Blind Oedipus—through the lens of politics and theater. Both of these plays are adaptations of Sophocles’s classical tragedies produced from a leftist political perspective. Bertolt Brecht’s strong influence can be felt in the imagination and execution of this leftist perspective. Brecht, one of the most influential figures shaping Turkish theater between 1960 and 1980, placed particular importance on the ancient Greek tragedy in his drama theory. Moreover, the German theatre figure also wrote and staged an adaptation of Antigone in 1949. The study explores Brecht’s thoughts on tragedy and discusses how these two adaptations draw from Brecht and how they employed his theatrical tools.