ABSTRACT
In Act one of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s masterpiece, The Visit, set in a dilapidated railroad station in Guellen, “somewhere in central Europe” in the fifties, where “Goethe spent a night” and “Brahms composed a quartet,” everything is in ruins. Translating the play into Turkish, Erhan Tuna distributes the text scene by scene. Rehearsals truly become a jumping off place for discovery and exploration. The performers gradually absorb the play from the ground floor up, reliving the process through which the playwright created the play. “Amazing Grace” has been selected as the theme song for the production. Translated into Turkish, and rewritten by Professor Metin Belay of the Konservatuvari, the revised spiritual anthem ironically highlights Guellen’s faith in economic well being and the pleasures of accumulating material possessions. Imitating the sounds of a gunned automobile, they weave in, out, and around the family, sitting in straight backed chairs, swaying from side to side on a roller coaster ride to Alfred’s death.
