Cihangir Insomnia

A MUSIC|THEATRE|THRILLER

Cihangir Insomnia tells the story of the multicultural group of residents living in a run-down house in Tarlabasi, of the insomnia of clandestine lovers and of the mysterious death of a young actor.

Cihangir Insomnia is an energy-packed show performed by an international cast from Turkey, Austria, Germany and Denmark, including original members of the world percussion sensation STOMP!

The rituals of everyday life become a musical act full of rhythm and energy. Apart from the main characters also Sherlock Holmes and Sultan Abdülhamid II, who was a great aficionado of film and detective stories, appear in surrealistic flashbacks in a cinematic dramaturgy.

>

“Happiness must be to live in Cihangir…”

Cihangir InsomniaCihangir Insomnia A MUSIC|THEATRE|THRILLER

Yoyo and Peter come to Istanbul to find new inspiration for their lives and their music. Together with Yunus, the ney and clarinet player with Sufic believes, they found a flat-sharing community in a once-splendid fin-de-siècle house in the run-down district of Tarlabasi, near Cihangir, the quarter of known artists and well-to-do bohemians. Along with Emre and Melike, the passionate yet unhappy pair of actors, as well as the lonely literature professor Uschi, they populate the house in which their stories and longings revolve around their dream of Cihangir.As Emre dies under mysterious circumstances, Ceylan, the off-beat commissioner, comes to the house to question the inhabitants and gets caught up in the strange happenings.Yoyo, Peter and the rest of the ensemble provide the sound-track to the story about life in the city which, like the secret lovers Melike and Yunus, cannot sleep: Istanbul…

SYNOPSIS

>Cihangir Insomnia is a reflection on the contradictory city of Istanbul as a projection of human longings, in the form of a music theatre show.

The show will be developed like a musical score by an inter-national cast. Each scene of the piece is composed in such a way that it smoothly flows into the next one. This happens through musical techniques developed by performers from the world famous show STOMP together with talented performers from Turkey. The techniques include: associative dramaturgy as well as musical and choreographic transitions.The narrative form is non-linear, like that of an edited film, and combines thriller and video clip elements.The story – and its parallel world which manifests itself in the objects on stage – will be told through a mosaic of expressive forms: Text, rhythm and song, analog and digital music ranging from techno to Roma music, film sequences, as well as audience participation unite into a dazzling whole.Further on it is planned to film Cihangir Insomnia at original locations in Istanbul, whereby the film should retain its abstract musical narration form.

STAgE DIRECTION CONCEPT

Barely 500 meters from the hip artists quarter of Cihangir is the neighborhood of Tarlabasi, steeply built into a slope. The once-beautiful old houses are run down, the inhabitants are impoverished. Whole families often share a 12m²room.The neighboring quarter of Cihangir (Persian for “conqueror of the world”) is within grasp, yet so far.Tarlabasi has charm. The mix of Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Kurds and Africans is reflected in the crumbling, yet colorful facades of the residential buildings.Although the quarter’s reputation is not the best, the interest of real estate investors in the historic architecture and its location in the city is very big. A clearing and gentrification of the neighborhood merely seems to be a question of time.

BACkgROUND

3 APARTMENTS, 1 DEATH

As Commissioner Ceylan arrives at Sir Sokak No. 33, he finds a run-down building, neglected by the city administration, with crumbling roofs and unsealed windows.The neighborhood is loud and lively, full of small junk shops, special wig shops for transsexuals, mobile simit vendors, tea merchants and butchers who get their goods from dubious sources.

ON THE 3RD FlOOR Melike und Emreliving on the third floor is a young pair of actors, Melike, who suffers from insomnia, and Emre. Both are desperately working on the realization of their dreams. like so many established artists, they would like to live in Cihangir. Still waiting for challenging film roles, they earn their money by dubbing foreign TV series, barely making enough to pay the rent. Besides, their love relationship holds a painful secret which appears to be revealed slowly. Melike’s hobby is to film extra-ordinary moments in her daily life with her video camera.

ON THE 2ND FlOOR Yoyo, Peter and YunusOne floor below, Yoyo, the Austrian, and Peter, the Dane, live together with Yunus, the ney and clarinet player with Sufic believes, in a flat-sharing community. All three are musicians and are constantly making music, no matter if with tea glasses, backgammon boards, beer cans or their own instruments. Their multicultural rhythms and melodies provide the sound-track to the actions unfolding. Just like Melike, Yunus also cannot sleep at night. Yunus, an admirer of the great mystic Mevlana, falls in love with Melike, who – driven by the secret of her relationship with Emre – returns Yunus’ affection.

ON THE 1ST FlOOR UschiUschi, who actually wanted to become an opera singer, but who studied literature instead, and, in addition to German and French, also speaks Spanish and Hebrew, is an associate professor of German literature at university. She loses her initial shyness as soon as she newly discovers her passion for singing through Yoyo and Peter, and falls in love with Commissioner Ceylan.

Photos: STOMP, 2005

The piece is written in the form of a detailed treatment by Stefan Bohun(story/text) and Johannes Bohun(music).Narrative techniques are developed on the basis of texts, music, rhythmic patterns and the selective use of film sequences. Through the narrative as well as musical integration of stage objects, the development of the choreography and the stage design is an inseparable process.

DEvELOPMENT Of THE PIECE

led by Stefan and Johannes Bohun, a 7-day workshop focusing on narrative and musical techniques, tailored to the treatment of the piece, will be held for all participants directly before the rehearsals. The actors will be familiarized with the specific styles and concepts of the show. We draw our influences, among others, through the cooperation with STOMP (Johannes) and the Theatre de Complicité (Stefan).

WORkSHOP

Following the workshop, the piece is worked out scene by scene. Rehearsals take place in Istanbul for eight weeks in Summer 2009. However, it is vital that the participants get the opportunity to merge their real-life experiences in Istanbul into the work on the show.

REHEARSALS

DIRECTOR AND MUSICAL DIRECTOR

The brothers Stefan Bohun* (film and theater direction) and Johannes Bohun** (music/choreography) from Austria have gathered a lot of experience at international theater and film festivals.

Johannes, a major member of the Broadway show STOMP and an original cast member of the British lFO (lost and Found Orchestra), has toured around the world for years with STOMP and is now producing his second individual show with Stefan.After his first theater projects in Vienna and Toronto, and his studies with Michael Haneke at the Film Academy in Vienna, Stefan has already gained success at various festivals. During his temporary stay at the BIlGI University in Istanbul in the course of his master studies, Stefan began to develop Cihangir Insomnia.

* **

CAST

STEFAN BOHUN Director, Austria

Stefan studied in Toronto, Canada at the School of Physical theatre and at the Vienna Film Academy as a student of Michael Haneke. After writing and directing his Theatre Play “Einstein´s Dreams” in Vienna, his shortfilms, documentaries and videoclips are shown on TV and in international filmfestivals. His film “Nohelia” is awarded best documentary at the international shortfilmfestivals of Vienna and Salzburg.

JOHANNES BOHUN Musical Director, Austria

Johannes „YoYo“ Bohun, born 1978 in Vienna, auditi-oned for STOMP in 2001 after finishing his studies at the Music Conservatory of Vienna.He toured for 5 years with STOMP around the world before becoming part of the original cast of STOMP’s follow-up show, the „lost&Found Orchestra“, which has so far been performed at the Sydney Opera House and the london Royal Festival Hall. When not on tour with STOMP or lFO, he’s teaching, giving workshops or working on his own music project „Nihil Baxter“.

www.stomp.co.uk www.lostandfoundorchestra.com www.myspace.com/nihilbaxtermusik www.stomp2gether.de

BIRSEN KARACAN Actress, Turkey

Birsen Karacan graduated from the National Conservatory of Eskisehir. In 2002 Birsen was part of IT´s Festival (International Theatre School Festival) in Amsterdam. She participated in the workshop of the legendary Grotowsky Workcenter in Moscow in 2005. She acted main roles at the Istanbul National Theatre as well as at the Izmit City Theatre. Birsen occupied the main roles in the short films “Eyes Wide Open” and in the Video-clip of Nihil Baxter “What am I doing here” which was shown at the 14th International Filmfestival of the Vienna Filmacademy in 2009.

PETER NIElSEN Actor, Denmark

After getting his degree in drums/teaching from Royal Academy of Music in Silkeborg/Aarhus in 2001, Peter joins the international sensation STOMP in the same year, which he tours the world with until 2009. In february and march 2008 Peter was on tour with Norwegian singer/songwriter Unni Wilhelmsen, which he played bass and keyboards for.Peter also performs with a hiphop/tap/bodypercussion show in Paris, and he is founder and creator of his own “stomp-inspired” group Body Rhythm Factory, which gigs regulary in Denmark.

The rest of the cast will be announced!