Today the show “On The Run” (“Kaçiş”) based on the play by Mikhail Bulgakov premieres at Mimar Sinan Fine Art University’s (MSGSU) theatre in Istanbul. It is a result of a collaboration between the GITIS and MSGSU. For a month and a half Timur Galeev, a graduate of the GITIS directing faculty, was rehearsing a play with third year students of MSGSU acting course.
Mikhail Bulgakov is one of the most important Russian playwrights. “On The Run” (or “Flight”) tells about the fate of the Russian emigration in Istanbul (back then — Constantinople) after the Civil War between “The Reds” and “The Whites” at the beginning of the 20th century. In that masterpiece of classical Russian literature
Turkey plays a particular role.
With Bulgakov’s subtitle “A Play in Eight dreams”, the director splits the stage action into the reality of emigration life in Istanbul and dreams about Russia. The characters are desperately trying to escape from problems into dreams, but the dreams turns into nightmares.
As a preparatory work students and director had interviewed today’s immigrants in Istanbul and embedded such documentary verbatims to the performance, connecting the life of the 21st century to the events of a hundred years ago. The original story was also moved to year 1923 when the characters of the play became witnesses of the historical events for the Turkish Republic.