An examination on Şiir Erkök Yılmaz Theater

Theateris an ancient art that is written to be performed and brings together elements such as stage, audience, actors and text. Although theatre scholars argue that theatre can exist without text, it is a fact that plays, which are the written dimension of theatre, are important. It is seen that studies on theater are mostly concerned with the stage dimension. However, plays constitute the literary dimension of theater. Şiir Erkök Yılmaz (b. 1948), better known as a storyteller, has four plays published in a single book. Adopting a warm, realistic and ironic structure, Erkök Yılmaz tried to deal with the human and his environment in his works. The author, who is one of the storytellers of the Republican period and contributed to our contemporary theater, in his plays, individual characteristics as well as social problems draw attention. In his plays, he succeeded in creating meaningful plays with the mastery of dialogues, stage plans, and the success in conveying the emotions and behaviors of people. It is seen that he characterizes his subjects in accordance with their personalities and subjects. In the first of the four plays that make up the book, Bir Darbe Masalı (A Coup Tale), the putschist Pasha's falling in love with a girl, his renunciation of the coup and the military coup process are staged in a comedic weave. In the second play, Antika Bir Oyun (An Antique Play), a retired university lecturer auctioning himself, what happens at the auction and the lecturer's lesson to everyone are staged in a tragicomic way. In Komşuculuk (Neighborliness), the positions of ready-to-eat eaters and those who live off their labor in daily life are discussed in the context of neighborly relations. In Hayat Öpücüğü (The Kiss of Life), a visit to a guest house and the turning point of this visit, especially for young people, is the subject. Although Şiir Erkök Yılmaz is at the forefront with her stories in Turkish literature, neither her stories nor her plays have been studied academically. Our thesis, which is the first on this subject, will consist of three parts: "İntroduction", "Sources of Şiir Erkök Yılmaz Theater" and "Analysis of Şiir Erkök Yılmaz's Plays". In the third part, which is the main part of our thesis, the author's four plays will be discussed under seven subheadings: "fiction", "themes", "point of view and narrator", "cast of characters", "space", "time" and "narrative techniques".