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Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and sponsored by Koç Holding Energy Group Companies Aygaz, Opet and Tüpraş, the 22nd edition of the Istanbul Theatre Festival is getting ready to meet the theatregoers in November 2018. https://www.centarahotelsresorts.com/cosihotels/?utm_source=e-global&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=cosi-firstlaunch&fbtrack=CUST-cosi-firstlaunch-e-global-bannerOne of the highlights of the festival programme will be the Canadian theatre and film director Robert Lepage’s Hamlet | Collage, in which he reimagines Shakespeare’s renowned tragedy. The performances will be held on 22 and 23 November 2018 at Zorlu PSM Main Theatre with the support of ENKA Foundation as the Perfomance Sponsor and Zorlu Performing Arts Centre, Festival’s Venue Sponsor with the Highest Contribution. Hamlet | Collage will be realised as part of the ‘Golden Mask in Istanbul’, a project born out of a collaboration between Istanbul Theatre Festival and Moscow Golden Mask Festival.

Hamlet | Collage, a masterpiece that brings theatre and contemporary art together with a meticulous dramaturgical sensibility and excellent interpretation meets audiences at the Istanbul Theatre Festival. Hamlet | Collage is the first collaboration between Canadian theatre and film director Robert Lepage and Moscow’s innovative theatre company Theatre of Nations. Hamlet | Collage is a performance that centers on Hamlet as he “gazes” into his consciousness.

As a character whose conscious is influenced and shaped by an overwhelming sense of justice, Hamlet is suspended above the stage in mid-air on a large open-sided cube with ghosts of other characters from Shakespeare’s play and is delivered with an awe-inspiring mastery by Evgeny Mironov. Hamlet’s dialogue with death, the expression of his existence through death, and the reflection of a mind gradually permeated by corruption are highlights of Mironov’s portrayal.

Evgeny Mironov, also the artistic director of Theatre of Nations, breathes life into eleven characters from Hamlet and recreates them in Hamlet’s consciousness on this cube design that challenges the laws of physics. A popular face of Russian cinema, Mironov is also known for his roles in Love, a film directed by Todorovski in 1991 and an adaptation of The Idiot by the Russian television.

Robert Lepage had tried Carl Fillion’s cube design in his play Needles and Opium based on the lives of Miles Davis and Jean Cocteau. Images projected on the cube using video-art will take the audience on a breathtaking journey.

 Robert Lepage

 Robert Lepage was born in Quebec in 1957. After a study period in Paris in 1978 he returned to Quebec and became involved in many creative projects, gaining experience as an actor, author and director. A turning point in his career came with the founding of his production company, Ex Machina, in 1994. To celebrate Quebec City’s 400th anniversary in 2008, Lepage created The Image Mill, the largest multimedia projection in the world, with Ex Machina. He designed and directed Cirque du Soleil shows: (2005), a permanent show in Las Vegas, and TOTEM (2010), a show under Grand Chapiteau that will tour worldwide. Regarded as one of the leading names of the contemporary performing arts with the visual illusions he created on the stage, Lepage’s work has been recognized by many awards such has the Stanislavski Award, Prix Europe as well as Légion d’honneur.

 Evgeny Mironov 

Born in Saratov (Russia). In 1986 graduated from Saratov Theatre Academy; in 1990 graduated from Moscow Art Theatre Academy (course master Oleg Tabakov) and joined the company of Oleg Tabakov’s Studio Theatre. There he starred in a number of productions, most notably in The Passions of Bumbarash and Another Van Gogh. As guest star at the Moscow Art Theatre, he took the role of Treplev in The Seagull and appeared as George Pigden in No. 13, the Russian adaptation of Ray Cooney’s Out of Order. Evgeny also starred in several legendary productions staged by leading European masters, such as Peter Stein’s Oresteia and Hamlet, Declan Donnellan’s Boris Godunov, and Eimuntas Nekrosius’ The Cherry Orchard. Since December 2006 Evgeny Mironov has been holding the position of artistic director of the Theatre of Nations, where he also stars in the productions of Shukshin’s Stories and Figaro (directed by Alvis Hermanis), The Events of One Day (directed by Kirill Serebrennikov), Miss Julie (directed by Thomas Ostermeier), Hamlet | Collage (directed by Robert Lepage), Pushkin’s Fairy Tales (directed by Robert Wilson) and Ivanov (directed by Timofey Kulyabin).

Evgeny is also one of the most prominent Russian cinema stars, as well as the two times winner of the State Prize of Russia, three times winner of the Golden Mask Award, four times winner of the Crystal Turandot National Award (best actor), and winner of the International Stanislavsky Award, Grand Prix of Geneva International Film Festival and many others. He is co-founder of the Artists Support Foundation; the artistic director of the TERRITORIЯ International Theatre Festival; artistic director of the Third Rome film studio, and a member of the Arts and Culture Council at the office of the President of the Russian Federation.

 Tickets for Hamlet | Collage 

Ticket sales for Hamlet | Collage’s performances on 22 and 23 November will begin on Friday, 6 July at 10.30 and are available from Biletix sales counters and İKSV box office (open 10.30-18.00; closed on Sundays). Tulip Card holders will be able receive special discounts and purchase advance tickets on 4 and 5 July. The student tickets for all plays will once again be on sale at TL 10 with the support of Koç Holding Energy Companies Aygaz, Opet and Tüpraş (only from İKSV box office). The prices for the other categories of the performances are TL 80, 120, 150, 180 and 250.