PLAY
- Pierre Bokma
- Els Dottermans
- Frank Focketyn
- Melih Gençboyacı
- Dilan Yurdakul
- Celil Toksöz
- Melike Tarhan (vocals)
CREDITS
- Text: Based on the novel of the same name by Orhan Pamuk (“Kar”, published by the Wylie Agency), in a translation by M. Dorleijn and H. van der Heijden (published by De Bezige Bij)
- Director: Luk Perceval
- Editing and dramaturgy: Steven Heene
- Set design: Katrin Brack
- Costumes: Ilse Vandenbussche
- Lighting: Mark Van Denesse
- In co-production with: Zina, Female Economy, KVS
With Sneeuw (Snow), the Turkish Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk has written a book as rich as it is strange. Themes such as love, politics and religion are interwoven into a complex but attractive story. With subtle humour, he sketches a portrait of his homeland: an immense border area between Western and Eastern values, a world in which reason, lust and religion have been fighting for centuries for precedence and in which each individual must make the choice for himself: how do I fill in my Turkish identity?
At the request of director Luk Perceval, who will stage another production for NTGent after Platonov (2013), Front (2014) and Oogst van de wrok (2016), we resolutely opt for a title of stature. We quote from the Volkskrant: “Snow is beautifully written and narrated. But it is also a political novel in which the author takes seriously the conflict that is giving the world a headache.” The choice for a new, own adaptation of Pamuk’s haunting novel is inspired both by the country Turkey, where emotions are running high these days and politics is showing its grim side more and more, and by the large – and by now very familiar – Turkish presence in numerous European cities, including our home city Ghent.
Sneeuw is one of the five best performances of the autumn according to Cuttingedge.be
Perceval places healing silence and love opposite all political and social misery. – Els Van Steenberghe, Knack Focus
As a dissection of the Turkish nation’s split personality on the one hand and the universal power of love and passion on the other, ‘Snow’ is perfect theatre. So penetrating and at the same time so tender – a wound on stage, a miracle on stage. – Jan-Jakob Delanoye, Cutting Edge
This Sneeuw is much more than a love story. It is, with a cast that for half consists of actors with Turkish roots (including very successful a capella intermezzo’s by the Ghent-Turkish singer Melike Tarhan) open and sincere theatre that comes straight from the heart and that is inspiring in a special way, like Ka feels inspiration for verses bubbling up at the oddest moments. – Magali Degrande, Het Nieuwsblad
Politics, love and theatre become metaphors for each other. To think through all these issues, you probably need the space of a novel. But in any case, Perceval forces us to do something the inhabitants of this tense microcosm cannot: listen attentively to the polyphony, without judging. – Charlotte De Somviele, De Standaard
Luk Perceval has created a rigid, almost abstract performance that constantly stimulates the imagination and arouses curiosity. Sneeuw may look simple, but every word and movement is well-considered and serves the art of theatrical storytelling. – Karin Veraart, De Volkskrant