“Let Our Theater Live” Campaign Asks For A Theater Law

Let Our Theater Live Campaign which started on the 2nd of May with the signature of two thousand theater labourers has exceeded 30 thousand signatures. Private theaters which had to close down during the epidemic and which face difficulties due to the state's failure to declare an adequate financial support policy, are looking for solutions to their problems by coming together.

The signatory theaters for the “Let our Theater Live” campaign, stated that the last statements of the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Ersoy haven’t been a solution to the problems of the sector, and that the 7 articles within the signature text they had prepared could be a solution to their problems. In addition, they hold the view that it is necessary for the Ministry to enact the theater law which has not been enacted for years.

An online meeting was held with the 83 signatory theaters from 16 provinces. At the meeting, the path to be followed during the campaign process and the articles that would be requested from the related ministries had formed the agenda. In the coming days, meetings with a high number of participants will be held and the subject will be followed up. The signature campaign continues here (buradaki ).

Another solution private theaters seek to survive is the audience support program titled “We’ve Booked Your Seat” initiated by the Theater Cooperative. This program aims the audience to make financial contributions by purchasing tickets for the plays that will take place after the epidemic. Ticket buyers will be able to watch the plays until June 30, 2021. Details of the support program can be found here (buradan).

We’ve talked to Tiyatro Merdiven which is among the initiators of the “Let Our Theater Live” campaign and to Düşevi Community that is among the signatories about the current status of theaters, the expected picture after the epidemic and about their demands.

We Deeply Feel The “Being Or Not Being” Situation

Istanbul-based Theater Merdiven describes how theater actors first experience the pandemic: “Theaters that have always showed great sacrifices to survive were troubled enough. The first things to be cancelled or discarded in all kinds of social events have always been theater plays. Frankly, we were not ready to be tested with an epidemic in such a period where we were trying to overcome the habit of a perception that sees theaters as mere entertainment tools, and where we struggle economically as well as discussing our troubles and problems.

But in such an epidemic that has a great impact worldwide, we shut down our theater and retreated to our houses like everyone else. As we stayed at home and realized that the pandemic process is going to take longer than expected, we realized how difficult it was to have our theaters in existence. This was in fact the common problem and dilemma of all the theater groups in Turkey. The state of “being or not being” that we have deeply felt has activated the members of the Kadıköy Theater Platform, which we have been a component of and have been familiar with for about five years, then we started to look for solutions to our problems.”

Theater Merdiven actors state that their main issues in the pandemic process as theater communities are the uncertainty of the process, how the theater labourers would earn their keeps and their expenses, when the theaters would be opened again, when the audience will start going to plays again, or when they would overcome the fear of the virus, and how the routine costs would be paid and the future of theaters.

The team describes the foundation process of “Let Our Theater Live” campaign as follows:  “Since the first half of the season, we had to cancel our plays with scheduled dates. Therefore, we started to hold meetings to talk about the pandemic process and to establish a sustainable theater structure in the long term. In a short time, we prepared a 7-article list with our demands that covers all theaters and on which we all agreed. With the signatures of 2,000 theater labourers, we organized the formation of “Let our theater live”. Now, with this structure, we hold high-participant online meetings and talk about our problems and solutions. We expect and want the Ministry of Culture to take steps that take our demands seriously.”

Theaters Are Art Institutions, Not Places of Business

Selçuk Delipınar lists the biggest expectations from the campaign as follows: “Our biggest priorities are the excluding of theaters from their commercial identities and turning them into art institutions producing public services, and the adoption of the Theater Law. If we do not deal with these three issues, we think that there will be deficiencies due to the lack of definitions among the relations we will establish with the state. In order for the problems to reach more permanent solutions, realistic treatments are needed rather than dressing the wound. For this reason, we want those who govern the state to see theaters as art institutions producing public services and to take precautions. We think that the future of theaters will not be very bright if these art producing institutions will not be supported and if their demands will not be met.”

The community argues that there should be a public understanding of the state’s view of private theaters: “In such special cases, the state has to allocate budgets to institutions that produce art. With this perspective, a financial support package should have been prepared and distributed to meet the routine expenses of each theater until the pandemic period is over. Unconditional financial supports should have been offered to all theater labourers who earn their livings from the theater.”

The Campaign Has Seven Requests

According to Theater Merdiven, seven requests were announced to the public for both the epidemic period and for the future with the campaign that included the signature of the theater labourers in Turkey:

1. Public Theaters should be exempt from taxes such as VAT, Income Taxes and Stoppage Taxes, and arrangements should be made for their existing debts.
2. Electricity, natural gas and water bills should be frozen until January 2021. Afterwards, a regulation should be made on which a discount can be applied.
3. Until January 2021, public rents for public theaters should be covered by the state.
4. Salaries of staff working in public theaters and SSI premiums should be paid by the state until January 2021, and regulations regarding premium debts should be made.
5. Until the theater season starts, the minimum vital conditions of all theater workers, who we’ve stated with their titles should be provided with individual financial support.
6. Theater law should be enacted without delay. Public theaters should be freed from commercial identities and be transformed into art institutions producing public services.
7. The terms and conditions of the regulation defined by the Ministry of Culture as “State Support for Private Theaters” should be reorganized immediately in accordance with the needs of the day.

30 Thousand Signatures Have Been Reached

Theater Merdiven has been involved in the campaign process from the beginning. Delipınar describes the setting off of the campaign with following words: “Under the leadership of Kadıköy Theaters Platform, ideas were received from the Theater Cooperative, the Actors Union and from all theaters we could reach in Turkey. Afterwards, we agreed on a text accepted by the majority consisting of 7 requests. The “Let Our Theater Live” formation, which is signed by 2,000 theater labourers, has reached 30,000 signatures since the day it was shared on social media and was opened for signatures. We expect this support to continue and increase.”

Theaters Try To Strengthen Their Immune Systems As Well

When we ask Delipınar what kind of a culture and art environment he foresees after the epidemic, he says that the uncertainty continues and that a dark period can be expected: “During the epidemic, theaters also struggle to survive. Theaters are trying to keep their immunity strong as well. We think that the method followed by the government in taking our demands seriously and the prescription it will apply will be decisive. We think that if the state does not meet our demands and insists on temporary solutions, many theaters will be closed and the diversity and colorfulness of various theater disciplines will die away. Although it is a difficult process, we find it very valuable that all theaters act together and produce solutions. We think that this organization is an achievement for theaters. We would like to thank everyone who have been with us during this process. We are happy to see that theater lovers are with us in this difficult process.”

Expecting From the State Alone Is Unrealistic

One of the theater groups that signed the campaign is the Düşevi Actors which was founded in 1998 in Samsun. The community, which opened its stage in 2019, faced pandemic conditions before it could start. Düşevi Actors General Art Director Cem Kaynar talks about their struggle under the epidemic conditions: “As an enterprise, we’ve determined the amount of the loan we borrowed by considering the art center and warehouse rents, salaries, accounting expenses (social security premiums, taxes, etc.), electricity, water, natural gas bills and other debts were carefully postponed. We have prepared a short and medium-term action plan, as there will be no natural income from canceled jobs, lessons and tours. We talked with the actors about how important the small, alternative or usual works that we plan to do in Düşevi will be. We have seen so far that it is unrealistic to expect something from the state alone.”

The Requests Are About Surviving

Kaynar lists the meaning of the demands expressed in the campaign for them as follows: “Our demands can be summarized as “we want to survive and breathe.” There are articles in the campaign that make me smile when I look at them, but I know they wouldn’t be realized. But the important thing is to stand side by side and express the demands. The can be solved by communication.”

Amendments to the regulation defined by the Ministry of Culture as “State Support for Private Theaters” are among the requests Kaynar says he does not find it right to reset the aids to Amateur Theaters. According to Kaynar, the in-kind aid packages must be granted and the determination of these aids should be clearer: “I wish that these aids would turn into an automatic structure by considering some criteria of theaters in real terms. In other words, I wish I can calculate my credit score and know the amount of aid I will receive when the Minister of Culture and Tourism declares a budget. ”