End Makam

The year 1918. Ottoman Istanbul is under occupation. Once-famous poet Şehvar Hanım now lives alone in her ruined mansion and suffers from typhus. Her maid Sabriye visits Şehvar on her last days. Two women revive the past from different times and memories. The songs that are composed by Sabriye with reference to Şehvar’s poems accompany this time journey. As the story opens, it reveals the hidden love between two women, class differences, hidden songs, and changing lives with the war for liberty and unrealized potentials due to the historical and social circumstances. Staged by Altıdan Sonra Tiyatro, End Makam is a historical drama combining the elements of classical Turkish music and feminist approaches. It re-tells and reveals the stories of women who have been hidden in history. It is one of the first plays drawing attention to the love between women from different classes. It also shows how a servant can become both a composer and a revolutionist.

TURKEY

The play takes its name from Sabriye’s composition End Makam (Nihayet Makamı). ‘Makam’ is a musical term, a system of melody types used in classical Turkish music.

Burçak Çöllü

Name of the Playwright in English

2018

Year of Writing

2018

Year of the First Staging