After its premiere on May 21, 2016 at garajistanbul as part of the 20th Istanbul Theatre Festival, the play Old Child(Yaşlı Çocuk) continued to be performed on various stages during the 2016–2018 seasons.
Old Child is imagined and written based on the lives of:
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Aylan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian boy who drowned while trying to reach Canada via Bodrum, and whose body washed ashore on the Aegean coast;
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Jamal Salih I’lyan, the 8-year-old who died when a bomb hit a playground in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza;
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Cemile Çağırga, a 10-year-old girl who was shot outside her home during clashes in Cizre, and whose body had to be stored in a deep freezer due to a curfew;
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Veysel Deniz Atılgan, the 9-year-old who died alongside his father during the bombing of a peace rally in Ankara.
The play is dedicated to all children around the world who have lost their lives or been subjected to war, violence, and injustice, through the stories of Aylan, Cemal, Cemile, and Veysel.
In the play, they live out a utopia on behalf of all children—meaning, they live.
Written and Directed by: Yeşim Özsoy
Dramaturgy: Ferdi Çetin
Assistant Director: Ahmet Sami Özbudak
Set and Costume Design: Başak Özdoğan
Sound and Music Design: Çağrı Beklen
Lighting Design: Kemal Yiğitcan
Video Design: Melisa Önel
Photography: Furkan Günal
Poster Design: Ethem Onur Bilgiç
Child Actors in the Video:
Bilkay Önel
Can Karagözlü
Laçin Dirikolu
Nisan Su Gülan
Visual Documentation: Batur Belirdi
Technical Desk: Koray Doğan
Production Assistant: Zuhal Güreli
Cast (in order of appearance):
Ceren Demirel (Cemile)
Akant Çetin (Deniz)
Ümit Erlim (Allen – Season 1)
Erdem Kaynarca (Allen – Season 2)
Bertan Dirikolu (Cemal)
Hümay Güldağ (Nezahat, Deniz’s mother – Season 1)
Yeşim Özsoy (Nezahat, Deniz’s mother – Season 2)
Enginay Gültekin (Victoria – Cemal’s wife)
Emre Yetim (Serhat – Cemile’s husband)
Metin Belgin (Abdullah – Allen’s father) (video)
“Beach” Video Cast (in alphabetical order):
Can Karagözlü
Laçin Dirikolu
Mika Önel
Nisan Su Gülan