Students from Bitlis became the champions of a theater competition in Turkey

The students of Bitlis Ziya Eren Fine Arts High School became the first in Turkey in the theater competition organized by the Provincial Directorate of National Education of Mersin. 7 months ago, the theater club established under the leadership of the school’s Music Teacher Ömer Erzurum was awarded 4 prizes, including the first place in Turkey, in the nationwide competition. The team of 10 people who participated in the competition with their own play called ‘Death Concerto’ received awards for best director, best play, best actor, and best supporting actress. The fact that there were even those among the 10 students in the theater club who had never watched theater performances highlights the importance of the success achieved.

Music Teacher Ömer Erzurum emphasized that the success came in a relatively short period of 7 months. Erzurum said, ‘The biggest achievement for me is that the students of Ziya Eren Fine Arts High School now have a theater culture.’ Expressing that their goal is to prepare more professional plays, Erzurum stated, ‘As the Bitlis Ziya Eren Fine Arts High School Theater Club, we started working last October. We prepared a play with our 10 students. Our play is not for children but for adults. It was impossible not to see the talent in our students. We made an effort to set our goal a little higher, to prepare a more professional play. During this process, not only the stage crew but also the backstage crew became the students’ responsibility. In 6-7 months, these students learned how to prepare a play from start to finish. They participated in the Nationwide High School Theater Competition organized by the Provincial Directorate of National Education of Mersin and truly won the admiration of the jury and the audience with their performance there. Most importantly, they managed the whole process themselves. When we stepped on stage, they handled everything from the set, costumes, lighting, makeup to sound. This was the greatest achievement for me. The students of Ziya Eren Fine Arts High School now have a theater culture. This culture will continue to live within them even if we are not here.’

Saying, ‘When we first established this club, there were students among us who had never watched theater in their lives,’ Ömer Erzurum continued his speech as follows:

‘Of course, as a club, we attended many plays. But I would like to point out that these students, who had never watched theater in their lives, were deemed worthy of the first prize in Turkey in an inter-school competition today. In addition, they won the awards for best director, best play, best actor, and best supporting actress. In other words, they brought 4 out of 11 awards to our province and school. 26 schools applied to the competition. We were deemed worthy of the best 4 awards among these schools. Our next goal is to participate in the theater competition organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and to win such awards for our province and school in such competitions. The greatest achievement will be for our students to acquire this culture and continue to live it.’

One of the theater club students, Sefa Ayaz, expressed his pride in being awarded the best actor in the competition, saying, ‘As a student of a fine arts high school, discovering my talent in theater, which is a privilege of art, and also getting cultured on this subject was a great opportunity for me. We realized that we progressed compared to our initial state, and being deemed worthy of certain awards by knowledgeable individuals in this regard is nice. It was an honor for us. It was very good for me to receive the best actor award in the first play I acted in. Before this play, I had no background in theater, nor much interest in it. Winning the best actor award in my first play was a great honor for me. Being appreciated by experts was also a source of pride for us. Our play actually shows how great an impact the psychology of family has, how significant it is in shaping one’s identity as they grow up.’