Text and Performance as an Interdisciplinary and Intermedia Rewriting: Hamletmachine (1977) and “Death Suits Ophelia” (2005)
Özlem KaradağGerman playwright Heiner Müller produced post-dramatic plays using techniques such as pastiche, rewriting, alienation and reimagined history, myths and old texts within the context of postdramatic theatre. One of his most exemplary plays that uses these characteristics is Hamletmachine (Die Hamletmaschine, 1977). It is a distinctive rewriting of Hamlet with its interdisciplinary and intermedia characteristics. Hamletmachine as a rewriting, with the writing style of Müller in 1970s, puts forward the changes in and the important techniques of the twentieth century texts and performances. On the other hand, “Death Suits Ophelia,” directed by Ozan Gözel and Tuluğ Ülgen, focuses on Müller’s interpretations, and their performance piece creates a new text and gives way to new interpretations with its novel staging. The aim of this article is to argue that drama is an interdisciplinary and intermedia art by nature, and the performance can also be considered as a transition between different disciplines and also as another rewriting. For this aim, this article will discuss the interdisciplinary and intermedia characteristics of these plays by focusing on Müller’s Hamletmachine investigating the text’s relation to its predecessor, its use of technique and multiinterpretations and by also touching upon the different interpretations of the performance piece “Death Suits Ophelia”.
Disiplinlerarası ve Medyalararası bir Yeniden Yazma Eylemi Olarak Metin ve Performans: Hamlet Makinesi (1977) & “Ophelia’ya Ölüm Yakışır” (2005)
Özlem KaradağAlman tiyatro yazarı Heiner Müller, post-dramatik eserler ortaya koymuş, pastiş, yeniden-yazım ve yabancılaştırma tekniklerini kullanmış, tarihi, mitleri ve eski metinleri post-dramatik tiyatro bağlamında tekrar ele almıştır. Yazarın, bu bahsedilen karakteristik özellikleri taşıyan en önemli metinlerinden biri de Shakespeare’in Hamlet’ini çok farklı bir şekilde yeniden yazdığı, disiplinlerarası ve medyalararası özellikler taşıyan Hamlet Makinesi’dir (Die Hamletmaschine, 1977). Bir yeniden yazım olan Hamlet Makinesi, Müller’in 1970’lerdeki yazım şekli ile 20. yüzyılın sadece metinsel olarak değil performans anlamında da değişen yüzünü ve önem verdiği teknikleri ortaya koyar. Ozan Gözel ve Tuluğ Ülgen tarafından yönetilen “Ophelia’ya Ölüm Yakışır” sekansı ise Müller’in yorumlarına odak alarak yeni bir metin ve farklı bir sahneleme ile yeni yorumlara olanak tanır. Bu makalenin amacı tiyatronun doğası gereği disiplinlerarası ve medyalararası bir yapıya sahip olduğunu, metnin performansa dönüşümünün hem disiplinlerarası bir geçiş hem de bir yeniden yazım olarak ele alınabileceğini tartışmaktır. Bu amaçla Müller’in Hamlet Makinesi’ne odaklanıp metnin öncülü ile ilişkisi, kullandığı teknik ve yorum çeşitliliğini irdeleyecek olan bu makale, aynı metinden yola çıkan, ama performans aracılığıyla farklı bir yorum getiren “Ophelia’ya Ölüm Yakışır” sekansı üzerinden bu yeniden yazımların disiplinlerarası ve medyalararası özelliklerini irdeleyecektir.
Text und Performanz als eine interdisziplinäre und intermediale Umschreibung: Die Hamletmaschine (1977) und “Death Suits Ophelia” (2005)
Özlem KaradağDer deutsche Dramatiker Heiner Müller produzierte im Kontext des postdramatischen Theaters Stücke mit Techniken wie Plastische, Umschreibung, Entfremdung und Neudefinition von Geschichte, Mythen und alten Texten. Eines seiner beispielhaftesten Stücke, das diese Eigenschaften aufweist, ist Die Hamletmaschine (1977). Es handelt sich dabei um eine unverwechselbare Umschreibung des Hamlet mit interdisziplinären und intermedialen Charakteristiken. Die Hamletmaschine ist eine Umschreibung mit dem Schreibstil von Müller aus den 1970er Jahren und legt die Veränderungen und wichtigen Techniken der Texte und Performances des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts vor. „Death Suits Ophelia“ von Ozan Gözel und Tuluğ Ülgen hingegen konzentriert sich auf Müllers Interpretationen, wobei ihr Performance-Stück einen neuen Text hervorbringt und eine neuartigen Inszenierung dieser neuen Interpretationen vorlegt. Das Ziel dieses Artikels ist es aufzuzeigen, dass das Drama von Natur aus eine interdisziplinäre und intermediale Kunst ist, und dass die Performance auch als Übergang zwischen verschiedenen Disziplinen, und gleichsam als eine andere Umschreibung betrachtet werden kann. Zu diesem Zweck werden in diesem Artikel die interdisziplinären und intermedialen Charakteristika dieser Stücke diskutiert, wobei der Fokus auf seiner Beziehung von Müllers Die Hamletmaschine zu dessen Vorgänger, auf den Technikeinsatz, den MultiInterpretationen, sowie den unterschiedlichen Interpretationen des PerformanceStückes “Death Suits Ophelia” liegen wird.
German playwright Heiner Müller, a dramatist coined as a postmodernist, produced postdramatic plays using techniques such as pastiche, rewriting and alienation, and reimagined history, myths and old texts under the light of the twentieth century history and postrdramatic theatre. One of his most exemplary plays that uses these characteristics is Hamletmachine (Die Hamletmaschine, 1977), a distinctive rewriting of Hamlet. Hamlet as one of the most important examples of the Elizabethan drama and revenge tragedies is itself a play that uses techniques such as pastiche, play within a play, and rewriting, proves the interdisciplinary nature of drama. Hamlet includes discussions about religion and philosophy, together with a slight discussion of art theory in the midst of the play. The rewriting of Hamlet, with the writing style of Müller in 1970s, puts forward the changes in and the important techniques of the twentieth century texts and performances. As a rewriting Hamletmachine creates not only a new text but also an unusual, innovative, and even experimental interpretation in terms of text and performance. Not only the text and performance, but also the text, performance, years of literary criticism, and many readings of the original text are connected to one another in this play which help the creation of a different kind of visibility on stage. “Death Suits Ophelia,” directed by Ozan Gözel and Tuluğ Ülgen as a part of the 4 Short Plays by Studio Actors in 2005, focuses on Müller’s interpretations while it also suggests that they’re rewriting not only Shakespeare and Müller but the existentialist writer Sartre’s The Flies (1943) as well as Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Ophelia (1931) (These texts are 1930s and 1940s rewriting of the Ancient Greek myths of Orestes and Electra, and Aeschylus’ tragedy Oresteia, a tragedy that affected Hamlet and Hamletmachine, as well). As a rewriting of these text, their performance piece creates a new text and gives way to new interpretations with its diverse staging. The aim of this article is to argue that drama is an interdisciplinary and intermedia art by nature, and the performance can also be considered as a rewriting while play texts and performance, two parts of the same art, are also two different disciplines with their own dynamics. For this aim, this article will focus on Müller’s Hamletmachine investigating the text’s relation to its predecessor, its use of technique and the multiple interpretations in the play. The article will also focus on the different interpretations of the performance piece “Death Suits Ophelia” with an intention to discuss both texts’ interdisciplinary and intermedia characteristics as rewritings.
