The fifth workshop was attended by the actors Hicran Demir, David Fischer, Sevim Kesbir, Andreas Meidinger, Mirza Metin and Gıyasettin Uçun. Mirza Metin led the workshop and first informed about Dengbêj, the Kurdish form of storytelling. Annika Ley, Claudia Grönemeyer, Frank Heuel and Jennifer Merten joined the workshop as team. Translator was Nihat Mert.
Dengbêj is a traditional form of Kurdish storytelling. Deng = voice, bêj = telling. Mirza Metin presented typical themes of the Dengbêj: Kurdish history, love, war, migration, natural disasters. The narratives of the Dengbêj are presented with a special voice, breathing and vibration technique. The Kurdish storytellers pass the stories on orally to the next generation, there are hardly any records of the stories.
During the workshop, in addition to the performance techniques, a traditional story called “Kela Dimdimê (Dimdim Castel)” was edited. Various forms of narrative were tried out, including linking the forms of the Dengbêj with elements of Brecht’s epic theater.
Finally, the results of the workshop were presented to the audience in a performance. The visitors were first asked to participate in vocal and breathing exercises that are typical of Dengbêj. Afterwards, the actors presented a story in the form of the Dengbêj with elements of epic theater.
The performance culminated in a roundtable with the audience about the contents of the story.
