North Cyprus has a lively and successful theatre scene, and there are several theatres and theatrical festivals which take place on the island throughout the year.
There is the International Cyprus Theatre Festival for example, which is often held at one of the large university complexes but which also stages one off shows in the municipality squares and sometimes even the castles. It offers up to a month’s worth of stage plays, puppet and dance theatre.
Theatre companies from Turkey, such as the famous Büyükşehir Belediyesi Şehir Tiyatrosu from Istanbul, come to perform at this festival, as well as groups from Ankara and Russia for example. Of course Turkish Cypriot theatre companies also attend!
There are several theatre companies based in North Cyprus, one of the main being Sidetreets in Lefkoşa. There are also popular privately run theatre companies such as the Lefkoşa Belediye Tiyatrosu and Maras Emek Theatre, as well as a comedy theatre group called Kıbrıs Türk Komedi Tiyatrosu which is based in Famagusta.
Some of the theatrical events that take place are silent, so there is no problem with any language barriers! However, even if your mother tongue is not Turkish, lots of people attend plays just to see the exceptional standards of acting, and some of the stories are so old and well known that it doesn’t take much to figure out the storylines!
Lefkoşa, Kyrenia and Famagusta are all host to an array of theatre activities, and you will find these activities well advertised in the press and other media so that you can decide which plays to go and see for example.
For the foreign residents among us KADS, (Kyrenia Amateur Dramatics Society), puts on some excellent productions of well known English plays during the year at various locations in Kyrenia, and also more recently broadcast radio theatre productions via the BRT radio station.
