“This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.“ — T.S. Eliot
Four women who first experienced their childhoods, their losses, and their loves on an island near Istanbul learn that the island will disappear within a matter of hours. They decide to bid it farewell with a play. This final play will carry them into timeless spaces within their memories.
As the island draws closer to its disappearance, they begin to question their ways of coping with life, their relationships with one another, the places they belong to, and the tension between being visible and remaining unseen.
But will this reckoning be enough to halt the island’s vanishing?
Taking its name from the whale that emits sounds at a frequency of 52 hertz—believed to go unheard by other whales, and thus known as “the loneliest whale in the world”—the play traces a history in which being heard is not always possible.
Drawing on the autobiographical stories of the women performers of Hangardz, a company that keeps Istanbul’s Armenian cultural and artistic tradition alive on stage, 52 hertz was created collectively through the devised theatre method. The play brings to the stage a shared language built around memory, invisibility, and solidarity.
Team:
Text: Joint Production
Director: Zinnure Türe
Director Assisstant: Öykü Gökduman
Actors: Diana Chilingaryan, Garine Maral Çizmeciyan, Lara Narin, Tara Demircioğlu
Voice-over: Miran Bulut, Sedat Can Güvenç, Zinnure Türe
Dramaturgy: Miran Bulut
Sound Design: NodDuo
Lighting Design: Utku Kara
Costume and Accessory Design: Hilal Polat
Decor Design: İsabel Gültop Gebenlioğlu
Visual and Poster Design: Anet Sandra Açıkgöz
Photograph: Ayten Çelik
Video: Murat Çetinkaya
Production: hangardz
General Coordinator: Lara Narin
Operation Team: Yeğya Akgün, Sevada Haçik Demirci, Antranik Kristapor Bakırcıoğlu, Bared Çil
Lighting Technician: Abrek Bayseç
Sound Technician: Esra Değer
Thanks to:
İstanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Communication, Itır Erhart,
Apaçık Radio, İlksen Mavituna,
Dinakord Elektronik, Sevan Çavuşyan,
İstos Yayıncılık, Anna Maria Aslanoğlu,
Aras Yayıncılık, Çıplak Ayaklar Kumpanyası,
Özel Surp Haç Tıbrevank Armenian High School,
Feriköy Ermeni Okulundan Yetişenler Derneği, Getronagan Lisesinden Yetişenler Derneği, Aramyan Okulundan Yetişenler Derneği,
Karga, Arsız Mekan, Duende,
Aylin Vartanyan Dilaver, Reha Keskin, Musa Yılmaz, Yunus Emre Şahin, Vera Çıkınoğlu, Hilda Demirci
