Shorter, solo performances on rise in Türkiye’s theaters

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, theatrical productions worldwide have seen a reduction in the length of plays, a trend still prevalent in Türkiye, where pervasive social media use and shortened attention spans have also taken their toll.

The enforcement of social distancing protocols and prolonged closures led to a deafening silence across theaters during the pandemic, compelling them to devise novel strategies to survive. In the U.K., numerous theaters have abolished intermissions, gravitating towards more concise performances.

Critics suggest that this shift is both a reaction to the stringent conditions imposed by the pandemic and a reflection of evolving audience habits.

Turkish stages have similarly been influenced by these changes and in a country where social media usage is exceptionally high, the attention span of the audience has played a significant role.

Renowned actor Mert Fırat, one of the co-founders of DasDas, a leading theater venue in Istanbul, observed that in the hustle and bustle of life, audiences who strive to keep up with everything prefer shorter performances to better manage their schedules.

Fırat further noted that in Türkiye's metropolises, arriving in a theater amid traffic problems often demands more time from the audience than the duration of the performance itself.

"Consequently, as we take into account the viewing tolerance and attention span of the new generation of theatergoers, there's a growing trend of producing plays with similar concerns, resulting in an increase in solo and short performances," he remarked.

Nevertheless, Fırat underscored that there are still productions in the current Turkish theater calendar, lasting two and a half to three hours, that are successful...