Sahneye Sokaktan Bakmak: Mekân-Politika İlişkisinin Serencamı Olarak Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu

Abstract

This study will trace the effects of theoretical and practical spatial transformation on street space and political theater, shaped through the concepts of space, politics and collective memory and the place it will focus on will be Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu (AST). Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu has been spatially located on Izmir Street, especially Ihlamur Street, in the Kızılay district of Ankara for many years. This place, which is one of the fundamental building blocks of AST’s existence, also has an important place in the cultural and collective memory of the city. Leaving its location on the street and moving to a shopping center in 2020 due to pandemic conditions and economic reasons is an important turning point for AST. In this study, rather than examining the history of AST, it is aimed to discuss the relationship between political theater and street space based on the spatial change that AST has undergone, to look at the place of AST’s space in the collective memory, and to reveal the effects of the spatial and political transformation that art has undergone in the street and shopping center. At the same time, a data set will be obtained through in-depth interviews with AST performers, administrative staff, workers and spectators. This obtained data set will be evaluated in the last part of the thesis. In the context of political theater's relationship with the street, “Is the street a place of memory?” an attempt will be made to find the answer to the question.