The Quest of Young Turkish Playwrights: In-Yer-Face Theatre

In-yer-face theatre, which emerged in Britain in the 1990s, became extremely popular on the stages of Istanbul in the new millennium. Some critics considered this new outburst as another phase of imitation. This phase, however, gave way to a new wave of playwrights that wrote about Turkey’s own controversial problems. Many topics, such as LGBT issues, found voice for the first time in the history of Turkish theatre. This study examines why in-yer-face theatre became so popular in this specific period and how it affected young Turkish playwrights in the light of Turkey’s political atmosphere.