VOYAGE VERS L’ESPOIR
OPENING Children are playing next to the railway tracks. They are Meryem and Haydar’s children. A train approaches. The youngest child lies down between the tracks. The train passes and the child stands up from the railway tracks unharmed.
FIRST ACT – THE VILLAGE – EDEN On their cornfield, Meryem and Haydar quarrel about staying or going, about leaving the country or staying there. It is a clash of opposing principles: either leave and look for a better future or stay with almost nothing. Haydar wants to sell the house and the land. A neighbour offers him a reduced price and despite his doubts and Meryem not wanting to leave, Haydar accepts. The kids and Meryem return home as men are beginning to take the house apart. The children understand that their parents are leaving and try to convince them to take them on the journey. Only the youngest, Mehmet Ali, doesn’t bargain. Haydar doesn’t want to take any children with them on the road but accepts to bring Mehmet Ali along to please Meryem and to guarantee a future for the family when they arrive at their destination.
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