News from Yale School of Drama
Haldun Dormen: Istanbul to Yale and Back At age 82, Haldun Dormen ’55 has no intention of slowing down. The night he introduced YSD’s commedia Almost Always Something at Bogaziçi ˘ University in Istanbul, he had just driven five hours from where he was acting in two different plays, in addition to preparing a new play written entirely in Kurdish for the first time in his career. He is referred to as “the ruling doyen of Istanbul’s boulevard theatre,” and has presented, directed, and acted in everything from Shakespeare to Feydeau farces to American musicals, at his own Dormen Theatre and elsewhere. He has Haldun Dormen ’55 often adapted foreign works to a Turkish introduces the commedia context as well as produced, directed and project in Istanbul. acted in translations of the great plays of world theatre, including at least four different translations of Hamlet, which Turkish audiences enjoy, along with broad farce and the cutting verbal humor often found in urban Jewish comedies, like those of Neil Simon. To date he has produced almost 200 plays and 50 musicals. His extraordinary career began in the early 1950s at Yale School of Drama. “My father wanted me to be a businessman,” he recalls, “but I wanted a life in the theatre. When my father heard this, he said: ‘be in the theatre but be the best.’” As far as Haldun was concerned, there was only one place to study to be the best. Upon his graduation and return home—the first actor from Istanbul to attend Yale School of Drama—he surprised his expectant colleagues by staging a farce. In short order, he and
a few friends created “Cip” or pocket theatre, and performed plays by Sartre and Saroyan in an apartment space accommodating just 25 seats. “At the time it was considered avant-garde,” he says. “It was very similar to what was being done at the same time in New York’s off-off Broadway.” Haldun has gone on to train hundreds of actors, been awarded Anointed State Artist by the Turkish Ministry of Culture, won the Golden Orange Award (1966) for Best Film, and in 1967 the best comedy film prize. At the 15th International Istanbul Theatre Festival and the 4th International Theatre Olympics, he was awarded, along with Peter Brook, a Lifetime Achievement award. A few nights after the commedia performance was a celebratory YSD dinner in a restaurant on the banks of the Bosphorus, a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia, chosen especially by Haldun because he thought the student actors would be charmed by it, which they were. During conversation, he was persuaded to look back—something he rarely does—on his fiftyplus years in the theatre. He talked about his beginnings at Yale, his fondness for New Haven and its residents, mentioning George Pierce Baker (Former Faculty) and an occasional sighting of fellow student Paul Newman ’54. “I owe my whole career to the solid foundation I got at Yale School of Drama.” He reserves his most ardent praise for acting teacher Constance Welch (Former Faculty), crediting her belief in him for the longevity of his career. He turns to look out at the water, his eyes seeming to look deep into his past. “She was the greatest influence on my life.” Barry Jay Kaplan
Faculty Winners Ming Cho Lee, Donald M. Oenslager Professor (Adjunct) of Design and Co-Chair of the Design Department, was among the honorees of the Theatre Development Fund’s Irene Sharaff Awards as he received the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design Bowling Green State University named Ron Van Lieu, Lloyd Richards Professor (Adjunct) of Acting and Chair of the Acting Department, as one of its 100 most distinguished graduates on the occasion of its centenary. Marc Robinson ’90, dfa ’92 (Faculty), Professor (Adjuct) of Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism won the George Jean Marc Robinson ’90 Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism for dfa ’92. his book The American Play 1787–2000.
“I do.” The surprise hit of the Fall 2010 Cabaret season was the September 30, 2010 midnight wedding of Andrew Kelsey ’11 and Stéphanie Hayes ’11. Walton Wilson (Faculty) officiated. Photo by Yi Zhao ’12.
YSD 2010–11
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