The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
MATTHEW ZAJAC
Matthew Zajac, artistic director of Dogstar Theatre Company, talks about The Sky is Safe, a personal response to the Syrian tragedy
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THE PLAY?
In autumn 2012, I left Edinburgh for Istanbul in order to pick up a visa for Iran to play a lead role in an Iranian feature, but after a long delay, my visa was refused and I returned to Scotland. My stay in Istanbul had not been a waste of time. It is an incredibly fascinating place, enormous and vibrant, a place where east really does meet west and I came across several interesting characters.
One particular encounter with what I can only describe as a street hustler gave me the germ for this project. Well more than a germ as I went on a rather interesting and discomforting trip with him in the bustling commercial district centred on Taksim Square.
Since that stay in 2012, the Syrian tragedy has unfolded, with all its horrors and profoundly unsettling results. Istanbul has been and remains a nexus of world politics, a mighty conduit for the traffic of ideas, ideologies, trade, religions and people, flowing in all directions. The city is now home to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, many of whom are destitute, or close to it.
Last year, I was thinking about a new project for Dogstar and remembered the Istanbul experience and what emerged is an intimate yet epic story of identity and power, choice and its absence. It is a story of brutality, but also a love story and a war story – a microcosm of our time.
TELL US ABOUT THE SETTING FOR THE SKY IS SAFE
The Sky Is Safe is set on the opulent streets and shadowy alleys of Taksim, the commercial heart of Istanbul, where every conceivable transaction takes place. Two characters meet there, a Syrian refugee and a privileged westerner from northern Europe. The anonymity of the metropolis allows them to reinvent themselves, though in reality, they can’t escape who they are or what they represent.
I gathered together Individual stories, images and impressions to give voice to the characters, particularly to the voice of women, in relation to gender politics and resistance to war and exploitation.
WHO ELSE IS CONNECTED TO THE PLAY AND WHAT ARE THEIR ROLES?
The play is a two-hander and I play Gordon, a Scottish executive on a work assignment in Istanbul. I am incredibly lucky to have a wonderful creative team and to have found Dana Hajaj, a brilliant young actor and Arab speaker from London, of Lebanese and Palestinian descent, to join us to play a number of challenging roles. I’m sure
she alone is worth the price of the ticket. The play is directed by Ben Harrison, my long-term friend and colleague, who also directed The Tailor of Inverness and Factor 9 for Dogstar. I also persuaded Nihad Al Turk, a prominent Syrian visual artist who came to Edinburgh with his family from a refugee camp in Lebanon 16 months ago, to design the set.
WHAT IS THE SITUATION TODAY AND WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD SEE THE PLAY?
Turkey is currently harbouring around 3.5million refugees from the Syrian war and over 350,000 are in Istanbul. I think it is a very exciting and intense piece of theatre, with exceptional visuals, music and sound and I hope it will give some fresh insight into the experiences of the Syrian war for ordinary people and it poses some awkward questions.
WHAT ARE DOGSTAR’S FUTURE PLANS?
In 2018, we are hoping to co-produce a new comedy about climate change with Profilteatern from Sweden. Its title is Let’s Inherit The Earth and is being written by Morna Pearson, from Elgin, who is one Scotland’s most innovative playwrights. And The Tailor of Inverness will be undertaking another UK tour. The Sky is Safe can be seen at Eden Court, Inverness, from September 18-20 (01463 234234 www.eden-court.co.uk); Reay Village Hall on September 21 (01955 641434 www.lytharts.org. uk): Pulteneypeoples Project, Wick, on September 22 (01955 641434 www.lytharts.org.uk) and Durness Village Hall on September 23 (Tickets lucy@ durnessgolfclub.org) Contact: www.dogstartheatre. co.uk