Attractive forces

by Mirza Metin

More than 4,000 kilometers lie between Bonn and Şengal – and in Mirza Metin’s play, which the fringe ensemble premiered in May 2018, these 4,000 kilometers also lie between Şêrîn and Ferhad at the beginning. Without knowing each other, without even knowing about each other, the two set off on a long journey on the same day: she to return from Bonn to where she was born, he to leave war and destruction behind. Their paths cross in Istanbul. They fall in love. But they do not let themselves be diverted from their goals. And yet they find a new place of longing in love.

Frank Heuel met the Kurdish author, actor and director Mirza Metin during his twelve-month scholarship from the Kunststiftung NRW in Istanbul. There he worked with him as an author and actor in the production“Zwischenhalt“. As part of an artist-in-residence program of the ifa (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations), Mirza Metin spent over a year in Cologne/Bonn and worked with the fringe ensemble.

“Anziehungskräfte” is a commissioned work that had already begun in 2017 with research. For this, Mirza Metin had conducted and recorded numerous interviews with Kurds of different ages in Bonn and in Cologne. The conversations were primarily about individual life stories, questions about origin, the reason for being here, hopes and wishes. Two of the life stories that seemed particularly exemplary to Metin and touched him in their intensity are reflected in the two characters in the play.

 


Supported by: Federal City of Bonn, Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations.