Adapted from a novel by Şebnem İşigüzel, NOK NOK, with Büke Erkoc, presents and performs quite a remarkable piece of object theatre, The Future Looks Bright. The wooden case is her base, functioning as a multi-vision and multi-purpose accoutrement.
The future looks bright, fresh, vibrant and has an adaptive pulse rhythm as we witness something with no moral echo but an in-depth telling of a story. It offers a version, a unique situation from something not so infrequent: migration.
Without pause for reflection, we are invited on this hard-hitting trek across dimensions. A compelling retelling of family life which has Erkoc playing, in addition to the main character, also her brother and father. Her versatility is compounded by her interpretation of the original work and personal experience, bringing challenges to the surface.
Suicide is at the forefront of this play and there is no gentleness or delicate approach here as it is lived in the moment. The main character is impressed by a therapy group and individual ideas of suicide. The subject is explored in a different light.
Her childhood was, if not chaotic, then adverse, with the television blaring non-stop, her father yelling and her mother lying on the couch staring at the ceiling. In exile and within this possible void, she becomes curious and hungry for knowledge via her brother’s interesting friend with beautiful eyes.
She realises quickly that the social group which includes her brother is involved in writing graffiti on the school’s premises. Intrigued, she is given a little white book. She cannot open it quickly enough and becomes engrossed with the words – socialism, and a whole list of pertinent words associated – but is told to keep it low-key.
It is highly emotive with identities blurred at times. Sometimes it all feels slightly disjointed or a bit scattered, but it includes many concepts and materials.
As the play progresses, we learn about the stages of grief and how she becomes the lover of her brother’s friend and joins in the discussions and social awareness of political issues and occurrences.
Things take a turbulent turn and she is faced with legal and administrative tasks which are challenging, and the historical context of her place of origin – Turkey – weighs heavily upon her.
She is resilient, resourceful and profoundly bereaved. She aches for memories of her mother, who could read fortunes, and with whom she shared a joyful intimacy. With suicidal themes from the onset, the character is not tragic, bitter, or calling for support. She is facing something beyond an existential crisis, and with NOK NOK, Büke Erkoc shares this trajectory with us by being in flow.
