The Haunted Theatre: Mark Ravenhill’s The Haunting of Susan A

Year 2024, Issue: 30, 1 - 12, 21.10.2024

Mesut Günenç

https://doi.org/10.30767/diledeara.1493296

Abstract

Different art forms such as music, light, sound, digital art, dance, painting, sculpture, ritual, and film can be part of the theatre. Through these components, theatre might be used to stage human existence, behaviours, places, historical dimensions, cultural history, emotions, passions, fears, and various narratives and experiences in the social dimension. Mark Ravenhill, focusing on the history of the King’s Head pub, famous people’s stories over ale, and the possibilities of what once could have happened in the room where the audiences are gathered, represents cultural history, passions, and fears and portrays a ghost story using light and sound techniques and various narratives related to the King’s Head Theatre in London. Ravenhill portrays a distinctive ghost and haunted story in his newest play, The Haunting of Susan A (2022). The ghost takes place in the world of Susan, and a private trauma is witnessed when Susan mentions the ghost or feels the ghost during the performance. This paper seeks to study the impact of Ravenhill’s play, which centres on the theatre’s past and, using Suzanne Ahmet’s ghost story, tries to activate audiences’ memories and fear and observe uncanny feelings in audiences. This study will explore the performance at King’s Head and the history of the pub, along with the theoretical approach of hauntology, envisaging which celebrities stopped by for an ale in the King’s Head history and Susan’s story (Suzanne Ahmet), an actress before, a real story (Susan insists) in The Haunting of Susan A.

Keywords

Hauntology, Haunted Theatre, Mark Ravenhill, The Haunting of Susan A, King's Head Theatre

Perili Tiyatro: Mark Ravenhill’in The Haunting of Susan A Oyunu

Abstract

Müzik, ışık, ses, dijital sanat, dans, resim, heykel, ritüel ve film gibi farklı sanat formları tiyatronun bir parçası olabilir. Bu bileşenler aracılığıyla tiyatro, insan varlığını, davranışlarını, mekânları, tarihsel boyutları, kültürel tarihi, duyguları, tutkuları, korkuları ve toplumsal boyuttaki çeşitli anlatıları ve deneyimleri sahnelemek için kullanılabilir. King's Head pub’ın tarihine, ünlü kişilerin ale üzerine hikayelerine ve seyircilerin toplandığı odada bir zamanlar neler olabileceğine dair olasılıklara odaklanan Mark Ravenhill, kültürel tarihi, tutkuları ve korkuları temsil etmekte ve Londra'daki King's Head Tiyatrosu ile ilgili çeşitli anlatılar ile ışık ve ses tekniklerini kullanarak bir hayalet hikayesini canlandırmaktadır. Ravenhill, en yeni oyunu The Haunting of Susan A’de (2022) kendine özgü bir hayalet ve perili bir hikâyeyi canlandırmaktadır. Hayalet Susan'ın dünyasında yer almakta ve Susan oyun sırasında hayaletten bahsettiğinde ya da hayaleti hissettiğinde özel bir travmaya tanık olmaktadır. Bu makale, Ravenhill'in tiyatronun geçmişine odaklanan ve Suzanne Ahmet’in hayalet hikayesini kullanarak izleyicilerin anılarını ve korkularını harekete geçirmeye ve izleyicilerde tekinsiz duygular gözlemlemeye çalışan oyununun etkisini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışma, King’s Head tarihinde hangi ünlülerin bir bira içmek için uğradığını öngörerek, hauntoloji teorisi ile birlikte King's Head’deki performansı ve barın tarihini, daha önce bir oyuncu olan Susan'ın (Suzanne Ahmet), The Haunting of Susan A oyununda gerçek bir hikaye (ısrarla vurguladığı) olan hikayesini inceleyecektir.

Keywords

Hauntoloji, Perili Tiyatro, Mark Ravenhill, The Haunting of Susan A, King's Head Tiyatrosu

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