b'Dissertations and Critical Essays With dissent silenced in the two years following the coup and the militaryexerting strong influence over the government throughout much of the decade, Turkish society was reshaped on the juntas terms. The audience Memet Baydur The plays of Memet Baydurwrote for had been depoliticised; made apolitical by the collective trauma of the 1980s.Kemal Adams The following is an extract from the first analysis in the dissertation: Baydurs play Lemon:Memet Baydur (1951-2001) was a Turkish playwright, and it is three of his plays, Lemon, The Toys of Loneliness and Republican Girl that Kemal AdamsMemet Baydurs First Play: Lemonuses as the subject of analysis in his theatre dissertation. A deeply personalMemet Baydur wrote Lemon in 1982, during the time he and his wife were living in piece for Kemal, whose own grandfather was an activist, politician and tradeKenya. The play, which is separated into two acts, focuses on the intellectualunionist during the 1980s coup dtat, this dissertation helps to shed light on acrisis of seven characters who represent the members of the elite, intellectual crucial period in Turkish Theatre and history that remains widely under class in the aftermath of the 1980 coup. The narrative of the play takes placestudied. entirely in a well-furnished living room that has all the trappings of the upperKemal leads by providing the necessary historical context key to middle class as described in the stage directions:understanding the texts:Situating the 1980 Coup dtat: A Personal and Historical Perspective Books, a library; a large and spacious sofa, two comfortable armchairs; a study table, a glass cupboard, liquor bottles, a freezer, glasses, two to three In September of 1980, after the senior generals of the military under Chief of theoil paintings on the wallGeneral Staff Kenan Evren moved to take control of the country, the repression(Baydur, 2022:13)was swift as all political activity was banned, and the leaders of all political partiesThe very first character to enter the stage is Aziz, forty years old, tall, with a tired were put in prison, with martial law courts used for those accused of fomenting face and a sleepless life (Baydur, 2022:13). Azizs first action onstage is to light a violence (Harris, 209). As well as the following, the scale is evident in the cigarette and pour himself a glass of whiskey. From his entrance the one constant statistics, notably the 843 people who died under suspicious circumstances, in oraction taking place onstage is the characters drinking alcohol and smoking. Their outside prison, or from torture: entrances and exits onstage are often punctuated by someone serving a drink for In the aftermath of the coup, 650,000 people were arrested, 1,683,000 weresomeone or going offstage to find more alcohol. In this way the characters pass blacklisted, 230,000 were tried in 210,000 lawsuits, 388,000 were denied athe time onstage whilst having fragmented and often nonsensical conversations passport, 30,000 left Turkey seeking political asylum, and 23,677 groups andwhere they often forget each others names, filled with what Akbulut calls thoughts organizations had their activities terminated. (Adak, et al, 2018:199). that are too disconnected from transformative speech (2018:89).It is under these circumstances my own family was affected as my maternal In the opening scene Aziz is interrupted by his friend Muhsin, who introduces him grandfather, Kemal Nebiolu, was imprisoned for the crime of being a left-wingto Necip, who starts the play as a sixty-year-old retired lawyer. As Muhsin prepares politician and co-founder of the trade union DISK (Confederation of the three of them a drink, Aziz repeatedly calls Necip by the wrong name, which Revolutionary Trade Unions). The motivation for arresting him was clear as DISKchanges each time despite the latters insistence. was one of the largest unions in the country, and by the 1970s, alongside otherAZIZ: What kind of play is this? As the evening sun rose everything became unions, was involved in strikes and mass protests all over the country for workerschaotic, everyone started to become confused. A Mr Numan, who I dont and political rights (Karacan, 2015:87). For the military, all political activity even know, is able to upset me.threatened instability, and consequently my grandfather was detained, tortured,NECIP: Necip.and held for four years; leaving him permanently deaf in one ear from the beatingsAZIZ: A Mr Nail, who I dont know, is giving me a lesson. Let me ask you, Oh he endured.Romans, is this going to work? Im a man whos sold all kinds of things, from shampoos to soft drinks, you name it. To Mr Nedim, who came out of8 9'