Written, composed, directed and produced by Onur Yuce, a postgraduate student in the Music Department, the first ever Middle Eastern hip hop musical titled "Bacha Posh" made its premiere on the 22nd of September at Cermodern in Ankara with a sold-out show
Onur writes:
Its high-energy hip-hop beats, with a distinctive sound, blend in elements of Arabesque and Anatolian psychedelic rock music to pull audiences to their feet. The impressive choreography brings aspects of hip-hop with modern dance and local folkloric elements. The stage design reflects the street art factor of hip-hop with staring graffiti work.
The play is about a young girl named Aaina who is forced to be a Bacha Posh by her father. Although she first despises dressing up as a boy and pretending to be one, she soon discovers the freedom her new identity provides. Unlike other girls, she is free to be out on the street with her new look and starts taking advantage of it. That's how she discovers love, but where she is from, it is a crime to fall in love. The moment her cover gets blown, she finds herself in the hands of a justice system with broken scales, a terrorist organisation chasing power and two rival lovers who would do anything to have her.
Taking place in an undefined part of the Middle East - Central Asia, the story scrutinises identity issues, the role of women, violence, oppression, and cultural morality in the Greater Middle East through hip-hop's unifying colours and poetry. The main themes of Bacha Posh Hip-Hop Musical are love, possession, social justice and vengeance.
This production is realised to represent the voice of people threatened by religious orthodoxy and anti-secular governments in the Middle East by the C1-69 collective. We approach the issue as an ally for those who suffered first-hand. As the producer, being from Western Asia with a Muslim background helped me to feel a cultural comradery with the survivors, when the whole region is currently going through a phase of religious extremism. Musically, hip-hop was the best way to express such an intricate storyline, with its lyrical fluidity and inclusive voice resonating from the streets globally.
Listen to a single from the musical here.
Bacha Posh: The practice of dressing up a daughter as a boy is widespread in Afghanistan and Pakistan among families without sons. As a result, the child can behave more freely: she can attend school, accompany her sisters in public, and work. Similar practices also take place in Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia, Dalmatia, Serbia and North Macedonia under the name of Black sworn virgins and burrnesha.
