As protests against the high electricity bills continue in Turkey, one of the main theatres in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, Moda Theatre, might have to put on its upcoming plays in the dark.
Moda Theatre has announced that it has received a second warning regarding its 20,000 lira electricity bill. The theatre’s statement said, “We received our second warning in three ways, by email, text and post. They say if we don’t pay they will cut off our electricity in five days. We have told them that our budget does not stretch to payment of the amount generated by this exorbitant price increase.”
İkinci ihtar da geldi, 3 koldan (mail, sms ve matbu olarak) Ödemezsek 5 gün sonra elektriğimizi keseceklerini bildiriyorlar. Bu fahiş artıştan dolayı oluşan tutarı ödemeye bütçemizin uygun olmadığını söylemiştik. #Ödeyemiyoruz #Ödemiyoruz #ElektriğiKesemezsiniz pic.twitter.com/Kx9e0SNQ7X
— moda sahnesi (@modasahnesi) February 18, 2022
Kemal Aydoğan, the theatre’s artistic director, said that it did not have the budget to pay the bill, and that the decision to increase prices, from 7,000 lira in December to 20,000 lira in January without consulting them, was a violation of their rights as citizens.
Aydoğan noted that Moda Theatre has no debts other than its January electricity bill, saying, “There is no response from the ministry, the municipal council or EnerjiSA (the energy company). This problem has not reached those materially responsible or who are in a position to solve it. They say, ‘we will cut off your electricity in five days’. So they will cut off the electricity on Wednesday or Thursday. We are putting plays on on those days. And Moda Theatre’s March programme has already been announced. We will be putting our plays on in the dark when they cut off the electricity.”
On 14 February when they received the first warning, Aydoğan tweeted: “Whoever heard of cutting off a theatre’s the electricity supply?”
