“I was wrong, the path led me,
to the immigration office, without an appointment, oh shit.
No room to sit down, so I sat down,
without a chair, just on the floor again.”
On 27 June 2025, Neslihan Arol will once again bring her humorous and touching storytelling performance “Old Car, New Team: A Meddah Journey” to Bavul Kunst & Kultur Café Berlin. As Germany’s first female Meddah, she tells the story of an intergenerational journey from a village on the Black Sea to Berlin – in a car that is older than the driver and with fellow travellers who could hardly be more different. An interactive story about home, departure and love.
About the play
“Old Car, New Team” takes up a traditional, almost forgotten art form: For centuries, meddahs told their stories mainly in coffee houses and were deeply rooted as part of social life. Today, they usually only appear during Ramadan in Turkey – as a cultural heritage. From a female perspective, Neslihan Arol now brings over 10 characters and a radio to life on stage. In doing so, she makes a conscious break with the traditionally male-dominated meddah role.
The play premiered in Berlin in 2018 and celebrated its Turkish premiere at the first international theatre festival in Bergama.
Tickets on site! (15 euros)
The stage languages are mainly German, Turkish and a little English. The performance will be accompanied by surtitles in German, Turkish and English.