Keşanlı Ali Destanı

The Ballad of Ali of Keshan is an epic play by Haldun Taner. This is the story of a man from a shantytown in Instanbul who was thrown into jail for a crime he did not commit, but who becomes a hero for his alleged murder of a much hated bully. He assumes the personality that his environment forces upon him, and at the end, he actually becomes a murderer. Although the story takes place in a shantytown, the play is a satire on the big city with its political machines, bureaucracy, mass hysteria, sentimental love, and myths.