Theatre

The development of the Turkish theatre stretches from the traditional theatrical performances of the shadow plays and Karagozi to the modern dramatic presentations of the contemporary Turkey. Turkish Theatre therefore entails all traditional practices of theater from the period of the Ottoman to the modern theatre. All developments in the Turkish theater stem from the traditional Asian theatre because, as Turks migrated from Asia to Anatolia, they upheld the Asian dramatic performance before the western influence impacted on this traditional form of theater. As such, theater during the era of Ottoman Empire paved way for the improvement of Turkish theater in the sense that the western influence got a favored pedestal to effect on it. Thus, through political influence, modern features of Turkish theater were exposed particularly during the era of the Republican (Raw, 2008).

Modern dramatic performances have been taken over by private theater companies alongside government sponsored theater centers such as Istanbul Municipality Theatre and Turkish state theatre. Characteristic to these developments is the techniques of theatre direction, production and the role of the actor in the performance of theatrical activities as well as in making an income through productions of plays and acting in movies. This paper seeks to explore the developed of Turkish theatre from the traditional era and style of performance to the modern approach of the performance.

The traditional concept of the Turkish theater is founded on the basis of Shadow Theatre. Typified in the Karagozi plays, theatre in Turkey used a technique that fostered motionless as well as colorless presentation of actors to depict issues in the society. (Ozturk, 2006) postulates that lack of mobility and color in the Turkish theatre in the 17th century laid the foundation of developing it to use techniques that could be clear, appealing and entertaining. In addition, the traditional outlook of Turkish Theatre emphasized on the shadow phantoms. Arguably, the Ottoman playwrights and directors became more devoted to shadow phantoms by capitalizing on the shadow puppetry thus making shadow theater more popular (Barfoot, 2003).

Plays with shadow figures become integral part of the lives of the people of Turkey as well as in the place life of Ottoman. According to Celick, (2002), shadow plays gained prominence as they became items of celebration in the 1623 especially in the connoration of Sultan Murrat IV. During this period, Turkish theater introduced into its composition the emergence of a host of master puppeteer structuring shadow plays to be in the form they are today. In the 19th century, Shadow Theater became more popular and the shadow plays were performed in places such as the palace. The techniques used in the traditional Turkish theater involved the plays being performed behind a white sloth screen made of animal skin. With regard to this, emphasis was laid on the prologue such that before the play began, a decorative scene was put on stage. On the other hand, Esin (1962) underscores that after the First World War shadow plays declined in their fame as well as importance and became irrelevant due to the emergence of modern drama and cinema.

During the Republic regime in Turkey, the Ottoman pattern of the shadow theater transformed a great deal. This was characterized by the development of written texts to phase out the old practice of shadow plays. Accordingly, Robson (2000) underscores that dramatic performances in a number of places were sponsored alongside the creation of government supported theatre centers. Martinovitch (1998) further argues that the effort of this transformation was inspired by the understanding that art, was to be cleansed and freed from the use of obscene elements thereby changing characters to mirror the modern ideology of theater.

Political and sexual humor later own became the feature of the transformed Turkish theater as most plays were performed to satirize the political regimes as well as the sexual behaviors of people. With regard o this, Barfoot (2003) claims that the integration of sexual freedom as well as making fun of those in power became typical of the low-class and rural entertainment. Modern Turkish theater thereafter became characterized to the element of adapting other play from various regions and performs them before the Turkish audience. For instance, adaptation of Shakespeares poems was taken over by the modern Turkish theater as the only approach to bring o life the themes of Shakespeare and eventually make him accessible to Turkish people in the contemporary society (Celick, 2002).

According to Raw (2008) the free adaption approach, as seen in the recent development of Turkish theater, was inspired by the overall goal to witness a community spirit. This resulted in a performance that integrated both the actors and the audience and making the Turkish become part of plays performed by the locals for the locals. Essentially, this strategic feature of the Turkish modern theater builds on the use of dream imagery removing the element of soliloquy and inducing the participation of the audience because they can clasp and applaud as they please. As such, the modern Turkish theater unlike the traditional one is committed to ensuring good audience fellowship as well as satisfactions as the basis of entertainment (Ozturk, 2006).

Moreover, actors and actress have a greater chance to make money through acting in a number of new scripts or adaption because, the modern Turkish theater enjoys the legislative provisions the freedom of recreation in the spirit of the community. According to Esin (1962), many actors in Turkey effort to gain from this provision and as a result, they strive to increase their earnings through their ability to elicit a number of lively moments that can entertain the Turkish audience. In light of this, they employ comic tactics to mirror the societal themes such as revenge, political downfall, reverse of gender roles and expectations where women outdo men in number and skill among others, thereby getting more chances to be voted for by the public to act and perform in many places (Robson, 2000).

Consequently, private theaters are increasing in Turkey. This characterizes the transformation of the Turkish theater and also provides a rationale as to how actors in the Turkish theater get an opportunity to increase their earning. In other words, the availability of private theater companies is a source of employment to the large number of talented actors. Martinovitch (1998) outlines that many famous actors and actress benefit from the private theaters therefore giving them a chance to flourish their free environment for dramatic performances. These private theaters give a different dimension on the development of Turkish theater therefore providing an impetus for theatrical activities thereby laying ground for the exploitation of talents, and development for a number of playwrights (Ozturk, 2006).

To recap, Turkish theatre is presently integrating western techniques and ideologies in both production and performances of theatrical activities. Turkish theater today focuses on the political and historical themes, as well as clashes between modern lifestyles and tradition way of life. In light of this, Celick (2002) summarizes that the form and content of the modern Turkish theater revolves around individual and social problems that torches on rural-urban migration, life in slum and the social order among others. Modern theater is characteristic of episodic form and content and mergers this with the traditional norms of Turkey. This presents a concise interpretation of dramatic performances and production within the precincts of economical, social and political conditions.