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When, in 1571 the
Turks of Cyprus first settled in the island, they not only
brought their labour, and skills, but also the social-customs
and traditions, entertainments, arts, and culture.
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Karagöz
shadow theatre characters Karagöz and Hacivat
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Click
to watch a Karagöz play |
Karagöz
shadow-theatre, which came to the island with the Turks, can
be said to have form the roots of the contemporary
Cypriot-Turkish Theatre in Cyprus. However,
unfortunately the shadow-play (or shadow theatre) today is
seldom performed on a regular basis in public, and mostly
watched on the TV on special occasions like on Bayrams.
We now only
remember Karagöz, kukla, shadow-theatre, and meddah-plays,
which have been a major part of our social and cultural life,
with great nostalgia.
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Early
Days... |
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Theatre, in the
modern contemporary sense started in the island with British
influence, after 1878. In the modern sense, the first theatre
play was performed in 1880 at a camp in Troodos, as we learn
from the book A Historical Recollection of a Bygone Age by
Lazarides (pages 91-93). This first theatre play [in Cyprus] was
performed in an open air stage, and one of the women roles was
played by a male actor.
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An early Turkish-Cypriot theatre group. |
The theatrical
developments following this first performance have proliferated
after 1900 at schools, where the students were encouraged to
participate in the plays, through social and theatre clubs at
schools. During this period, Famagusta was a leading town in the
theatrical developments. Due in time, the touring Turkish
theatre groups and companies from mainland Turkey have been
instrumental in popularizing the theatre in the Turkish-Cypriot
community.
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A
poster of the Turkish-Cypriot State Theatres |
By the 1920s,
all major towns in Cyprus had Turkish-Cypriot theatre groups,
and were performing periodically.
Especially
during the Turkish War of Liberation (1920-22), many plays have
been performed by the Turkish-Cypriot theatre groups to raise
money for the displaced people and orphaned children as a result
of the Greek invasion of western Anatolia, Turkey.
During the
1930s, nationalists plays were performed to raise money for the
people affected in Erzincan earthquake, and affected by the
Kubilay uprising (both in Turkey).
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Plays
and Playwrights |
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A poster of the
play "Do Something Met" by the Nicosia Municipal Theatres |
Numerous plays
performed from those days until 1963, some of which are: Namik
Kemal's Vatan
Yahut Silistre (The Motherland or Silistre), Mesale (The Torch),
Coban (The Goatherd), Iftira Kurbanlari (The Victims of Lies),
Mucize (Miracle), Akif Bey (Mr Akif), Hababam Sinifi (Hababam
Class), Aynaros Kadisi ( Eunuch of Aynaros), Gun Doguyor
(Sunrise), Karisindan Korkmayan Koca Yoktur (There is No Husband
Not Afraid of His Wife), Duman (The Smoke), Daglari Bekleyen Kiz
(The Girl who is waiting for the Mountains), Nalinlar (The
Slippers), Kahvede Senlik Var (Festivities at the Café).
Among these
were the plays written by Turkish-Cypriot playwrights such as
Avukat Fadil Niyazi Korkut, Mufti of Cyprus Sait Hoca, Nazim Ali
Ileri, Osman Talat, Hikmet Afif Mapolar , Ismail Hikmet Ertaylan,
Talat Yurdakul, Özker Yasin and Üner Ulutug. The other
playwrights whose plays have been performed in the recent years
are Ahmet Tolgay, Bekir Kara, and
Özden Selenge.
Dar-ül Elhan,
Kardes Ocagi, and Ses Academy were the few institutions working
in areas closely related to the Turkish-Cypriot theatres.
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Early
Venues... |
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In the early days
of the Turkish-Cypriot theatre, some of the playwrights were
also starring in the plays which they wrote, and usually were
not compensated, as these plays were thought to be for
charitable purposes and were mostly amateur in nature. Come
1940s, the income brought by each play on average was around
40-50 Cyprus Pounds.
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A poster of the
children's play "Dear Peace" by the Turkish-Cypriot State Theatres |
In the last 50
years or so, the buildings used for theatre performances in
Nicosia were mostly cinema saloons: Cemalis Cinema, Apollon
Cinema, Lukudi Cinema, Papadopoulos Cinema, as well as Kardes
Ocagi building, Çetinkaya Spor Kulübü, Belig Pasha Theatre,
Zafer Cinema, Misirlizade Cinema, Atatürk Primary School
Saloon.
In Famagusta,
theatre salons included Büyük Ambarlar (nr. the Sea Gate),
Pertev Pasha Ilkokulu, Othello Tower, Lozan Palace Cinema,
Yildiz Cinema, Bugday Camii.
In Paphos, the
theatre buildings were: Yesilova Cinema, Cengiz Topel and
Papatya Cinemas.
In Larnaca
Zuhuri Ilkokulu, Larnaca Turkish Club, Makritis Cinema.
In Limassol
Sahin, Taksim, Halk, Pallas, Banseon, Rialto cinemas, 19 Mayis
High School saloon.
In Kyrenia, the
theatre buldings included Rushdu Middle School, Kyrenia Castle,
and 23 Nisan Ilkokulu saloon.
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After
1960 |
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The Turkish-Cypriot
theatre has seen major developments in the post-1960 period. During
this period, moves were started to institutionalize this art in the
Turkish-Cypriot community, as the new generation of playwrights
proliferated such as Hilmi Özen, Üner Ulutug, and Ayla Hashmat. In
1964, the Department of Education provided the Atatürk Ilkokulu
saloon for the use of the Turkish-Cypriot Theatres. The works which
started at this venue, under the name First Stage continued to receive
admire and support of the audiences, as a result of which the theatre
received an official status as the Turkish-Cypriot Theatres. And from
that day onwards, now with its new name as the Turkish-Cypriot State
Theatre performed nearly 85 plays to day, with success.
After 1974, The State
Theatre has moved into its new premises in Yenisehir, Nicosia where
the Theatres central administrative and artistic center is. The State
Theatre performs regularly in its Nicosia venue, as well as in other
cities and towns in the country, while travelling once a year to
perform Turkish-Cypriots living abroad, notably in UK and Turkey.
One important success
of the Turkish-Cypriot theatre has been with a certain radio theatre
called Alikko and Caher. The play became very popular for a simple
reason that the characters spoke with what was called a very Cypriot
[rural] accent of the early years and that the people could find a
part of them in the characters.
The Cypriot-Turkish
theatres also produces a small number of celebrity actresses, among
them Mine Senhuy, who stars in the popular television series
Bizimkiler, on a Turkish televison, and Ayhatun
Atesin, who is famous
for her successful performance in one-person play of Willy Russel's
One Woman: Shirley Valentine in 1993.
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Private
Theatre Companies |
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