“Creative Drama” in Turkey

Abstract

The Turkish Republic is a young one. Established in 1923, it has gone through many social and political transformations, which have inevitably had an influence on how science and art are perceived. The Republic inherited from the Ottoman Empire a performative art tradition which had its roots in three distinct types of theatre: village shows; folk theatre played in town centres; and court theatre, which was based on “western” theatrical traditions. Considering the geographical location of Turkey, the term “West” signified the more advanced and civilized countries of the time, most of which were located in Europe. Having recently emerged from a tragic war, Turkey’s most urgent aim was to be on a par with these western countries in terms of science and arts. Therefore, western theatre, rather than the traditional forms, was promoted by the government (Karacabey 1995). As a result of this emphasis on western forms of theatre, many translated and adapted works were performed in theatres. In fact, even today, nearly half of the plays put on stage by Turkish state theatres are translated works. The following sections describe some examples from traditional and western forms of Turkish theatre. Fig. 1: http://aregem.kulturturizm.gov.tr/Resim/126102,ari-oyunu-yozgat-akdagmadeni-bulgurlu-koyu.png?0 These are short plays performed ...