Karagoz ,meaning blackeye in Turkish and Hacivat are leading characters of traditional Turkish shadow play, popularized during the ottoman period. The central theme of the plays are the contrasting interaction between the main characters:Karagoz represents the illiterate but straightforward public, whereas Hacivat belongs to the educated class, speaking ottoman Turkish and using a poetical and literary language. Karagoz’s native wit always gets the better of Hacivat’s
Learning, but his money-making ventures always fail.
Karagoz-Hacivat plays are especially associated with Ramadan. Until the rise of radio and TV, it was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in North Cyprus and Turkey. It survives today mainly in a toned-down from intended for audiences of children.
Mehmet Ertug is the name of the ‘traditional shadow theatre performer’ at the walled city of Nicosia’s historical Great Khan. Ertug started his performances as an amateur assistant of then famous master Mulla Hasan.
Can you please tell us about the past and present of the “shadow theatre “in Cyprus.?
For centuries, Karagoz , with its unique character, has been an important from of entertainment for people, while making them laugh, and reflect on their way of life.
It came to Cyprus with the conquest of the island by the Ottomans 1571 and was well liked by the people. A considerable number of Karagoz puppeteers appeared and in addition to the traditional Karagoz scripts, Cypriot scripts as well as different shapes of puppets ,also came into being .
Unfortunately very little has come down to our day because most of the puppets were lost in the course of time and because the scripts performed were not written down.
The characters in my exhibition which I have managed to gather, are creations of Turkish Cypriot Puppeteers.
This second floor room you have converted to a “shadow theatre venue” at Nicosia’s Great Khan is very attractive indeed. When are the performances made here?
Every Saturday at 11 am, I for sure have my weekly performance for individuals, both tourists and locals with with their children especially, and for tourist groups day and time is not a problem. Travel agents or hotels arrange daily Nicosia tours and include my performances during the group’s visit to the Great Khan. I arrange performances fort he expats as well.
Animators
Animators ( or the puppet masters) of Karagoz plays are called hayali, meaning both ‘imaginary’ and
‘image creator’ (They are also known as Karagozcu or hayalbaz) Asingle hayali impersonates every single character in the play by mimicking sounds, talking in different dialects, chanting or singing song of the character in focus. He is normally assisted by an apprentice who sets up and tears down, and who hands him the puppets as needed . The latter task might also be performed by a sandikkar (from “sandik” “chest”). A yardak might sing songs,and a dairezen play the tambourine.
Jewels of the Necklace of Kyrenia Mountain Range
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Tags: cyprus guide, daily Nicosia tours, Kyrenia Mountain Range, north cyprus, SHADOW, THEATRE, TRADITIONAL, TRADITIONAL TURKISH SHADOW THEATRE, TURKISH