Theatre Traditions: Karagöz and Hacivat

Basic Information:
Taking its name from the main character, Karagöz, Karagöz and Hacivat is a famous traditional Turkish shadow puppet play. The origin of the shadow plays was when Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi said it was first performed at the Ottoman palaces in the late 14th century whilst others says this play came into Anatolia after Yavuz Sultan Selim, who had conquered Egypt in 1517, had brought the shadow play artists to his court. Moreover, nowadays it is accepted as southeastern part of Asia around Java. 


Origins:
According to a legend, there were construction workers working on a mosque in Bursa. Their entertainment was created through satirical jokes as they helped each other build the mosque with constant laughter. As a result of this, the sultan became very angry and anxious about whether Karagöz and Hacivat could encourage rebellion in others, so they were executed. The construction of the mosque was completed without them, but their comrades did not forget them and kept their jokes alive, telling them over and over. In time, the adventures of Karagöz and Hacivat gained a new dimension and the traditional Turkish shadow puppet theatre was born. Their monumental tomb stands in Bursa today.

Karagöz and Hacivat was performed for the public in private houses between the 17th and 19th centuries, especially during Ramadan and at circumcisions, feast festivals, coffee houses and even in gardens. Since this became the most enjoyed entertainment of the Ottoman period, it became traditional to Turkey and even widespread towards Greece.

Conventions: 
Karagöz play is played depending on the talent of an artist. Moving the design on curtain, voicing them, dialects or imitations are all made by the artist. The subjects of Karagöz plays are funny elements with double meanings, exaggerations, verbal plays, and imitating accents. There is always satire and irony.

These puppets with jointed limbs are 35-40cm sized and they are generally made from the skin of camel or cows. The skins are made semi-transparent and painted with Indian ink or root paints. Then they are embroidered with sharp painted blades and the pieces are tied with ropes. This makes the performance a true art form and gives the artist meaning in his work. 

The white curtain on which Karagöz is played is named as "ayna" which means mirror in Turkish, and the light behind it called sema which means candle light. There is just one puppeteer, known as hayali (imaginary), assisted by an apprentice, who installs the curtain and brings the puppets in order of appearance.

The main characters of the play are of course Karagöz and Hacivat. Karagöz represents the public morals and common sense, the ordinary man in the street, and is straightforward and reliable. He is almost illiterate; usually unemployed and embarks on money earning projects that never work. He is often kind of rude. You can recognize him by his turban, his bald head and his black beard. His left arm is longer than the other one. 

His friend Hacivat instead is the opposite of him; he is educated in a Muslim theology school, speaks Ottoman Turkish and uses poetical and literary language. He's very clever as well. The main distinction between Hacivat and Karagöz, apart from their different colour combinations, is that Karagöz has a free left arm which is longer than the other one where Hacivat has both his fists wrapped and his chin resting on them. 

These days:

Today a limited number of artists continue the studies related to the art of Karagöz and Hacivat and they're conducted by the Presidency of Turkey National Center of International Puppet and Shadow Play Union (UNIMA) and the Ministry of Culture.