"BURSA" a Bursa Travel Page by Arkeolog

Homeland of Traditional Turkish Shadow Theatre aka HACIVAT & KARAGOZ

Shadow puppet plays are performed by holding a light behind leather puppets, whose shadows fall on a white screen viewed by spectators. It is generally thought that this art form came from the east and probably originated in China or India. Researchers say that the Chinese passed the art of shadow puppetry on to the Mongolians, who in turn passed it on to the Turks.

No one knows for sure how or when the best-known characters in Turkish shadow plays, Hacivat and Karagöz, became part of Turkish shadow puppetry. There are many different stories about their origins. The most famous of these takes place in Bursa. During the reign of Sultan Orhan, Ulucami (the Grand Mosque) was being built. As the mosque was being constructed, Kambur Bâki Çelebi (Karagöz), an ironworker and Haci İvaz (Hacivat), a mason who oversaw construction of walls, entertained the other workers with their comic antics. They would make the workers laugh by teasing each other with sarcastic jokes and verbose discussions, making break times enjoyable. However, when things started to get out of control and the joking began to interfere with the construction work, the sultan became angry and ordered that these two characters be executed. After his brief anger subsided, however, the sultan felt remorse for his harsh action. He sent out orders to search for someone who was familiar with the wordy dialogues of Hacivat and Karagöz. A man named Sheikh Kushteri was brought into the sultan’s presence and he stepped behind a curtain to imitate Karagöz and Hacivat’s verbal banter. In time, the play became an entertaining show and began to be performed in different locations, drawing a lot of attention. After a while, Karagöz and Hacivat plays became an indispensable form of entertainment and traditional Turkish shadow plays were also referred to as Karagöz plays.

The art of shadow puppetry requires a lot more than just a sheet, some light and two figures attached to sticks. There are several ingredients that are required, such as a specific style, a particular format that must be followed and music that must be played, colourful characters and stage scenery.

For more information on Turkish Shadow Theatre (Karagoz&Hacivat) in English, German and French please visit www.karagoz.net