Karagöz and Hacivat – The revival of the Shadow Theatre in Nicosia

At the new ‘Bandabuliya Sahnesı / Stage ’ in the heart of Old Nicosia

By Heidi Trautmann

For the opening of the ‘Bandabuliya Sahnesı’,  in the small road just behind the Bandabuliya Market, in February 2018, Mehmet Ertuğ was the honorary guest at the very first performance by the succeeding puppeteer Izel Seylanı of whom I am sure, we will hear much more in the near future.

Many of us in North Cyprus, interested in art and culture and its continuation were seriously worried that the Shadow Theatre would disappear with the last puppeteer Mehmet Ertuğ when he became sick and was no longer able to bring his Karagöz and Hacivat shows in the small theatre he entertained in the Büyük Han. It was there that I led an interview with him in 2008 for the newspaper Cyprus Today and for my book “Art and Creativity in North Cyprus, Volume II’ which was published in 2015.  See my interview with him under the link http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=1527568632#.WpuYdmpuaUk

Already years ago he had begun to look for a successor:

……“I have tried my best to find somebody, but young people lack the patience to learn the business in which so many things are involved.  There is not only the technical side to be learned, but you have to learn about people, about the daily ups and downs of your country, your neighbourhood, and use it with irony and sharp wit the information you have registered. Who would still do that?” ….

The same worries would not leave another person, Aliye Ummanel, Art Director of the Nicosia Municipality Theatre. She told me that the Shadow Theatre had been on her mind since childhood since her great grandfather was involved in the Shadow Theatre (Karagözcü Sadık) She knew about the danger of disappearance of this old traditional puppet theatre and wondered what would happen and what could be done. One day she dreamt – “I have always been a daydreamer, you know” -  that she must not worry as there will be some young people to come and take over ….. “and you see”, she said, “here he is, the successor we were looking for… in the person of Izel Seylanı, he not only writes, organises, directs and acts, all in one person…and he does it with passion.  He had already worked on the idea of reviving the Shadow Theatre and had had performances at the Güney Mesaoria Theatre, and now we offered him to come to open the Bandabuliya Theatre with us with a play he especially wrote for the occasion.” 

Aliye Ummanel continued … “I am happy that we have succeeded - with the support of Mehmet Harmancı, the Mayor of Nicosia - to open the ‘Bandabuliya Sahnesı / Stage’ to enliven the old part of Nicosia which - with its covered market - has always been a centre of social and cultural life; it is one first step in the right direction in how we all want to see Nicosia. We do not want commercial interest to dominate the scene here, but our traditional culture and the arts.”

The team of the Nicosia Municipal Theatre is enthusiastic about this new opportunity and has with passion and energy helped to bring this vision to life.

Many months they have spent to renovate the place with the help of the Projects Department of the Nicosia Municipality and its architects: Cemal Bensel, Şerife Soygür and Pinar Özge. Furthermore, with the help of the theatre company’s stage setters and the designer Özlem Yetkili who added puppets of her design  in the old way and some with today’s appearance, they are so beautifully done. The assistants to manage the puppets behind the black curtain are the actresses Asu Demircioğlu,  and Melek Erdil who handles the musical instruments; they did it so well.

The Bandabuliya Stage opened for us the black curtain to the ‘Black Box’ where in the centre of the stage the Shadow Theatre is set up. I was sitting among children with their parents but could also greet friends, adults with the heart of a child, who still remembered the old times.

I had spoken to Izel Seylanı, director of the play, who is happy to have the Karagöz performances in the Old City. (There will also be a performance as part of the Çatalköy Theatre Festival on in the morning of March 12, in the tent of the Olive Tree Hotel in Çatalköy) and he said he would be happy to not only see children and their parents in the theatre but also guests from other countries who want to learn about this old tradition.  He would then explain the plot and the moral of the story in English.

The title of the present play is “A Bandabuliya Story:  Karagöz and the Magical Vegetables”.

I enjoyed it tremendously together with the audience which helped Karagöz along when he was getting lost.

There will be a performance once a week, on Saturday at 11:00, just as it used to be …

I asked Aliye Ummanel whether it is planned to have other plays and activities on the Bandabuliya Stage?

“Oh, yes”, she said, “This is just a beginning. We now have to improve the stage from the technical point of view to have a proper infrastructure for bigger plays. There will also be activities for children and young people.”

In the theatre lobby a coffee bar is set up and guests of the show are sitting on tables. Will this be a regular Theatre Café?  “Right now, only for performances but we plan to have it run under the control of the Theatre.” We shall inform about it in time.”

Information and tickets to be obtained at Lefkosa Belediye Tiyatrosu, Tel. 2278782 and on facebook.