THEATERS STAR IN OWN DRAMA

Hurriyet
Dec 15 2008
Turkey

ISTANBUL – The theather mapping project will mark the theaters of
Istanbul from the Tanzimat period, a time of modernization in the
mid-19th century of the Ottoman Empire. This academic project would
document a rapidly disappearing legacy that the closing of theaters
has hurt theater life.

A new project that will map the theaters of Istanbul from the Tanzimat
period a time of modernization in the mid-19th century of the Ottoman
Empire, began last week as part of Istanbul’s European Capital of
Culture projects for 2010.

"A tradition of parting curtains for the future: Istanbul Theatre Map"
is one of many performing arts projects that will be an important part
of the 2010 cultural capital activities, said Istanbul 2010 European
Capital of Culture Agency’s Performance Arts Director Dikmen Gurun.

Gurun said their department had organized a 2008 Theater Festival
as part of a inter-universities theater festival, and were planning
a Turkey’s Universities Theater Festival in 2009 and a European
Universities Theater Festival in 2010. She said the department hoped
these programs would become permanent.

On the theater-mapping project, Gurun said the closing of theaters
had hurt theater life in the global city of Istanbul and this academic
project would document a rapidly disappearing legacy.

She said Istanbul was introduced to western-style theater at the
beginning of the 19th century, in that period theatre buildings were
constructed and foreign theater companies were invited to perform
in them.

Gurun said old theater buildings were so rare, they were almost
nonexistent and theaters built during the Republican period had ceased
to be functional.

Theater fires The project is a serious attempt to identify, showcase
and protect theaters, a critical element of a city’s culture and
art. Gurun said they will comb areas where theater buildings had been
concentrated, such as Beyoglu and its environs, Å~^iÅ~_li, Ortaköy,
Dolmabahce, Å~^ehzadebaÅ~_ı-Direkleraras& #xC4;±, including Aksaray and
Fatih, on the European side and Kadiköy, Uskudar on the Anatolian
side.

They are going to research the title deeds, registries and archive
records of the locations to establish whether there were theaters there
and will use Refik Ahmet Sevegil and Metin And’s books to lead them
to identify theaters from the time of the Tanzimat period up to today.

Gurun said Istanbul University Literature Faculty’s Theatre Critique
and Dramaturgy Department supported the project and had created a
team to assist. The project commended two months ago and will be
completed in 2010.

The project will combine field work and archival research on theater
halls and buildings and comb newspapers to uncover the company’s and
artists that performed, a theater’s repertoire and audience profiles
that would show the impact of each theater on the city’s culture
and arts.

Many of the historic theater buildings were destroyed by fire, Gurun
said, and those that remained were difficult to locate, some were in
narrow passages and others have been converted into movie theaters.

English translation The data will be collected into a book that will
be translated into English. The book will contain old photographs,
pictures of locations, various documents and architectural drawings.

"The cosmopolitan culture of the city will be revealed, particularly
when we analyze the Beyoglu theaters frequented by British, French,
and Italian performers on tour and the Direklerarası-Å~^ehzadebaÅ~_& #xC4;±
theaters which raised Turkish and Armenian artists," Gurun said.

"Today, theaters in many cities around the world are being preserved
due to the results of similar research. This project will overcome our
own shortcomings in this area. There has been previous research done
on theaters before, but ours is deeper and more detailed," she added.

Gurun said they wanted to identify theaters that had shut or were
on the verge of closing, make a new generation aware of the value of
theater and embrace its past and present, and reinforce the permanence
of theater in all its forms. She said she hoped the research would
remain a permanent archive that would contribute to the academic and
cultural elements of theater life.

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