Orta Oyunu

The earliest historical mention of this theatre of the Turks appears in the 12th century. We know that performances were given in the city of Konya (the ancient Iconium), in Asia Minor, at the court of the Sultans of the Seldjuk dynasty. But the origins of this theatre, its roots, so to say, are distinguishable in remotest antiquity. Let us assume that the reader knows nothing of that theatre of the classic world, which was called mime. Let him then consult any encyclopaedia to obtain a general idea of what that theatre was like. Comparing the classic mime with the later Turkish Orta oyunu, the resemblance is striking. The arrangement is the same, the course of action the same; even the dialogue constructions have much in common. Some scholars tend to see in the costumes of Orta oyunu also certain traces of the classic mime, as far as that detail is known to us. Thus it is evident that the Turks received their theatre of Orta oyunu from the classic world. But it was, of course, impossible that they should have received it directly. There must have been a mediator, and that mediator was Byzantium, whose heirs, the Turks, conquered Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula step by step.

The Turkish theatre was marked, besides, by a second European influence. If one compares the Turkish Orta oiunu on one hand and the Italian Commedia dell'arte on the other, one will find a great resemblance in the course of the action and in the personages of the plays. This phenomenon is very easily explained. The Turkish Empire, through many centuries, maintained the closest relations, commercial, political and cultural, with Venice and Genoa and their colonies scattered everywhere along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. Thus, it was through Italy that the second road passed, along which the classic mime penetrated into Turkey and was transmuted into the Orta oiunu.

Another sufficiently important circumstance indicates the influence of the classic mime. According to the opinion of the Turks themselves, the principal feature of the entire performance in the Orta oiunu is taklid. Taklid means a mimicry, an imitation. In the plays of the Orta oiunu, as we shall see later, the personages represent various peoples inhabiting Turkey. These personages endeavor to imitate the pronunciation of these peoples, to speak the Turkish language as it is variously spoken by those they represent. Moreover they follow on the stage the professions and occupations proper to these peoples. This is known as taklid. And in the significance of taklid we see a direct connection with the classic mime.

There is considerable data extant in the works of historians, geographers and travellers, both Turkish and European, showing the existence of the Orta oiunu during the life of the Ottoman Empire. We have already mentioned its existence at the time of the Seldjuks in Asia Minor. During the ascendancy of their successors, the Ottomans, the Orta oyunu played a very important role. Imperial holidays--as for instance the birthday of a sovereign, the day of his accession to the throne, his coronation, the circumcision of a prince, and so on--were always marked by theatrical performances. A band of actors was attached to the Sultan's retinue and accompanied him on his war campaigns. The players lived in his temporary military quarters, that they might be ready to distract the Sultan after his difficult war feats. In the capital, at the Imperial ourt, such a company of actors was maintained permanently for the same reason. The aristocrats, grandees and dignitaries, who followed the customs of the Sultan's court, organized performances on family feast days. The Ottoman envoys and ambassadors extraordinary, travelling to foreign countries, took with them bands of actors. The names of the celebrated artists of those old days have been preserved in historical sources and have come down to us. These Turkish entertainments became so fashionable that they were introduced in the conquered provinces which were earlier independent states. In Moldavia and Walachia, which are now districts of Roumania, the local nobility, who wished to follow the example of the conquerors, also organized theatrical performances. Step by step this theatre was popularized, until it reached the lowest strata of society and became a source of entertainment for all.