The Regina Maria Theatre has the honor to invite you to the conference organized within the framework of the Arcadia Children’s Theatre Festival – TRADITIONAL SHADOW THEATRE FROM TURKEY – THE KARAGOZ CHARACTER. The event will take place on Monday, October 6, 2014, at the Arcadia Hall. The conference is chaired by two distinguished guests, the most famous artists of shadow theatre: Cengiz Özek and Stefan Andreas Apolon Kokkinos Carelius, both laureates of dozens of awards and invited to over 100 international festivals.

Description:

Dating back to the 6th century, the traditional shadow theatre of Turkey is an important cultural heritage and was inscribed by UNESCO on the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. This shadow theatre combines classical and popular poetry, narration, music, dance, the play of colours and movement. All elements of Ottoman culture and art are intertwined here: the divan poetry specific to Ottoman literature, folk and mystical verses, folk and classical music, artistic and popular dance, themes of oral literature, riddles, crosswords, and, above all, farces. The first characteristic of shadow theatre is the farce, then the parable, and the text abounds in paronyms.

The rhythm of the dialogue and the action are used in such a way that even those who do not speak Turkish are able to understand the epic and the message conveyed. The main characters of the Turkish shadow theater are Karagoz and Hacivat, the former representing the simple, uneducated man, and the latter, the cultured citizen. During the conference organized by the Arcadia Troupe, the discussions will focus on the character of Karagoz.