US Karagoz Theater Company presents a Turkish Shadow Play
February 23, 2025
Ayhan Hulagu MAKES THE PUPPETS COME ALIVE
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Wednesday night, students and faculty were treated to a special presentation of Turkish Shadow Theater by Ayhan Hulagu, a New York-based actor, who founded the US Karagoz Theater Company in 2017. After enjoying a lively show featuring Karagöz and Hacivat, among other characters, Ayhan Hulagu invited students and faculty to go behind the stage to learn more about building the puppets and about the difficulties for one actor to make different characters come alive in the play through movement, different voices, and music.
The US Karagoz Theater Company is the first traditional Turkish Theater in the United States. Ayhan Hulagu's shows have captivated audiences in over 35 states across the U.S at numerous national and international festivals, including the 65th National Puppetry Festival, Hollywood Fringe Festival, and the 34th Neopolis International Children Theater Festival. Ayhan Hulagu's innovative adaptations of classics like Don Quixote, Hamlet, and 1001 Nights have earned him a nomination for the Best Adapted Plays of the Year in America in 2021.
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Turkish Shadow Theater goes back to the Ottoman period where it was popularized in most nation states of the Ottoman Empire. Today, it can be found in Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Karagöz and Hacivat are the lead characters in the plays where Karagöz represents the illiterate but straightforward public and Hacivat the educated class, using poetical and literary Turkish.
We are thankful to Professor Topcuoglu, the Turkish Language Program Director, who organized this special event. We would also like to thank our sponsors, the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program, the Council on Language Instruction, and the MENA Languages Program for their generous support.
