Meddah as a Storyteller

By:

There are trends in Turkish culture which have important influences on Turkish theatre. One of these influences on Turkish theatre is that of Islamic culture. It is not always a positive influence because of Islamic approach to theatre art. This negative influence may have caused a standstill in the improvement of Turkish theatre but at the same time caused different types of performances substituted for stage representations in the Western civilization, becoming widespread. Storytelling is one of these types and it is possible to find various kinds of storytellers in Islamic countries. The art of Meddahlik is storytelling art in Turkish traditional theatre. As a single narrator, Meddah tells funny stories, tales or anecdotes of the time and knows many ways of creating suspense and entertaining audience for hours with mostly just two props. The Presentation will be in two forms. In the first part the paper will presented and in the second, a Meddah show in its original Turkish language will take place.

Stream: Performing Arts Practices: Theatre, Dance, Music

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Mostly interested in Traditional Turkish Theatre forms and Absurd Drama. Made several adaptations from epic poems, stories and novels for stage performance. Had his Competency in Art degree from Anadolu University in 2003.