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Macedonian
theatre
There are 13 professional theaters in the Republic of Macedonia.
From 1993-1994 1,596 performances were held in the newly formed
republic, and more than 330,000 people attended. The Macedonian
National Theatre (Drama, Opera and Ballet companies), the Drama
Theatre, the Theatre of the Nationalities (Albanian and Turkish
Drama companies) and the other theatre companies comprise about 870
professional actors, singers, ballet dancers, directors,
playwrights, set and costume designers, etc. There is also a
professional theatre for children and three amateur theatres. For
the last thirty years a traditional festival of Macedonian Slav
professional theatres has been taking place in Prilep in honor of
Vojdan Cernodrinski, the founder of the modern Macedonian theatre.
Each year a festival of amateur and experimental Macedonian theatre
companies is held in Kocani.
The word Karagöz is a Turkish word literally meaning a black eye,
but it is a specific type of theatre in the Republic of Macedonia as
in many other Balkan countries. This picturesque, original and
exceptionally popular theatre reached the Balkans from the Far East.
Shifting slowly but surely from the Far East towards the Middle
East, this type of theater went through a transformation as it was
passed along from person to person through many cultures. The
Karagoz Theater came to the Balkans together with the Ottoman
Empire. In the history of the Macedonian culture the name of this
theater was mentioned starting from the 11th, or at least the 14th
century. A Turkish legend speaks about the origin of the
construction of a large mosque in Bursa and its constructors among
whom were two friends and storytellers known as Karagöz and Hadzivat.
Instead of working, they sat and told comical stories to the
workers. Their performances were so attractive to their audience
that the construction of the mosque completely stopped - the
construction site instead became a theater. When the Sultan heard
what had happened he became furious and ordered the execution of the
two friends. Karagoz and Hadzivat were unable to escape their fate
but the citizens of Bursa were overcome by grief at the loss of the
two heroes. The Sultan realized his folly and tried to correct it by
ordering the revival of the two men. Unable to actually give them
life, the sultan kept them alive in the form of small, transparent
puppets made of thin and colored skin. If they were to be placed in
front of a white curtain with a burning candle behind it, they would
dance as if they were alive and the sultan had redeemed himself.
Although this theatre includes a number of characters-puppets, its
eminent theatricality emerges from the complex relation between its
central masks of Karagoz and Hadzivat. Karagoz personifies an
ordinary Greek in the Ottoman Empire. He is dressed simply as any
other passers-by on the streets of Constantinople. He speaks plainly
and in a language common to the people. He is clever and stupid at
the same time, naive and witty. Although he is as poor as a dog, he
desires only to eat his bread in without distraction or
interference. Equally important is his teasing his constantly angry
enemy, whose name is Hadzivat and who is a little bit slow, but not
necessarily stupid. Hadzivat speaks conceitedly using archaic words,
pretending to be wise and in actuality being a boringly pedant,
rigid, corruptible, opportunist who constantly emphasizes his
aristocratic origin. Karagoz Theater is Turkish folk humor at its
best. The famous Turkish traveler and diplomat, Evlija Celebija,
traveled in the Balkans in the first half of the 17th century and
wrote about his travels in ten books in which he discusses
performances of Karagoz in Bosnia, Serbia, and in the republic's
capital Skopje. Karagoz Theater was brought to the region by the
Ottoman Turks and easily adapted to the new environment, existing
for centuries up to the 1950s.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonian_culture_(Slavic)
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