US Karagoz Theatre Company was founded in 2017 by Ayhan Hulagu as the first traditional Turkish theater in the United States. The company carries out contemporary stagings based on karagoz (shadow theatre ) and Meddah (storyteller), which are included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. We conduct research on village theatrical performances and traditional Turkish improvisational comedy (orta oyunu), incorporating these elements as integral parts of our performances. Focusing on modern stagings of traditional theater, we present world classics with a unique interpretation.
The Company seeks to construct a contemporary narrative theater while drawing inspiration from traditional Anatolian theater. It aims to create a shared space between Eastern and Western cultures and humor. Through the synthesis of texts and art from these two cultures, the company conducts works of synthesis. It engages in intertextual explorations, narrates tales, establishes plays within plays, breaks down the fourth wall between the audience and the stage, engages in a dialogue with the spectators, and even makes them an integral part of the performance instead of rejecting them. It draws from the dramatic structures found in Anatolian storytelling and theatrical traditions, incorporating imitations, characterizations, and grotesque stagings. Storytelling, puppetry, and shadow plays are frequently utilized by the company.
Within the repository of the company, the Karagoz trilogy stands out as a remarkable achievement after winning acclaim and credit from critics in Istanbul. The “Karagoz on the Road” was another leading project of the company which has been displayed in Europe, Africa, and the U.S. As the company takes hold in the cultural context of the U.S., new but bold projects began to be released. Among its portfolio, the company has released Swing, The Forest of the Witch, 1001 Nights, Dream of Hamlet, and Anatolian body puppets in the past several years. The company has so far held countless displays, performances, and shows across the U.S. as part of its grand tour. In the context of this series of plays, it met with the audience in New York, Miami, Washington, D.C., Iowa, Boston, Portland, Texas, California, and many other places.
The theatre company took part in several national and international festivals such as the 65th National Puppetry Festival, Hollywood Fringe Festival, the Great Plain Puppet Festival, the 34th Neopolis International Children Theatre Festival, etc. The company also held exhibitions and workshops about Karagoz and traditional shadow plays at a number of universities, including the University of Minnesota, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Pittsburg, MIT, Cornell, and Harvard University.
Hulagu brought 700-year-old Anatolian theatre to Broadway for the first time, leaving a special moment in the history of that traditional art.
The festivals company took part:
Washington DC Culture Festival (2017)
Great Plain Regional Puppet Festival (2018)
One Journay Festival (2018)
World of Montgomery Festival (2018)
The 4th NYC Puppet Slam (2019)
NYC Puppets After Dark Slam (2019)
Coney Island Puppets Come Home S. (2019 and 2020)
65th National Puppetry Festival (2019)
Florida That Damn Puppet Slam (2019)
34th Neopolis International Children Theatre Festival (2019)
Black Cherry Puppet Slam (2018 and 2019)
La MaMa Puppet Slam (2018 and 2019)
Asheville Fringe Arts Festival (2020)
Hollywood Fringe Festival (2020)
7th Islamic Art Festival (2020)
International New York City P. Fringe Festival (2021)
Hadi Poyrazoglu Puppet and Karagoz Festival (2022).
Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Regional Festival (2022)
International Toy Theatre Festival (2023)
National Puppetry Festival (2023)
Northeast Human Rights Film Festival (2023)
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Support traditional art: https://www.patreon.com/karagoztheatrecompany
US Karagoz Theatre Company 