Istanbul's City Theaters celebrate 100th year

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

Istanbul has 11 city theaters, including two children’s theaters.

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s City Theaters will hold a series of activities in the coming months to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

“With the activities we organize, our aim is to make the people living in Istanbul realize the city has a 100-year-old distinguished theater tradition,” City Theaters Artistic Director Hilmi Zafer Şahin said in an interview with the Anadolu Agency.

Founded in 1914 under the name “Darulbedayi-i Osmani,” which means “Ottoman’s House of Beauty,” the theater was established a century ago by former mayor Cemil Topuzlu Paşa with world famous French actor Andre Antoine, who was both the director and the founding instructor.

Today, Istanbul has 11 city theaters, including two children’s theaters and one open air theater in various districts, including Harbiye, Kadiköy, Fatih, Gaziosmanpaşa, Üsküdar, Kağıthane, and Ümraniye.

“Every day, approximately 2,000 people watch plays in Istanbul,” said Şahin, adding Istanbul city theaters had hosted more than 500,000 people last year.

“Some plays have also been staged in Turkey’s different provinces, as well as abroad,” Şahin said. “Even foreign audiences come to watch our plays when they realize we stage worldwide classics.”

The theater’s “The Play” was invited to BOZAR in 2013, the most prestigious art center in Brussels, to perform.