Shadow play keeps 500-year-old Turkish tradition alive

MERSİN

A 57-year-old master puppeteer from the southern city of Mersin is keeping the centuries-old Turkish traditional shadow play alive, traveling from city to city to introduce new generations to this cultural heritage.

Inscribed to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, the traditional shadow theater — known as Karagöz play in Anatolia — is one of the oldest forms of Turkish art.

The plays mostly involve two-dimensional figures, Karagöz and Hacivat, in the shape of humans, casting their shadows on a screen.

Tevfik Dinç’s fascination with shadow puppetry began in his early childhood. Growing up in an era of frequent power outages, he found creative ways to entertain his surroundings.

"During those evenings without electricity, I would cut out pictures of Hacivat and Karagöz from books, paste them onto cardboard and project their shadows on a white curtain using candlelight,” Dinç recalled. His audience consisted of his family members and sometimes friends from the neighborhood back then.

This early passion for the traditional shadow play never faded for Dinç. Later, he pursued a career in theater but always felt the absence of his beloved shadow play.

Determined to preserve this tradition, he has been performing Karagöz play across Türkiye since the 1990s, while simultaneously running his career in theater.

"Internationally, it is known as Karagöz, though some refer to it as Hacivat and Karagöz,” Dinç explained, emphasizing the deep cultural significance of Karagöz in Turkish history.

With witty dialogue between these classic characters, the plays also began to bring humor and reflection to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan nights over the years, taking the form of an entertaining, vivacious custom.

According to Dinç, one of the biggest challenges for performing Karagöz play today is adapting the performance in a way that stays true to its roots. “Karagöz is a traditional art form — a dream world brought to life through the play of colors projected from behind a screen. When performers wear costumes [instead of using shadow puppets], the mystical essence of Karagöz is lost. That, in a way, distorts its original spirit."

The most rewarding part of his work, on the other hand, is hearing the laughter of children. "That joy, their giggles, it's worth everything," he said. "After a show, when they come up to shake my hand or to chat, it’s an indescribable feeling."

But it is not just for children as people from all walks of life, from 7 to 70, find joy in Karagöz play, the master puppeteer emphasized.