DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN THEATRE IN OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND GÜLLÜ AGOP

FACOTRS FACILITATING ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE WEST THEATER

First of all, we need to look at the factors that facilitate the acquaintance with western theater in the Ottoman State. We need to examine these factors under several sub-headings. But first of all we have to show the difference of the Ottoman theater with that of the western theater.

The Tanzimat (reorganization) man saw the greatest distinction between Western theater and Ottoman theater as in framed theater and written text. At the beginning, we come across a number of early experiments to complete this dilemma. We encounter four theater buildings in Istanbul in 1839, when Gülhane-iHatt-ıHumayun (the imperial edict of Gülhane) was declared, Two of them were representatives of foreign circus communities. As a matter of fact, the Gedikpaşa Theater, which we would come across in the future, was a cambazhane (illusionist theatre) built for the representation of the circus.

The development of written dramatic text was later. Nevertheless, it can be said that there were earlier trials. We come across a number of Turkish plays written among the studies of the Eastern Language School, which was opened to educate young people who knew the languages of these countries to be employed in the embassies of the Eastern countries of the European states. In addition, there was a play translation of the St.Lazar monastery in Venice published in Turkish with Armenian letters. Moreover, a feature of this second essay was that it was written in Turkish, in pure Turkish. In the real sense, the first Turkish theater play was the “Poet Marriage” written by Ibrahim Sinasi Efendi for DolmabahçeSaray Theater in 1859.

Another factor contributing to the development of the Western theater in the Ottoman lands was the interest of Turkish statesmen and intellectuals towards the theater. The Turkish ambassadors in foreign countries have contributed to the Ottoman adaptation of their theatrical works, which they saw when they returned to the Western theater as they enlightened the Ottomans on their chiefs and reports. Arifi Pasha, who had been the ambassador of Vienna, prudence and grand vizier, was initially charged with the strict supervision of the theaters. As a matter of fact, in the future it was quite a vision for the age to turn the German classics into Turkish and to act them. In the palace, SafvetBey made a turn from Moliere in 1847 and organized performances at Müzika-iHumayun (the imperial band/orchestra (of the Ottoman Empire)). These include the positive influence of the theatrical development of Bursa Governor Ahmet Vefik Pasha, Adana Governor Ziya Pasha, Trabzon Governor Ahmet Bey.

However, among these names, it is very important that the Grand Vizier Ali Pasha, one of the leading names of the Tanzimat, made efforts to establish a national Ottoman Theater as we would discuss in the future.

In addition to the state officials who we mentioned above, another factor contributing to the development of Western theater was foreign embassies. Some foreign ambassadors had made theater halls in the embassies and gave presentations there. Not only embassy officials, but also by the public were invited for these demonstrations. Those who wrote and acted were among the embassy staff.

It is also important not to forget the foreign communities that have come to the country to made demonstrations in the development of the Western theater. These have played a major role not only in the growth of the audience and the formation of theater culture but also in the development of local theater actors. They served as a kind of teaching tasks for local theater actors. Here, GüllüAgop was actually born in all this favorable environment. Both the availability of the environment and the various aids and collaborations are the greatest contributions to the development of the Ottoman Theater, together with their harmonious gathering, the greatest contribution to the control and management by GüllüAgop.

GÜLLÜ AGOP

There is very little information about the life of GüllüAgop except for his theaterism, who contributed to and led the development of Western theater, the interest of Turkish writers in dramatic arts, the development of professional theater, its being exemplary cultural institution and the establishment of the Ottoman Theater whose traces are up to our era.

GüllüAgop was Armenian origin. Most of the artists’ cadres of the theater almost all of the technical and backstage duties were Armenian then. In the theater, we first come across the name of GüllüAgop in 1862. The oriental theater closed its era in 1862 with Hugo’s “ KralEğleniyor (the King is Having Fun”. GüllüAgop, whose real name was AhopGüllüyan changed his name to AgopVartovyan which is in Armenian, also appeared on the stage. He played the role of Baron St.Vallier in this cast. The magazine praised this young talent, saying that although he was new, the theatre had decided to make it on the stage. GüllüAgop was not satisfied with only acting and he wrote and directed plays.

In 1869, the Ottoman theater started to take its place, the play pepertoire was started to be determined, to develop, and theatre players were started to be formed. GedikpaşaTheater established for Soullier circus became an Ottoman theater and went to the management of GüllüAgop. The theater became known to the public and started to get used to the theater of the audience.

It can be said that the two incidents that coincided with in June before the ten-year monopoly concession, facilitated the development of the Ottoman Theater. One of them is the fire, which came out in Beyoğlu in June 1870 and destroyed many theaters, and the other one, that the Play in Turkish was demonstrated in the circumcision wedding of Sehzadenby tens of thousands of people. In the circumcision wedding of Sultan Yusuf Izzettin, the son of Sultan Aziz, a scene was set up in Dolmabahçe with burning a lot of money. Thousands of people watched this demonstration. In Yusuf İzzettin’s circumcision wedding, GüllüAgop supported not only materially but also the spiritually. In particular, GüllüAgop, with the appearance of ‘’ZorNikah(Difficult Marriage) ‘’, came into the eyes of the Ottoman’s leading statesmen and Grand Vizier Ali Pasha. Ali Pasha called GüllüAgop after this demonstration and spoke to him. And after this talk, the ten-year concession process, considered a milestone on behalf of the Ottoman Theater, was begun.

The great fire in Beyoglu was on Sunday on June 5th. Apart from the French theater in Beyoglu, all the theaters were heavily damaged in the fire, while the most important theaters in Istanbul also burned down. Naum Theater was also heavily damaged. At Naum, an illusionist called St. Roman was demonstrating then. This actor were to perform at the circumcision wedding of Prince Yusuf Izzettin. When the theater burned, all the equipment’s and tools belonging to St Roman were damaged. Then, at that time in Beyoğlu, mostly foreign societies gave foreign demonstrations. Therefore, it was difficult to pass on those sides of Istanbul. However, to put it plainly, this fire led GüllüAgop to make a certain development in the Ottoman Theater. As a matter of fact, a foreign friend of Ahmet Vefik Pasha says in his memories that the theater goers in Beyoglu visited the Gedikpaşa Theater frequently by envisaging the long and complicated ways at nights.

TEN YEAR PRIVILIGE PROCESS

The most important event in the history of the Ottoman Theater is the ten-year monopoly privilege the Government has granted to GüllüAgop for the Turkish screenings in Istanbul. The role of the intellectual, the theater-loving Grand Vizier Ali Pasha is great for providing this. Ali Pasha was a statesman who believed in the importance of theater as one of the leading architects of the Tanzimat and had a lot of theater culture. His theatrical culture can be explained by his embassy in Europe for many years. Also, in the Chamber of Translation, the fact that he learned French from George Sardou, the father of famous French playwright Viktorien Sardou, also had an important role. The contribution of Ali Pasha to the theater was also respected in later periods.

The development of the theater was also a topic of interest to the palace environs. Moreover, some awards could easily be given to some theatrical producers, but these concessions were for foreign plays and communities in the first stage. Ali Pasha had dreamed of establishing a national Ottoman Theater. At first, his idea was to establish an Ottoman theater together with the nations that made up the Ottoman state, including Greek, Armenian, Bulgarian and Turkish, at the Ottoman Theater. However, attempts at this monopoly have failed. The ten-year monopoly concession was given to GüllüAgop as we have already mentioned above, this is a two-way agreement; The public sector had some expectation from GüllüAgop in exchange for the monopoly.

When the conditions of the concession was looked; GüllüAgop would have a monopoly of playing Turkish drama, tragedy, comedy and vodvil in Üsküdar and Beyoğlu for ten years. Opera and similar musical genres would be excluded from this monopoly. Since it was a monopoly, no other theatrical Turkish play would be allowed during this period.

Also according to the specification; he had to establish a theater within six months in Üsküdar, within three years in Galata, Tophane and Beyoğlu, within six months in Istanbul in and if he did not so, the monopoly would be removed. Ten different games would be played in the first year, which would be increased in the following years. Regardless of profit and loss, at least fifty performances would be given every year in Üsküdar, thirty in Galata and Istanbul.

The last three provisions of the contract were that compulsory demonstrations for the benefit of the poor would be made, a gendarme would be in the theater, and ticket prices would be regulated. In addition, it was necessary to inspect the places according to Article 5 and to obtain permission for the works from Şehrematen according to Article 6.

As it is seen, the public forced GüllüAgop to give different impressions for the development of theater art in Istanbul, to keep the number of impressions above a certain number and to open theaters in certain districts of Istanbul. For GedikpaşaTüyatrosu mentioned above, there was another contract giving a privilege of fifteen years before that, but this privilege was for circus and similar demonstrations. It was also very different from the concession given to GüllüAgop in terms of its provisions. The first contract fifteen years ago stated that another theater in Istanbul could not be opened. In the concession given to GüllüAgop, this was exactly the opposite. Ottoman intellectuals and elders wanted theaters to open especially for the spread of theater. GüllüAgop would not have a competitor in the Turkish screening, but there was no provision restricting the Armenian demonstrations. There was no binding provision in musical performances, and GüllüAgop was able to perform in musical performances.

ONLY FOR SHOWS

GüllüAgop was publishing a showcase of games, artists, managers’ names, prices, subscription conditions, and a short article addressed to the audience, if necessary, at the beginning of each period. Thus, audiences became aware of all the theater-related lives at the beginning of the year and could adjust themselves accordingly. We can compare these illustrations to today’s trailers. Just as a movie or series now offers a short introduction to the audience before the show, GüllüAgop informed the audience at that time. The number of figures reaching from GüllüAgop until today is only three.

• 1871 Only For Show (göstermelik)

1871 only for show dates from 19 Shaban 1288. Thus GüllüAgop made some preparations for the upcoming Ramadan. In the only for show with the declaration of the Ottoman theater started at ‘’Der-aliye, Gedikpaşa under the management of GüllüAgop Efendi” first the plays were under the titles of comedy, drama and tragedy. The names of species other than these are not given, and a general definition is given. ‘’ Other Tragedies, Drama, Vodvil, Comedy chansonette and dance, operas and some footsteps and others. No playwrights were shown in only for shows, and unlike in later years, no title of ownership was mentioned.

The following information is provided for seat prices in the demonstration:

Big lodges belonging to Vükel’â-yıFihamHazarâtı7 Selimmecidiye (currency valid then) on the second floor: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15; 3 Selimmecidiye, first place lodge, second floor: 1, 2, 3, 4, 16, 17, 18, 19; 3 Selimmecidiye (currency valid then) continues like this.

The following information is given to the subscriber on the show:

“In the winter nights, for only mervech-ihâlâ, a % 30 kurus discount will be done for those who want to subscribe in the seventy-five plays. For the subscriber of 75 nights: Liray-yıOsmanî 50, for the big lodges belonging to Vükel’â-yıFihamHazarâtı 31st position, 22nd position, 13th position, for 10 seats, couch number 8’’

In 1870 Ramadan came in January. One newspaper reported that ManonLescaut had played on January 13, 1870, but Gedikpaşa Theater hadn’t see the old demand in Ramadan. The press usually supported the Ottoman Theater in these years. Other for only shows that arrived today are the 1872–73 and 1874–75 for only shows, which are published as in the above example.

THEATER COMMITTEE

The privilege of the monopoly, the leadership of GüllüAgop and the share of the Ottoman intellectuals as well as the players’ staff of the community are great in the development of the Ottoman Theater. In the press, the most criticized part of the theater was the bad Turkish pronunciations of the Armenian actors. An important step in the development of Turkish pronunciations was made in GüllüAgop’s Ottoman Theater.

A newspaper in 1873 announced that a Gedikpaşa Theater would be reorganized and that a committee consisting of Raşit Pasha (Governor of Syria), Kemal Bey (Namık Kemal), HâletBey, ÂliBey and GüllüAgop had begun work. Namık Kemal and ÂliBey are important playwriters of the period. Among the works of the board, there was a kind of ‘reading board’ and ‘’ art advisory board ‘’ function as well as narration lessons of Namik Kemal and ÂliBey.

The positive effects of the Theater Committee were immediately seen at Gedikpaşa Theater. This was reflected in the press, and the reaction from the press was well received. In other words, to summarize, Armenian players, who were criticized for bad pronunciations, were given pronunciation classes and positive feedbacks were received.

THE YEAR OF DECLINE AND GÜLLÜ AGOP’S LEAVING

The environment, which faced recovery with the declaration of 1st Constitutional Monarchy and the authors returning from the exile, suddenly broke down with the Ottoman-Russian war. GüllüAgop left management to DikranKalemciyan until the middle of 1877. The Ottoman Theater, on the one hand, gave musical performances, while on the other hand it was showing appropriate patriotic warfare. In the meantime, ‘’Vatan or silistre’’ was always played because it was timely. After the war was over, many players of GüllüAgop decided to continue the task elsewhere.

In the years that followed, GulliAgop decided to leave office for complicated reasons. The press began to target GüllüAgop many times in the last years. Due to the complexity of domestic politics, GüllüAgop left his post as the government left GüllüAgop alone and the press debate intensified. Although the Ottoman Theater was under the control of the Minakyan government, unity was not achieved until the time of GüllüAgop and gradually the interest shown to the theater in the Ottoman Empire began to disappear. The first priority was that the Ottoman Theater under the Minakyan administration gain a little breath and keep the press well, but this exit was not the one very long lasting.

The development that led to the demolition of the Gedikpaşa Theater was that the plays of “Çengi” and “ÇerkezÖzdenleri” were acted. In fact, the prohibition was more for the “CircassianOzdenleri”. Because ‘’ Cengi ‘’ was played in Verdi Theater and New Theater a month ago and the main people from the government watched them. On the other hand, there was an air of Circassians. It was learned that some of the people had collected money for a book on the history of the Circassians. An article was sent to the newspaper with the signature of “Circassian”. All these reports show that the prohibition was related to “ÇerkezÖzdenleri” rather than “Çengi”.

The pulling down of the Gedikpaşa Theater was not reflected in the press. The collapse occurred in 1884. The above-mentioned games played in the theater were reported to the court, and according to a settled conviction the theater was destroyed in one day.