Village Watching Games

Village Spectacle Plays, are traditional performances with dramatic elements, organized and enacted by rural communities, especially during the long winter months as well as at weddings and holidays, for entertainment and passing time. According to historical sources, these plays are based on a very ancient oral tradition and have continued in Anatolia since after 1071, parallel to the activities of ozans, maintaining their presence to the present day. They are considered older than the urban cultural products Karagöz (Shadow Play) and Orta Oyunu. Professor Dr. Şükrü Elçin has also used the term “Village Orta Oyunu” to define these plays.^【1】

Village Spectacle Plays hold an important place within the tradition of Traditional Turkish Theatre. These performances, typically carried out by villagers under names such as “making a play” or “bringing out a play,” are distinguished above all by their anonymity—that is, their creators are unknown. The plays do not rely on a written text. Although they have a general structure, they are performed extemporaneously (tuluat), shaped by the performers’ skills and the audience’s reactions and participation. The frameworks of musical, dance-based, silent, and folk-song plays are more defined. In these plays, the actual managers or directors are tradition and custom. In regions where a managerial figure emerges, this person is called “Delikanlı başı,” “Köse,” “Meydancı,” or “Oyuncubaşı.” These individuals oversee the preservation of the plays in their original, authentic form.

^{Village Spectacle Play (}Elazığ Ministry of Culture and Tourism⁾

Village Spectacle Plays are a form of theatre that has survived from thousands of years ago to the present. They have persisted since antiquity. Their origins lie in the ritual practices of villagers, who dramatized ceremonies aimed at enhancing fertility in agriculture and animal husbandry. The villagers believed these rituals would bring blessings from the gods. Because its function stems from ritual ceremonies, the tradition of peasant theatre differs from the broader Folk Theatre tradition.

These plays have undergone a functional transformation: originally they were obligatory. Villagers consciously participated in them to ensure the productivity of their lives; the acts performed carried a sacred and worshipful character. However, over centuries, this obligation gradually faded, and spectacle plays came to be defined as a form of entertainment. Today, they are largely sustained for amusement, far removed from myths and spiritual states. Generally, Village Spectacle Plays are divided into two main categories: ritual plays and profane (secular) plays. Villagers further classify them into humorous, tragic, silent (samıt or lal), and puppet (baby) types.^【2】

The plays typically coincide with the autumn and winter months, periods associated with farming and animal husbandry. They are also performed during ceremonies such as weddings, both day and night. Performances take place in two types of spaces: open (village square, threshing floors, courtyards) and enclosed (large village rooms or houses). The performance space must be large enough to accommodate both performers and audience. Performers and spectators are arranged in a circular formation, surrounding each other (performative space).

Performers are generally young or middle-aged non-professionals. The most capable among them assume the role of manager (director). In plays prepared by men, women are portrayed by men; in plays prepared by women, men are portrayed by women. The audience spans all ages from children to the elderly. Anyone may attend performances held in open spaces, whether invited or not. In areas with stronger religious observance, men and women may watch from separate locations. The audience actively participates and becomes a producer of the performance. In entertainment-oriented plays, spectators may converse with performers and even disrupt the play. At the end of ritual plays, performers are rewarded with food.

In Village Spectacle Plays, elements common in modern theatre such as auditoriums, stages, sets, lighting, and special effects are rarely or never used. There is no fixed concept of set design; performers merely indicate their location verbally. Costumes and props are made from simple materials appropriate to the period. It is irrelevant whether a man portraying a woman has hair or a beard; this artificiality enhances the sense of otherness. Props may be false (a stick), real (a rifle), or living (a person). Makeup is applied in exaggerated and practical ways, using wood soot or pot black (Arab makeup) or flour (White people). Music and dance are indispensable and vital components of these plays. In ritual plays, music and dance have a devotional character; in entertainment-oriented plays, they are purely for amusement.

In the Isparta region, these plays are generally referred to as “Maşalama.” Some identified examples include: ^【3】

• Arab Play: Centered on the theme of an Arab figure, with a face blackened and dressed in exaggerated costumes (inverted coat, pillow), searching for a husband for his daughters, while local men kidnap these girls.

• Horse Play: Based on the creation of a horse figure by attaching an animal skull skeleton to a stick and covering it with a sheet (it carries elements from the shamanistic beliefs of ancient Turks).

• Slaughter Play: A humorous play featuring the roles of butcher, assistant, and sacrificial animal, imitating the ritual of animal slaughter and washing, ending in laughter.

• Camel Play: Performed at weddings. Two people enter a highly exaggerated camel costume made with stairs and saddles, accompanied by its owner (Savram başı), frightening the spectators.

• Tinsmith Play: A comedy featuring the roles of tinsmith, apprentice, bellows operator, and messenger. The tinsmith continues working despite the news, while the bellows operator, painted and shouting, creates the humor.

• Keloğlan’s Wedding Play: Centered on the theme of Keloğlan’s inability to marry; the performer takes on both the roles of father and Keloğlan.

These folk theatre plays, once widely performed in rural areas, are now on the verge of disappearing. The main reasons for this decline are the failure to train new performers and changes in tastes, entertainment preferences, and living conditions. For example, the lack of young performers for the Camel Play has caused it to lose its vitality. Village Spectacle Plays are not classified as Modern Theatre because they lack written texts. However, it is emphasized that this theatrical form, which encompasses all dramatic elements, must be archived and preserved through the efforts and support of researchers, and must be revitalized by integrating it into contemporary theatre.