Representations of Turkish and Jewish people can be unflattering, even prejudiced. While the plots are familiar, the puppeteer addresses topical issues with impromptu wise cracks, observations and even bawdy repartee. The puppet show is usually accompanied by a small group of musicians and a singer, and much shouting and noise and witty dialogue keep the audience laughing. Although totally uneducated, Karagiozis manages to bluff his way into different jobs, allowing the puppeteer to satirize prominent figures, professions and contemporary issues. Karagiozis often mocks the various characters and includes them in his desperate adventures. He is a Greek folk hero for children and adults.
He is poor and uneducated, relying on his cunning and ready wit to extricate himself from precarious situations. The Greek Karagiozis is wiser and less of a clown than Karagoz, his Turkish brother. The moral tales enacted by the puppeteers feature satirical observations about the social and political issues of the time - a form of social commentary understood by people of all classes. It is still a form of shadow theater that takes place today. The Greek shadow puppet theatre became a vital way for Greeks to see, hear and maintain their cultural and artistic traditions. Puppeteers usually worked from scenarios rather than finished scripts so that they could adapt storylines according to the audience. Audiences varied - from royalty to middle class families to uneducated workers. This was the beginning of the Karagoz puppet tradition.įrom the 17th century through to the first decade of the 20th century, Karagoz - Karagiozis in Greece - became the leading player in the shadow theatres of the regions. On his performances he imitated the voices and mannerisms of the workmen which delighted the sultan. He regretted his decision so he asked a Turkish puppet master to make shadow figures of both laborers. Their continual comic arguments on a mosque construction site halted work and enraged the sultan who ordered their execution. Through the Ottoman empire the shadow theater spread over several cultures including Jews, Greeks, Turks or Arabs.Īccording to popular legend the two principal characters in shadow theater were modelled on two Turkish laborers, Karagoz and Hacivad, who lived during the 14th century. The evidence points out that shadow theater was performed during the 11th and 12th centuries in Egypt, Asia Minor and North Africa. Generally, there is no research done that clearly states where and when this technic started. It seemed that the concubine came back from the death as a shadow to console the emperor. When his favorite concubine died, the emperor’s people made a puppet of her and placed it behind a lit curtain. The Chinese ruler of the time, emperor Wu, had many concubines.
The first story known that makes reference to shadow theater took place in China during the 2nd century BC. Shadow theater is a traditional technic that began in ancient times.
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