Theater artist Ulvi Alacakaptan, nephew of Muammer Karaca, the unforgettable master of Turkish theatre, evaluated the history of the venue, his childhood memories, the architectural transformation of the stage and the audience profile in Turkish theater to AA.
Explaining that she spent her childhood in the family apartment opposite the Karaca Theater, Alacakaptan stated that her grandmother was Muammer Karaca's older sister and that she grew up backstage among masters such as Adile Naşit and Gülriz Sururi.
Alacakaptan said that the theater, designed by his relative, architect Perran Doğancı, was built in 1955.
The master actor, who said that he was not invited to the opening despite being the closest living theater relative from Karaca's family, stated that he visited the theater after the restoration and pointed out two technical deficiencies regarding the original structure of the historical place:
"I toured around inside. It was nice. There are actually two shortcomings. There was a revolving stage, they removed it. In fact, a revolving stage is a very important thing in theaters. There was also an orchestra pit. Because 'Luxury Life' played with the Carlo Capocelli Orchestra and there were around ten people. They removed it. But it is beautiful. We are happy."
- "They would go to the theater to see what was going on in Ankara."
Emphasizing that Muammer Karaca has a comedy and satire style that is rare in the history of world theater, Alacakaptan stated that Karaca Theater functioned like a "newspaper theatre", especially in the 1950s, despite the political pressures of the period.
Ulvi Alacakaptan said, "'What is going on in Ankara?' There were people who went to the theater every night. Because he puts pressure on people and criticizes them. Menderes' last days. A new thing called the Homeland Front has been established and lists are being published. They say 'The gentleman will come'. He comes and they drink coffee in the locker room. 'How do you wish, sir? 'Should we play it as it is, or soften it a bit?' he says. 'Play it as it is.' he says. This is unique in the history of world theater. The Prime Minister, sitting in the front row, doubles over with laughter and falls and hits his head on the stage. Demirel and Özal, who came after him... He would criticize them harshly, but they all loved him very much, they always came to his theater."
Touching on Karaca's understanding of tuluat, the artist shared that when he noticed the successful improvisations of the other actors on stage that caught the audience, he gave the actor his due backstage and said, "Take that 50 liras. I will say this line from now on," and that he personally bought the joke.
Water Administration wanted to build a dining hall
Stating that the theater has been in danger of closure and demolition many times in the past, Alacakaptan conveyed their struggle against the Water Administration, which wanted to turn the building into a cafeteria in 1979, with the following words:
"In 1979, the Water Administration wanted to demolish it and add it to itself. All the theater actors gathered in front of the theater. Then we toured the inside. Aziz Üstel's wife, who worked at TRT, also helped us with the program. We shot it on video, it was a dump. After that, Gülriz Hanım (Sururi) went to the mayor of the time and we stopped the demolition."
"Muammer Karaca's style went with him"
Arguing that it is difficult to keep the Muammer Karaca school alive today, Alacakaptan noted that the most basic element of theater is a qualified audience:
"I swear, it is difficult, almost impossible. If you ask why, as the old saying goes, 'it stays with itself', Muammer Karaca's style went with him. Because the first is the actor himself, the second is the audience. The most important thing in the theater is the audience before the actor. Ali Poyrazoğlu says 'The audience is our colleague'. That audience does not exist anymore. Joke comes from the root 'spiritus', meaning soul. A joke with a soul is a joke. Otherwise, when the man is about to sit, pull the chair from under him, Let it fall. This is not a joke, it is even a prank. Those who make jokes very delicately will know a little history and economics. But unfortunately, there is an audience that is uninformed, uninterested, and obsessed with sparkling and mumbled things. If we are not the boss, we do not want a lot of audience, but a good audience.
Giving the example of the days when they performed the play "They Also Shoot the Shahs" in 1980, Alacakaptan added that the play was staged even when there were 7 people in the hall, and with the support of that qualified audience, the play was performed 579 times to a sold-out house for 4 years.
