Emancipating the Spectator: Performance and Experience in Tiyatrotem

Abstract

This article critically examines the dominant paradigms in Turkish theater that are trapped between “educational” and “entertaining” approaches to the audience and explores the alternative dramaturgy of the spectator developed by Tiyatrotem in its adaptations of Tartüf Bey and III. Riçırd Faciası. Through these adaptations, it is argued that theatrical interventions to classical texts are not based on a pedagogical foundation but rather on a foundation of experience and equality in the relationship the group establishes with the spectator. Tiyatrotem transforms actors into extra-daily beings by using jinns and puppets, thereby eliminating the hierarchy between the stage and the audience. This esthetic approach aims to create a space for shared experiences rather than reducing the spectator to a passive or active dichotomy. Tiyatrotem redefined theater as a space for action that prioritizes sharing an experience on stage, rather than as a tool for conveying messages. Tiyatrotem uses traditional forms of performance not to reproduce them but as tools that expand the collaborative basis of performance. This esthetic approach offers a unique and critical contribution to the theater art in Turkey.

Keywords

• Dramaturgy of the Spectator
• Adaptation
• Shakespeare
• Molière
• Tiyatrotem

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