Orutaoyunu - Orutaoyunu

...On holidays such as the circumcision ceremony of the court princes and the Feast of Sacrifice, more than 100 guilds would march and perform demonstrations, and in Horse Square (At Meydanı), the former site of the Byzantine hippodrome, Meat Square (now in the Aksaray district), and Arrow Square (Okomeydanı), wrestling, acrobatics, magic, clowning, equestrian events, and archery competitions were held, which were enjoyed by courtiers, high officials, ulema, and the general public. On nights during the fasting month of Ramadan, karagöz and orta oyunu (improvised theatre) were performed in the palace, in the mansions of high officials, and in squares, and coffee houses (kahves), which became popular from the mid-16th century onwards, were bustling with meddāh (storytellers) and āşik (minstrels), and soon became places where the people formed political opinion, and this tradition spread to London and other European cities. Karagöz, which represents Istanbul's folk performing arts, vividly depicts the customs of the diverse ethnic groups living in the city, focusing on the dialogue between Ottoman gentlemen (hajiwat) and the people (karagöz).

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Ortaoyun" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　宮廷の王子たちの割礼式，犠牲祭などの祝祭日には，100種以上にのぼるギルドが実演をしながら行進し，またビザンティン時代の競馬場跡地にあたる〈馬の広場At Meydanı〉や〈肉の広場〉(現，アクサライ地区)，〈矢の広場Okomeydanı〉などでは，レスリング，軽業，奇術，道化，馬術競技，弓道大会などが開かれ，宮廷人，高官，ウラマー，民衆がこぞってこれらを楽しんだ。また断食(ラマダーン)月の夜などには，宮廷や高官の邸宅，あるいは広場などでカラギョズ，オルタオユヌorta oyunu(即興劇)が演じられ，16世紀中葉以後に普及したコーヒー･ハウス(カフウェkahve)にはメッダーフmeddāh(語り物師)，アーシュクāşık(吟遊詩人)が出入りしてにぎわったが，やがてここは民衆の政治的世論形成の場となり，そうした伝統はロンドンなどヨーロッパ諸都市に伝播した。イスタンブールの民衆芸能を代表するカラギョズは，オスマン紳士(ハジワト)と民衆(カラギョズ)との掛合いを中心にこの町に住む多様な民族の習性を活写している。…

※「オルタオユヌ」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報