The Magic Tree

Karagöz is a traditional character in Turkish puppet theater who bears many similarities to our own Kasperl. Karagöz is a cheerful, simple, yet witty and cunning man of the people. He is cheeky, always in a good mood, and regularly gets into trouble when he lets his neighbor Hacivat talk him into his shady schemes.

Cengiz Özek is Turkey’s most famous Karagöz puppeteer. He lives in Istanbul and shares the following story with us – the story of the Magic Tree:

Hacivat appears and calls Karagöz. They have their usual fight. Then Hacivat tells him that he has problems with his irresponsible servant, Mercan, and wishes Karagöz to educate him. After the servant comes, Karagöz tells him that he is too old to be disciplined by another man. Mercan says that they should play a game so that he didn't come all the way for nothing. After a short discussion Karagöz agrees. Mercan tells him to lie down and play dead. The servant now asks Karagöz a silly question, “How many kilos do you weigh?” Every time Karagöz guesses the incorrect number he is brutally beaten. In the end, Karagöz pulls himself together and beats the servant back. The servant angrily puts a curse on Karagöz, and a magical and evil tree appears in front of Karagöz’s house. And then… to see what happens next, come and enjoy the show!

Traditional Turkish shadow theatre, called Karagöz, reaches back to the early seventeenth century in the times of the Ottoman Empire.