The Meddah from a semiotical approach

Today the development of Theatre manifests a standstill and retrogression period in Turkey. The major reason of this circumstance is that the actors and the actresses, the number of whom is on the increase are unable to practise their career for social and economical reasons. The research for the genres in Turkish Theatre and their interpretation in accordance with the contemporary view of Theatre will make a contribution to the analysis and solution of this problem. One of the indispensable elements of Theatre is the actor. It is certain that there cannot be a theatrical act without an actor. Thus, the Semiological Approach to the practises of the Theatre of meddah which places the actor on the axis of the theatre will bring to light the contribution of this genre to the contemporary theatre. The signs of the Semiotics of Theatre are all that bring out signification on the stage. The main orientation of this study, in this respect,is towards explaining the significations of the Theatre of Meddah. Meddah does not need anything but himself in order to perform his art. For him, everywhere is the stage. His basic means is his body and his voice. His stories designate a joint construction and bear imitative, amusing characteristics since they are made up for the purpose of more amusement. While on one hand, the meddah amuses his audience by performing the characters in his stories, he takes moral lessons from the deeds of the characters of his stories on the other hand. All of the significations in the Theatre of Meddah are gathered on the actor. The negative circumstances are no more problems for the actor who is now the theatre himself. This study is prepared aiming at making a contribution to the practices to be done in this field by the actors and actresses who are still unable to practise their career due to those social and economical conditions.