Problems of space and suggestions of solutions at opera applications in İzmir State Opera and Ballet House (1994/95-2004/05)

The very first demonstrations of operas and operettas in İzmir date back to 1926, when the construction of Elhamra was completed. The stage and back stage parts, however, are limited as the building was originally designed to be a movie theatre. Following the lease of the building in 1978 to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, it was restored, keeping the original architectural style unchanged, and it was transfered to İzmir State Opera and Ballet established in 1983. Since then the building has been in service for İzmir and its inhabitants, despite various spatial difficulties countered.Because opera is a stage art, the combination of a theatral play with music, it enjoys a great variety of contributions from such other fields of arts as painting, architecture, music-based poetry, songs and dances and particularly theatre-based costumes, decors, light and effects. It is a kind of art constituting all such mentioned fields of art, creating certain aesthetic feelings in the audience.The spatial difficulties Izmir State Opera and Ballet has suffered at opera demonstrations since 1982-1983 opera season were first overcome to a certain extent by chosing one-act plays. The infrastructural problems were suffered at most particularly following 1984 whenever multi-acted operas were chosen and/or whenever such operas required frequent changes in acts. The design of Elhamra, originally planned for a movie theatre, has created a number of difficulties for the activities to be carried out at the stages as well as the performances at the back stage, regardless of the various reconstructions and restorations implemented so far.The opera demonstrations applied together with the spatial difficulties encountered within the ten-year period extending from 1982-1983 to 1992-1993 were studied through a Master?s thesis prepared by Ass. Prof. Dr. Selda Kulluk Yerdelen. The purpose of this research is to analyze the stage and back stage spatial conditions and technical facilities available at the opera houses of Ankara, İstanbul and İzmir State Opera and Ballet, following a brief review of this history of operas both in Turkey as well as in the world. In this research, the background of the Elhamra is briefed, the demonstrative problems encountered during a ten-year period extending from 1994/95 to 2004/05 and the solutions to these problems proposed by stage designers are analyzed.Since the operas performed during the mentioned decade were generally multi-acted ones, just as were in the previous ten-year period, a general podium was placed on the stage and the decoration accessories along with the furniture available on the podium were changed ; mobile podium elements were used ; either colored panels were taken from the backstage and the sofita to the stage or the mobile panels the double faces of which are painted already available on the existing podium were used, turning them to the directions based on the situation of the stage.During the decade of the opera performances from 1994/1995 to 2004/2005, the stage designers displayed appreciable achievements in stage designs, minimizing the inefficiency of the stage and preventing the negative effects on the audience by means of utilizing the solutions they themselves created. This study, analyzing the stage demonstrations performed during this ten-year period, aims to systematize these developments, on the one hand ; and to emphasize the importance of these performances in the stage art, on the other hand, by means of documenting the operas demonstrated during this particular decade.