One-act plays and Republican Period one- act plays analysis (1980- 2000)

The aim of this study is to reveal the characteristics of one-act plays which are considered as a new dramatic genre in terms of the theme and the technique in the light of the analyzes carried out with a text-oriented approach. In order to achieve this aim, nine one-act plays were selected from the Republican period of the Turkish Theatre (1980- 2000): Adalet Ağaoğlu, Duvar Öyküsü (1992); Turgut Özakman; Ben, Mimar Sinan! (1987); Sabahattin Kudret Aksal, Bay Hiç (1981); Murathan Mungan, Bir Garip Orhan Veli (1980); Güngör Dilmen, Galatea ile Pigmalion (1986); Nezihe Meriç, Sevdican (1984); Sezai Karakoç, Çeyiz (1980); Orhan Asena, Bir Küçük Gece Müziği (1991); Turan Oflazoğlu, Çağrı (1990). These selected works were analyzed in the light of Freytag Pyramid presented by Freytag in his book which name is Die Technik Des Dramas/ The Technique of Drama (1863) which is the structural text analysis table consisting of five chapters and three crises and data presented in the introduction section of B. Roland Lewis's book named Contemporary One-Act Plays. In the second part of the study, the main features that can distinguish one-act plays from other plays are pointed out. Based on the text analysis performed in the conclusion section of the study, conclusions reached through the theme and the technique of one-act plays, the characters in one-act plays; the plot, the beginning, the middle and the end of the one-act plays; dialogue of the one-act plays and stage-business and stage-direction in the one-act plays were presented. In one-act plays, the singleness of impression and dramatic effect to be left on the reader/ audience, the skilled workmanship of the playwright in the process of bringing technical elements together, the pursuit of the rare, rather than the situations often encountered in everyday life, handling of the most crucial points of every stage of human life and the desire to reveal the whole; the small number of people, the limitation of time and space, but their intensity and depth; subject diversity (mythology, history, mysticism, psychology, philosophy, migration, love, passion, art, aesthetics, etc.) are among the characteristic features of one-act plays identified throughout the study. In fact, one-act plays are often the parts of plays that can be called the climax/ crisis moment. The most striking moments and the most dramatic sections of life appear on the stage with the brightness of a projection. A philosophical and profound message is felt in the direction of the artist. Even though it is sometimes brought to the stage with classical and sometimes epic understanding of classical elements, the main feature of the one-act play is that the subject is mostly loaded with metaphor/ displacement. Key Words: Short plays, one- act plays, the theme and the technique characteristics, Republican Period of the Turkish Theater (1980 - 2000), text- oriented analysis.