Since theater is a form of expression based on showing, it is a literary genre that revolutionary leaders are interested in. The modern theater, which we started to know in the last period of the Ottoman Empire, is seen as a means of bringing new ideas to the society. An important part of the theater works written in the Tanzimat, Constitutional and Republican periods serve this purpose.

Before moving on to the theater works written in Atatürk's period, it would be useful to briefly look at the general appearance of the Turkish theater just before the Republic. During this period, many important developments in political, social and cultural terms were undoubtedly reflected in our literature, and new subjects and themes, in which the outside world was very influential, determined the direction of our theater literature. The Ottoman Empire also got its share from the developments caused by the understanding of nationalism, which was effective in the beginning of the last century, while on the one hand, new political understandings and new social aspirations were expressed in the literary works produced in this period, on the other hand, ideas were tried to be produced to ensure the continuation of the existing order. It is known that our modern literature is a literature that blends these ideas. Just before the Atatürk era, The general appearance in our theater literature can be evaluated within this framework. II. Apart from the works aimed at gaining political interest in order to approach the Union and Progress administration around the enmity of Sultan Abdulhamid with the Constitutional Monarchy, we can evaluate the others within this framework. The period in which all these thoughts are told through literary works coincides with the childhood and youth period of Mustafa Kemal. These years are also his education years and he has the opportunity to get to know some of these works during his school years. Mustafa Kemal's role in the National Struggle and the Republic is partly the result of this education he received. The second period of our theater literature, which we call the first period of the Tanzimat theater, is named depending on a political event. In this period, which is called the Constitutional Theatre,Names such as play, play, lubiyat, representation are given; In fact, it is seen that expressions such as " story in the form of a play, monopoly story, verse fairy tale, verse joke " are used instead of the term theater. Constitutional theater, which has not yet formed an audience discipline, tries to shed light on its era with the plays it puts out, on the other hand, it turns to the theoretical issues of the theater, which we are quite behind.  Media organs such as Piano, Theater and Temâşâ Mecmuası, Musavver Tiyatro, Yeni Mecmua, Musavver Devr-i Cedîd Newspaper, Musavver Eşref, Resimli Kitap, Weekly Newspaper, and Ileri Newspaper, intermittently say, “theatre, the purpose of theater, our understanding of theater, audience, actors . Articles on ” are published.

Meşrutiyet theater, which Metin And has classified as “comedias, verse plays, political and documentary plays, historical dramas, war plays, social and domestic dramas, emotional dramas, musical plays and adaptations”, is “political changes, ideologies, education, city and deals with topics such as “family life”. The theaters of the Constitutional Period are like a mirror of the political and social order of the period with their general appearance. The most important detail that draws attention in this mirror is that various political thoughts and events – especially wars – that have emerged in the recent period are brought to the agenda through theater works. New meanings are given to subjects such as Internationalism, Ottomanism, İttihâd-ı İslam, Turkism, Populism, Balkan Wars, Tripoli, Crete Issue, First World War, especially the Dardanelles War in the Republican period. Like this, The foundations of many subjects covered in the Republican period were laid in this period. In addition to the above issues, village life, family and women, distant periods of Turkish history, the National Struggle, the formation of the Republic and its institutions constitute the most important aspect of the theaters of the Atatürk period. The first generation, who put forward these plays, witnessed the Balkan Wars, the First World War and the National Struggle. He goes through the process of establishing the republic. The second generation gives their works in the 1930s and benefits from the experience of the first generation. The names of Musahipzade Celâl and İbnürrefik Ahmet Nuri, who saw the theater as a field of occupation in this period and contributed significantly to the establishment of the theater of the Republic, are extremely important. We can add the names of Reşat Nuri and Faruk Nafiz to these.

It should not be forgotten that the institutions that contributed to the development of the theater of the Atatürk period and that provided the training of theater writers and theater actors. After the collapse of Darülbedayi in 1923, the Directorate of Industry of Fine Arts was established in Ankara in 1926 in order to ensure the continuation of the dying theater activities. The Governor of Istanbul Muhittin Bey reorganized the disbanded Darülbedayi company and rebuilt it under the name of City Theatres. After Muhsin Ertuğrul returns from Europe, many local plays are staged here. This not only creates a small number of theater audiences who see their own life on stage, but also serves to train playwrights. Halit Fahri, Yakup Kadri, Reşat Nuri, Faruk Nafiz, Hüseyin Rahmi, The works of artists such as Nazım Hikmet and Necip Fazıl are staged here. Many of the works staged are the first works of the authors. This will be an incentive for future works.

Republican administrators are aware of the importance of art in explaining the new society and political order. In this period when the literacy rate is still very low, theater is a very important means of communication. For this purpose, on the one hand, while the City Theaters are being developed, on the other hand, institutions that will develop the art in accordance with scientific methods are established. The General Directorate of Fine Arts, established in 1935, forms the basis of today's State Theatres. In 1940, the Conservatory law was enacted and theater and opera departments were opened in the established State Conservatory. It is known that all these works were followed by Atatürk during his Presidency and tried to ensure that the administrators showed interest. As a matter of fact, with Atatürk's directives, the theater, which he saw almost as a public service, It is seen that formations such as the "National Stage", which was designed as a traveling theater to reach the public, and the "Turkish Theater Himayet Cemiyet", which would encourage and finance the theater activities, were tried, but no positive results could be obtained. To all these, it is necessary to add the theater activities of various formations, especially the People's House. After these short determinations, we can move on to explaining the theaters of the Atatürk period.

Musahipzade Celal, who tells about the social and political problems experienced in the last period of the Ottoman Empire, is also a writer who tries to use traditional theater and Western theater together. Musahipzade Celâl, who wrote his first work in 1920, witnesses the accelerated political and social decay in the last period of the Ottoman Empire. By incorporating these into his works, he tells the negativities in life from different perspectives and through very different subjects. In his plays, Musahipzade Celâl implicates that the corruption in the state is reflected in the society, and that there is a total decay from social groups to family structure and individuals. The Qadi of Aynaroz, written under the influence of traditional theater  He wrote the others during Atatürk's period, except for (published in 1927). In this period, in which Ottoman life is not complimented much, he prefers to describe the Ottoman life by combining it with the life of the period in which he wrote his works. The Proclamation of the Union  (1923),  His Eminence with the Ferman  (1924),  Behind the Cage  (1929),  A Kavuk Overturned  (1930),  The Candle Extinguished  (1931),  Monday and Thursday (1931  ),  Gül ve Gönül  (1933),  Selma  (1934),  Balaban Ağa  (1934)  Lord of Istanbul  (1936),  Gönül  (1936),  Tulip Era  (1936),  The Sparekeeper  (1936)  His works named Genç Osman  (1937) point to the political, social and cultural degenerations that took place just before, along with the negativities experienced in the Republican period. The plays of Musahipzade Celâl, who deal with current issues in Selma, are important in terms of directing Atatürk's theater to social life.

Another important name of this period, Ahmet Nuri (Eighth), Hüseyin Suat (Yalçın), he wrote mostly works dealing with family problems with adaptations of French boulevard plays. In 1920, he deals with the Ottoman legal term "hisse-i şayia" in his work of the same name. Criminal Law  (1930),  Embroidery  (1931),  In the Sharia Court  (1933),  Son Ateş  (1934),  Himmet'in Son  (1934) and  Belkıs Works such as (1934) were written during the Atatürk period. Ahmet Nuri, who deals with various social issues in his works, is influential in the training of new theater writers with his articles on the theoretical issues of theatre. This effort is important for our theater literature.

 Reşat Nuri, who entered the theater in 1920  with two works named Hançer  and  Eski Rüya , tells about the theoretical issues of the theatre. He writes articles that deal with the problems of the theater in a wide range from the history of contemplation, foreign and local works, translations, adaptations to theater artists. Reşat Nuri, who believes that Turkish theater will develop with adaptations made on foreign works, is the most productive name among the theater writers of the Atatürk period. Reşat Nuri, who has produced many works in terms of theoretical writings and theater works, in the said period  , The Sun of Hope  (1924),  The Enemy of Journalists  (1925),  The Umbrella Thief  (1925),  The Old Tramp  (1925),  Piece of Stone (1926),  A Village Teacher  (1928),  Babur Shah's Prayer Rug  (1931),  A Country Entertainment  (1931),  In the School of Hope  (1931),  In the Face of Disaster  (1931),  Mount Eyes  (1931),  Old Debt  (1931)  He wrote the plays Istiklal  (1933),  Tax Thief  (1933),  Hülleci (  1935). If Hülleci, which was written in accordance with the official ideology,   is left aside, in other plays, he tries to present the negativities of social life, the problems caused by ignorance, with the attention of an educator, which forms the basis of all his works. Farewell to Yakup Kadri   (1929), His plays Sağnak  (1929) and  Cave  (1934), just like Reşat Nuri's plays, describe the change experienced by society and the troubles caused by this inevitable change. The plays that describe the problem in terms of the loneliness, desperation and predicament of individuals emphasize that this process can only be overcome with education.

 In addition to Ahmet Nuri Seçkin and Reşat Nuri Güntekin , Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar, Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil, Vedat Nedim, whose articles have been published in publications such as Darülbedayi, Vakit, Akşam, Cumhuriyet, Hayat, on the theoretical problems of theater and theater criticism, especially translation, adaptation, copyright  We should also mention names such as Tör, Muhsin Ertuğrul, Nurullah Ataç, Bedrettin Tuncel, Hikmet Şevki, Aka Gündüz, Peyami Safa and Selami İzzet Sedes.

After briefly evaluating the authors who are considered to be the founders of the republican theater, let's try to deal with the works written in that period in terms of the subjects and themes they deal with.

Among the theater works of the Atatürk period, the most remarkable ones are the plays from the near and distant periods of Turkish history. While some of these plays deal with recent events, an important part of them relates these events to the past of the Turkish nation and supports a nation-building process suitable for the new age. The writing of these works begins with the Republic and continues intensively between 1923-1938. Playwrights are extremely active, especially in the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Republic. In 1933, dozens of works were written that relate the decade of the Republic with the events that took place just before and after its establishment. In this period, the sources of Turkish culture, especially Turkish history, Turkish mythology, epics and legends, are visited; The unifying and integrating spirit of these resources is utilized in the nation-building process. At the same time, by establishing relations between yesterday and today, the interpretation and understanding of the events is facilitated. Explaining the reforms made after the establishment of the Republic through the theater leads to the formation of stronger ties between the Republic and the theater. Despite the difficult conditions of the period, the theater works written in the tenth anniversary celebrations are tried to be taken to the villages, and the advantage of the theater based on showing is utilized. Since the first years of the Republic, the establishment of many amateur theater groups, especially the People's Houses, and the staging of local works that explain the advantages of the Republican administration and the reasons for the reforms, is a result of this understanding. In many parts of Anatolia, especially in Istanbul and Ankara, plays are staged that draw attention to the ignorance, bigotry and negativities caused by those who use religion for their own interests, which hinder the understanding of the new age. In the writing and staging of these plays, the wishes of the Republican administrators, especially Atatürk, cannot be ignored. Reşat Nuri Güntekin  The writing of the plays Hülleci , Musahipzade Celâl's  İttihat İlâmı  and Osman Cemal Kaygısız's  Üfürükçü is a result of this desire. With all these efforts, it is aimed to develop a new understanding of theater that will include the public and make it stronger in the new age, as well as the social and political benefits it will provide.

It is seen that among the theater works given in Atatürk's period, the sources of Turkish culture were visited and a strong social structure that would stand in the difficult conditions of the twentieth century was tried to be created. Dede Korkut Stories are brought to the theater stage for this purpose. Burla was written by İffet Halim (Oruz), describing the power and greatness of the Turkish nation,  based on Salur Kazan, one of the heroes of  Dede Korkut Stories, whose house was plundered by the enemies. The play named (1933) aims to base the spirit of the National Struggle, which founded the Republic, on national resources. Again, for the same purpose, the old Turkish history is applied to support the nation-building process. In the works written at the beginning of this period, the virtues, ideals and national cultural values ​​of the Turkish nation are explained with various examples from history. Most of these plays are a reflection of the official history thesis of the period. Faruk Nafiz's   plays Akın  (1932) and  Özyurt (1932) can be considered within this framework. Akın, who was represented in the presence of Atatürk in Ankara Community Center on January 4, 1932 and written in syllabic meter  His play is the epic of the process from the depths of Turkish history to Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha. The game wants to develop values ​​such as hard work, honesty and loyalty to the state in the Republican generation. In Özyurt , on the other hand, the determination and determination of the children, who replaced their fathers, to establish cities and bring civilization there, in line with the directives of Istemi Han, who gave them the principality. The games in question serve the ideal of elevating the Turkish nation to the level of contemporary civilizations, with the directive of Mustafa Kemal, the children of the Ottoman Empire, who raised a state from the rubble of the Ottoman Empire. Hayrettin İlhan's  Golden Bow His short verse play (1932) tells the story of Başbuğ Mete's sons making the East and West their homeland for Turkishness. The play Mete , written by Yaşar Nabi in 1932   , tries to identify Mete and Atatürk. The emergence of a young Turkish Republic from the collapsed Ottoman Empire is told with an interesting similarity between Mete and Atatürk. In the play, in which the sensitivity of the Turkish nation to freedom and civilization is explained, the Turkish nation's fondness for independence and the way they take civilization to the places they go are told. Behçet Kemal, Ergenekon  (1933) , Shepherd  (1933) and  Attila , which he wrote in accordance with the understanding of history and Turkishness of the period.  In his plays (1935), he goes to distant periods of Turkish history. In the first of these plays, he aims to make the Turkish nation the founder of civilization,  to give the Shepherd a historical consciousness and self-confidence, and in the last one to raise awareness of national identity. S. Behzat's  Attilâ's Wedding  (1934) ,  Münir Hayri Egeli's  Mr. Önder  (1934) and  Fevzi Kutlu's  Timurhan  (1934) shows the target of catching the highest civilization to Turkish youth and it is possible to protect the integrity of Turkish history. it is told. The Sumerian Pleiades of A. İsmet, which was also written within this framework.  In his play (1934), he describes the disasters caused by the civil wars and, in accordance with the history thesis of that period, shows the Sumerians as a great branch of the Turkish race.  The themes of peace, justice and unity are also handled in Abdulhak Hâmit's play  Hakan (1935) , which was written in accordance with the history thesis of the first years of the Republic  . Vehbi Cem Aşkun's Oghuz Epic  , as in  Attila, Shepherd, Mete  and  Mr. Önder plays In the play named (1935), Atatürk is identified with the hero of the work. Oğuz Han, the hero of the play written by Vehbi Cem Aşkun, is introduced with his youth and old age and compared with Atatürk. These plays present Turkish history as a whole to attention. Such an understanding is the reflection of the principles of the Republic in art and literature. This can be interpreted as an effort to give our people a modern identity. Because the way of modern identity passes primarily through national identity. The nationalist language and symbols in this period form the basis of this identity.

Among the theaters of the Atatürk period, the works that we can call era plays are predominant. There are many plays that describe the role of Atatürk in the victory of the National Struggle and the Republican process, especially the National Struggle. Games, not only the struggle; It also explains the importance of the state established as a result of this struggle. In all societies, art is always at the forefront of telling the national heroes and their ideals to the society. This will be the case with us as well as with the Republic. For the reasons we have mentioned above, theater takes a step forward. In the theater works given during the period of Atatürk, the number of theaters that treat Atatürk as a personality during the National Struggle and the Republic is very few. Reasons such as the fact that Atatürk is alive and he is not able to explain it properly enable it to be dealt with mostly in terms of its role in the National Struggle and the Republic process. Faruk Nafiz His play Hero  (1933) deals with the thesis that people who pursue their personal interests and walk on the brink of betrayal can become heroes in the footsteps of idealistic pioneers. The best example of this is Mustafa Kemal. With the fire of independence he lit after crossing into Anatolia, he led to the emergence of heroes who wrote an epic that would set an example to all oppressed nations, from people who are chasing their petty fights and daily hassles. Galip Naşit's  Epic  (1933), İbrahim Tarık Çakmak's  Gray Wolf In his plays (1935), Mustafa Kemal is shown as a hero of freedom, not only for the Turkish nation, but for all nations pursuing their freedom. Nations that have lost their independence have lessons to be learned from his struggle. In the works that show Mustafa Kemal as an exemplary hero both for his own time and for future generations, some of the heroes of the play represent the youth of the Republic. They are told as idealistic, patriotic young people who look to the future with confidence, have a history conscious.

The common aspect of the plays written in this period and describing the National Struggle is that they reflect the spirit of independence. This spirit is staged in the theater works of the period in question as the epic struggle of a nation determined to live independently. The plays, which deal with the National Struggle from different perspectives, on the one hand emphasize the theme of independence, on the other hand, tell that freedom was won under very difficult conditions. Some of these plays give the National Struggle with the ten-year Republican period. Osman Sabri's  For the Homeland  (1931) ,  Nazmiye Asım's  Oath  (1932), Baha Hulisi's  Untitled Disaster (1933), History Shame  (1933)   , co-written by Ali Zühtü and Müşteba Selahattin  , Nihat Sami'sKızıl Çağlayan  (1933), Aka Gündüz's  Half Osman  (1933), Nüzhet Haşim Sinanoğlu's  Sakarya  (1934) ,  Aziz Mustafa's  Mourning Bullet  (1934) ,  Hüsamettin Işın's  First Sacrifice for Atatürk  (1935), M Fevzi Sözener's  For My Country  (1936) ,  Hüsamettin Şemsi's  Liberation  (1936) ,  Celal Tuncer's  Revolution Travelers  (1937), Aziz Altuğ's  Greatest Work  (1937), Nazım Hikmet's  Kuvâ-yı Milliye  ( 1937), Peyami Safa's  Sunrise  (1938), M. Avni Mengü's  Return from the Front (1938) are plays that reflect the spirit of the National Struggle and try to keep this spirit alive by carrying it to future generations. The theme of independence is emphasized throughout and it is explained that the ideal of independent living is the most important virtue of the new century. The theaters, in which the independence achieved through faithful and faithful people who believe that the National Struggle is a work of faith, who are conscious, self-sacrificing, and who consider the interests of their homeland superior to their own, are written in the excitement of the period, lack many in terms of language and staging technique. are works. A large part of it was written in order to reflect the political and social excitement of the period and to announce this excitement to children and young people. In short, theater is not a goal in these plays; is a tool. Child, young girl, fiancee, The women whose husbands or sons fought at the front or were martyred, fathers whose son was martyred or betrayed, veterans who ran from the front to the front, people from the city-rural, illiterate-educated, eastern-western, northern-southern people are the heroes of these plays. The fact that people from so many different ages and social groups take place in the works tells that the struggle for independence is the result of a total struggle. For example, M. Feridun's The Soldier Knocking the Door  (1931), Nahit Sırrı Örik's  Never-ending Fire  (1932), Ahmet Faik's  Testament  (1933), Hayrettin İlhan's  Sunrise  (1933), Vasfi Mahir's  Yaman  (1933), Kazım Nami's   While the roles of male protagonists in the National Struggle are described in the plays called Awakening  (1933), Necip Fazıl Kısakürek's  Tohum  (1936), and Saim Kerim Kalkan's  Vatan ve Vazife (1938); In the play titled Bir Yuvan Şarkıları (1933), written by Nihat Sami   , the honorable struggle of Ayhan Hanım, who was exiled because her father helped the National Struggle, is told.

One of the important subjects of the literature of the Republic is the plays in which the attitude of the clergy towards the Republic is told. Plays that examine the attitude of the clergy towards the National Struggle and especially deal with the issue from different aspects have been written. Burhan Cahit's  Gavur Imam  (1933), Aka Gündüz's  He Was a Time In his plays (1938), the conflicts between the supporters of the National Struggle and the supporters of the Sultan are told. As in many other works, the supporters of the sultan are also shown as enemy collaborators. The same is true for these works. However, this approach does not last long. In the theater works written in the following years, the playwrights who got rid of this prejudice, carry the clergy who opposed the enemy, resisted the occupation and led the people in this regard, unlike the usual narratives. In some of the plays in which the National Struggle is narrated, the troubles caused by those who could not grasp the reality of the National Struggle and the struggles against those who caused these troubles are also told. The invaders did not come to harm anyone; they came for friendship and at the request of the sultan, The struggles of those who have an understanding that those who oppose the occupation are bandits who rebel against the sultan and those who are against them are told. The main conflict of the games is based on this unconsciousness, and it is generally seen that the struggle is fought against people from the same environment. Naci's Stars of Victory  (1928), Necmettin Veysi's  The Sun  (1934), Yunus Nüzhet's  Goal  (1934) can be considered within this framework. The plays in question are works that have not been able to analyze the events they narrated in the excitement of the era, and it is obvious that they were written hastily. As we see in plays about religious men, playwrights freed from prejudices produced more successful works in the following years.

In many plays about the National Struggle, the impossibilities experienced in these years are also pointed out. It is emphasized that despite the impossibilities in Anatolia during the years of the National Struggle, Istanbul remained indifferent to the developments. By making a comparison between Istanbul and Anatolia, it is pointed out that there are honest and self-sacrificing people who put their lives on the line for the independence of the homeland in Anatolia, despite those who became rich through war profiteering, living in luxury and trying to lead a European life. This is the play Nüzhet Haşim Sinanoğlu's  15 Days of an Officer  (1934), which describes the difficult conditions of the struggle for independence.

Among the plays that describe the National Struggle, there are also plays that deal with it as a documentary instead of looking at one side of the struggle and try to show all the phases of this long struggle. The first of these plays was written during the Atatürk period. Fuat Edip Altan's  play History Tells!..  (1935) is also remarkable in terms of its fiction. The Speech in which Mustafa Kemal told the National Struggle with all its phases and documents from the rostrum of the Assembly  The play, which takes the work of art as a starting point, draws attention to the sources of the idea of ​​living independently and independently in its own land, which emerged with the occupations. He tells that independence is in the character of the Turkish nation and that Mustafa Kemal acted on it with his historical consciousness. In this game, relations are established between the realization of the impossible and the genius of Mustafa Kemal.

We also come across plays that describe the principles of the new state, which was established after the National Struggle and which is desired to be a new and national state. For this reason, literary historians approach the first period of the Republic in terms of the principle of "social benefit". In particular, Community Centers became the most effective organization in this regard during the years of Atatürk. During the ceremonies related to the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Republic, which is celebrated in a splendid way, pre-Ottoman Turkish history is included in order to introduce the dynamics of the national state. It is told that our national identity and culture will be more easily preserved and even developed with this new regime. Theater comes to the fore in many cultural structures, especially in Community Centers. A whole Turkish history from the distant periods of Turkish history to the National Struggle, This process is reconsidered in order for it to be carried out in a healthy way. Based on various periods of Turkish history, model heroes who can use this process correctly are applied. In the plays written in this period, the Republic is handled in two ways. The first points to the virtues of the Republic, and the second aims to show the difference by comparing the republican regime with the previous regime. Among the plays in the first group, Aka Gündüz's White Hero  (1932) , Blue Lightning  (1934), Yaşar Nabi's  Children of Revolution  (1933) , Five Ages  (1933),  The Honor of the Village  (1933), Halit Fahri Ozansoy's  Epic of the Decade  (1933), Vasfi Mahir's  10 Revolution  (1933), Müçteba Selahaddin Or's  Ülkü Traveler We can count games like (1937). In the plays, which aim to show the differences by comparing the Republic with the previous regime, especially the institutions of the Republic are explained and the developments provided by the new regime are pointed out. The plays, which compare the Republic with the previous regime, draw attention to the corruption in the social and political life of the Ottoman period. It is told that the Anatolian people, who were not respected much in the understanding of the Ottoman state and could not get service, in a more accurate way, were respected in the Republican period, tried to be served, and that the Republic cared about these people and their problems. Aka Gündüz's  Village Teacher  (1932), Aziz Nogay's  From Sevr to Lausanne  (1933) ,  Vedat Nedim's  29 First Teşrin  (1933), Vehbi Cem Aşkun's An Airplane Day in Atatürk Village  (1936), Yusuf Sururî Eruluç's  A Heart's Tale  (1938), Yunus Nüzhet Unat's   plays Haydi Suna (1938) are theatrical works that can be evaluated within this framework. Almost all of the plays, which aim to show the difference by comparing the republican regime with the previous regime, belong to the Atatürk period.

After the establishment of the Republic, the positive changes that took place in our political and social life, especially in the rural areas, came to the agenda of the theater of the Atatürk period. Tarık Emin's   plays For These Lands  (1933) and Rakım Çalapala's  The Voice From The Village (1933) are developed over the village policy of the Republic. It is emphasized that thanks to the reforms that opened the horizons of the villagers, they would go to the corners of the dormitory that were left without knowledge. In the plays in which the principle of “Towards the People” developed by Ziya Gökalp is effective, it is not only to discover the folkloric and cultural richness of the village; It is emphasized that the main purpose is to bring civilization to the village. Kartal written by Şükrü Halil (Tugal)  The play named (1936) is told by combining patriotism and belief in national unity and independence with loyalty to the founding leader, Mustafa Kemal. It is emphasized that thanks to this belief, all difficulties will be overcome. In the short play named Uzun Mehmet (1938), written together by Ahmet Naim and Celâl Edip   , the story of Uzun Mehmet, who first found the coal, is told. It is pointed out that the destiny of the country passes through knowledge and education.

An important part of the theatrical works given during the Atatürk period are given by the writers that we call the first generation of the Republic. Although most of these works were written within the framework of the National Struggle, the Republic, and the revolutions in the excitement of the period, playwrights such as Halit Fahri Ozansoy, Vedat Nedim Tör, Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel, Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Nazım Hikmet, Cevdet Kudret used different elements of Turkish culture to build a nation. In addition to the plays that support the process of development, we see that he also wrote plays that examine the problems of the individual and society within the framework of the changing value judgments with the new age, the problems in front of the desire for change, the spiritual contradictions that are the most important individual problem of the people in the new age, and the ideologies that emerged in this era. In these games, besides the belief problems of people and the contradictions they experience, The situations that arise due to socio-economic developments are also questioned. Man begins to be seen as a psychological being beyond being a social being or an integral part of society. For example, Halit Fahri This is how the play Extinguish Kandiller  (1928) is played. The First Poet  (1923),  Nedim  (1936),  Ghost  (1936) are the plays that we should mention in the theater of the Atatürk period.  Faruk Nafiz, who was an important name in verse theater in the Turkish theater of the Atatürk period , deals with Anatolian problems with the same emotionality in his plays called Monster  (1925) and  Numbers (1928) , as well as the plays he wrote based on Turkish history and culture  . In fact, Canavar is banned for a while because it describes and criticizes the existence of an exploitative order between the gentry and the people in Anatolian life. Claiming a national theater and cinema, Necip Fazıl, in the excitement of the period  ,After describing the love of independence and the power of struggle among the  Turks  in  . The play, in which complex emotions are intertwined, is important in that it is a play that we rarely see in the theater of the Atatürk period, and in which obsessions belonging to the individual are processed. Necip Fazıl emphasizes that individual peace is related to the strengthening of spirituality in this and subsequent plays.  Questioning the capitalist economy with the Skull he wrote in 1931  , Nazım Hikmet puts his signature under the first examples in our literature of a political ideology that emerged in the first quarter of the twentieth century. A House of the Dead, written in 1932 It takes the subject to a more social frame in . People who have money and its purchasing power gradually move away from human values. The same subject is partly covered in Unutulan Adam , written in 1935  ; explains the negative effects of money, which determines the value measures. He opposes the power of money and imperialist plays in plays written by Cevdet Kudret and Vedat Nedim Tör with a similar attitude among the theaters of the Atatürk period. All three writers consider social problems with their economic causes and moral consequences. Along with Nazım Hikmet's plays, Cevdet Kudret's  Reverse Flowing River  (1929),  Dream Inside Dream  (1930),  Wolves  (1934) and Vedat Nedim's (Tör)  Unemployed His didactic plays such as (1924),  Fevkâlasriler  (1928),  Animal Idea Seven (1929),  Blind  (1929),  Rootless  (1937),  Between Three Persons  (1938) should be evaluated within this framework. Contrary to Reşat Nuri, Vedat Nedim, who thinks that copyrighting works will increase the interest in Turkish theater, is not about adaptations made on the lives of others; He thinks that as the plays of local writers reflecting the lives of our people are staged, the theater will spread more easily.

In conclusion, we can say the following: Almost all of the works in the Turkish theater of the Atatürk period, in which both the National Struggle and the construction of the Republic, are written in the excitement of the period. This provides the development of a partially national-romantic period in our theater literature. Many of the works given in this period are works published and played within the activities of Community Centers. This process enables the writing of plays that know the life of the rural people well and bring them to the stage within the framework of an ideal. It is seen that the possibilities of the theater genre are used extensively, especially in the adoption of the reforms by the way of " suggestion " and " education ". It belongs to every branch of art that the CHP has made a motto by means of Community Centers; “The principle of “technique is international, spirit is Turkish, method is international, style is Turkish ” is also followed through theater, and heroes from Turkish history and Turkish culture, who can be models with their various characteristics, are told.

The excitement and pride of achieving a great revolution paves the way for the formation of a certain self-confidence. With this self-confidence, the Republican regime is compared with the previous regime, the virtues of the Turkish nation and its cultural values ​​are highlighted. All this means the emergence of new values ​​in the new age. Some of the plays written in Atatürk's period deal with the problems brought about by the change. Thus, with the Republic, a different view of human and human-specific problems emerges. This different view forms the basis of a new understanding of nationalism based on history and national values. The nationalism in question is tried to be built on the basis of populism.

In the Turkish theater of the Atatürk period, it is emphasized that the most suitable regime in which a healthy nation structure will be established is the Republic. It is told that the Republic is the guarantor of individual enterprises and freedoms. Realizing that the twentieth century is a nation-state century, the authors try to contribute to the nation-building process in their plays. From time to time, the Ottoman's understanding of management, institutional corruption, and social decay are often criticized in a prejudiced way. Even if it is delayed as a value of the new century, the people are also highlighted in our country. All these games are extremely important in terms of both understanding the importance of the Republican regime and understanding the difficulties experienced before the Republic. It is also a fact that the games in question bring different perspectives to our recent history and that this will be beneficial for new generations.

Atatürk period Turkish theater deals with the changing world order and related problems, albeit to a small extent. While the negativities caused by the decay in the Ottoman state are handled with reference to the problems of the family and the individual, it is also discussed how to overcome them in the new century. The excitement of the victory of the National Struggle, the proclamation of the Republic and the realization of the reforms, and Atatürk's charismatic personality appear as a critique of imperialism and capitalism in the works of several authors.

The Turkish theater of the Atatürk period paved the way for the emergence of a new understanding of theater within the theater-republic relationship. The developments that took place inside and outside in the period after Atatürk broadened the subjects of the theatre. Especially after 1950, playwriting, theater criticism, theoretical and aesthetic problems of theater are handled more comprehensively. The theater chair established in the Faculty of Language, History and Geography paves the way for the establishment of new institutions that deal with theater from a scientific and aesthetic point of view. State theaters spread across the country. The state continues to support the theater directly and indirectly. All the riches we have in the name of theater today are undoubtedly the result of these efforts.

Abdullah SENGUL

SOURCE

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