Nicosia Municipal Theater ( tr, Lefkoşa Belediye Tiyatrosu) is a prominent theatrical organization in

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

. Headquartered in North Nicosia, it is organized under the

Nicosia Turkish Municipality Nicosia Turkish Cypriot Municipality ( tr, Lefkoşa Türk Belediyesi) is the governing body of North Nicosia province of TRNC. It was established in 1958 and was recognized by Article 173 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. After 1974 a ...

. It was founded in 1980. The establishment was prompted by the firing of a leading group of actors, including

Yaşar Ersoy Yaşar is a Turkish name and surname. It may refer to: * Yaşar (name), a Turkish given name and surname, including a list of people with the name *Yaşar University, a Turkish university in Izmir, Turkey *Yaşar, Şavşat, a village in the Distric ...

and

Osman Alkaş Osman Alkaş (born 3 November 1955) is a Turkish Cypriot actor. He is one of the founders of Nicosia Municipal Theater and he is still active in this theater. He was involved in the production of ''Torba'', a popular program among the Turkish Cypr ...

, following a politically sensitive play that was staged in the wake of the

1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état ( tr, 12 Eylül Darbesi), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by ...

in the first culture and arts festival in North Nicosia. Despite the limited budget of the municipality,

Mustafa Akıncı Mustafa Akıncı (; born 28 December 1947) is a Turkish Cypriot politician who was the president of Northern Cyprus from April 2015 until October 2020. An architect by profession, Akıncı in 1976 became the first elected mayor of the Nicosia ...

, the mayor at the time, put effort to provide for the theater. Despite its starts in harsh conditions and unkempt buildings, the theater grew to become an influential part of the Turkish Cypriot society. It has been praised for its performances that do not abstain from expressing political views and uphold the freedom of speech. In 2012, the temporary administration of the municipality proposed the closure of the theater due to financial problems, but the proposal met with fierce criticism and opposition, resulting in its withdrawal. Outside Northern Cyprus, the theater has performed in various cities across Turkey and in the Republic of Cyprus. It organizes the annual

Cyprus Theater Festival Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is g ...

. The theater is currently active in its own building, however, the building has been deemed insufficient and the festival mainly takes place in the

Near East University Near East University (NEU; tr, Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as YDÜ) is a private university located in North Cyprus. It was founded in North Nicosia in 1988, by Suat Günsel, a Turkish Cypriot who is the 100% owner of NEU. ...

. A project to build a new theatrical center with a capacity of more than 3500 has been underway since 1996. The construction of the building has been partially completed but the project has stalled due to financial limitations, despite the vows of successive mayors to finish the project.

References

Theatres in Nicosia Culture in Nicosia Organisations based in Northern Cyprus Buildings and structures in North Nicosia {{NCyprus-stub

See also

References