FIRST MUSLIM FEMALE THEATER ACTOR
“ Not by pitying me; Remember by thinking, loving and embracing. If there is theater, I exist!”
Afife's passion for theater, her dream of going on stage one day started with plays where she went hand in hand with her grandfather Pasha many years ago. However, Muslim women were forbidden to appear on the stage at that time. Although Pasha's grandfather tells about the obstacle in front of her, the little girl is not old enough to understand them. Upon her interest in theater, her nanny Sophia designed a stage for Ziya and Afife to act out the play they wanted, and the performances of the two children became the biggest source of entertainment for the household, especially their grandfather Sait Pasha. Said Pasha has always appreciated his grandchildren's interest in art and was happy. His father, Hidayet Bey, is at the forefront with his more conservative identity as well as being very knowledgeable in the family. Hidayet Bey, Ottoman, Dr. Sait Pasha, on the other hand, is in conflict between conservatism and modernity, as he defends the Union and Progress. When Afife was in her last year of primary school, mobilization was declared in all the lands of the Ottoman Empire. The Istanbul Mayor of the period, on the other hand, established the first city theater 'Darülbedayi-i Osmani' in order to protect the spirituality of the society, and brought the famous French theater actor Andre Antoine. Again in this period, non-Muslim women began to take the stage together with Muslim men in the theater community. The best actress of this period is Eliza Binemeciyan, an Armenian woman who is constantly mentioned. Afife, on the other hand, is trying hard to keep up with the changes in the theater community of the period and at the same time continue her school life (Freedom Fighter Mod). Finally, he won the painting department of the school he dreamed of, Sanayi i Nefise Mektebi. When he saw the announcement of Darülbedayi's board of directors that a limited number of Turkish girls would receive theater education, in Temaşa Magazine, which would change his life from beginning to end, his love for theater outweighed all the difficulties in front of him. At the age of 16, he stepped into Darülbedayi without telling anyone from his family. His father, Hidayet Bey, When he saw his daughter in Maşa Magazine, he got very angry and offered two options to Afife by saying, "Either quit the theater or leave the house" (His father's unsupportive and expulsion from the house formed the origin of the Emotional Deprivation Scheme on the one hand, and the Abandonment Chart on the other hand). Her mother, Ms. Methiye, knew how strong her daughter's love for theater is, so she made a very brave decision by not leaving her daughter alone. However, since his beloved father passed away, he no longer has a door to go to. Meanwhile, Sophia, Afife's nanny, said that Afife is my daughter too and opened her house to them. The big day has come at the end of the three women's struggles with great economic difficulties. Afife, as Afife Jale, surprisingly met the audience for the first time in Kadıköy, the place of the most Western-style living in the Ottoman Empire, with the role of 'Emel' in Eliza Binemeciyan's work titled "Patches", which she exhibited for years. The audience, who saw him on stage, responded to his outstanding performance with strong applause. Thereupon, Darülbedayi experienced the victory of putting the first Muslim Turkish woman on the stage, and they wanted to put it on the stage again with another play played by Eliza for the next week. The name of this game is 'Sweet Secret'. When the first act of the play closed and went backstage, a lot of police officers said that they would take Afife Jale to the center. Just then, that pain that would never leave him alone throughout his life was stuck in his head (as a result of the inhibition of his success by state officials, psychosomatic mode was activated and migraine attacks began). Just when she was going to be taken to the center, Kınar Hanım helped Afife Jale escape. In those days, Eliza Binemeciyan returned to Istanbul and Darülbedayi. While the whole theater community was talking about Afife, the famous actress could not be proud of, and whatever was talked about Afife turned everyone off. In this process, Afife Jale, on the other hand, struggles with persistent headaches, and on the other hand, she is afraid of not being able to go on stage (Pessimism Chart). After the fearful wait, the game "Odalık", which they wanted him to play Darülbedayi, was played. bsp; reported it to him. This game is a game that reveals the social realities and tells the concubine life of little girls who are tasked with presenting only their bodies to their masters. Even though Afife is fully prepared for this game, strong headaches continue. His mother, Methiye Hanım, tried all the remedies and finally decided to take him to a psychiatrist. They stepped into Suat's clinic with a hope. Dr. Suat said that the only remedy for headaches is to use morphine, and he never warned the young girl about addiction. Thanks to morphine, the pain was gone. Afife, whose name was mentioned in the newspapers as "A star was born", is now ready to stage the play "Odalık". He finished the first act with another outstanding performance, and the audience collapsed with applause. The second act was the same again and the police raided. That damn headache started again when he was getting off the stage to escape from the police (Psychosomatic Mode). In an official letter from the Istanbul Municipality, the Darülbedayi's Board of Directors was ordered to "not let Muslim women take the stage". Thereupon, Afife wrote the following lines in her diary, which was inherited from her Pasha grandfather. "One of the members of Darülbedayi's Administrative Council
is going to Şeyhülislam. From there it is written to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and from there to the Şehremaneti. It is reported that I will be expelled from Darülbedayi because it is against Islam for Muslim women to appear on the stage.” (March 3, 1921) Thereupon, Afife started to have strong headaches again because she was never called by the theater community (Abandonment and Emotional Deprivation Scheme), Dr. He always knocked on Suat's door. Dr. After Suat made him addicted to morphine, he proposed to her. Upon Afife's rejection of this marriage, Dr. Suat made him pay for morphine with his body and raped her. He had to reject the marriage proposal of his childhood love, Ziya, because he felt himself spiritually and physically contaminated (Flawlessness Scheme). When his hope for the theater was over again (Pessimism Scheme), Burhanettin Bey, one of the former teachers of Darülbedayi, died. He played the piano and asked him to take the stage in the play "Napoleon Bonaparte" in Burhanettin Bey Company. It was not easy for Burhanettin Bey to put Afife on the stage, he managed to put Afife on the stage by asking for help from the French soldiers against the Ottoman and British law enforcement forces. When Afife, who took the stage in front of General Pelle, took the stage safely and ended her play, the hall was again bursting with applause. Afife managed to escape at the end of the game, and Burhanettin Bey was not seen for a long time. Afife could not hear from him until she learned that Burhanettin Bey and Semiye were going to Egypt tour. Since he could not accept not being able to go on stage, his headaches did not go away again and he could not get out of bed (Psychosomatic mode). While Afife was experiencing these, the Ottoman Empire came to an end, and on Tuesday, July 11, 1923, the Darülbedayi team allowed Muslim Turkish women to take the stage in the presence of Mustafa Kemal Pasha and performed their show for the Pasha. With the pain of being pushed onto the stage and then forgotten, Afife was very upset that Muvahhit Bey's wife, Bedia Hanım, appeared before the pasha instead of herself (She thought that she should be there as the first Turkish woman to appear on the stage. The Charity of Righteousness. Since this did not happen, she assumed the mode of being a hurt child. ). After this sadness, he released himself again and lifted the letter that İsmail Faik Bey wrote to play in the play 'Broken Heart'. In the happiness of not being forgotten, Afife has prepared a play worthy of her name, well prepared for her role. However, the wind of change in the country did not affect Afife's life, and she faced the same end. Since İsmail Bey was taken to the police station for putting the Muslim woman on the stage, his headaches increased again, and he breathed as always, Dr. Suat's clinic (Psychosomatic Mode). In this process, women were allowed to take the stage, and the Turkish Theater Protection Society was established in Ankara. During this time, Ms. Bedia added successes to her achievements and managed to make her name known. He reached Afife She achieved the prestige she wanted to achieve with the support of her husband (Afife felt unsuccessful in the face of Bedia Hanım's achievements with the support of her husband. However, the person who should be in her place is herself. Failure Chart- Righteousness Chart). After this destruction, it was Fikret Şadi Bey who knocked on his door. Fikret Şadi Bey, on the other hand, offered Afifeye to join the Trabzon tour they organized with his wife, Zabel. Afife's love for theater led her to the road this time when she was 22 years old. With the changing country conditions, importance has been given to theater and women. When they arrived in Trabzon, the police chief of the region greeted them. It's unfortunate that the headaches recurred as soon as they saw the police chief. Because that person is the Kadıköy police who caused headaches years ago and treated him as a bad woman. When Afife's headaches recurred in these lands where Dr Suat's clinic is far away, she immediately needed morphine, she asked for help from the people in the team and returned to Istanbul. Even though she tried every way to get on the stage, she could not digest the fact that the women after her could easily take the stage and become the crown jewel. As soon as he returned from Trabzon, he bought himself a set of injectors, and his addiction to morphine increased even more (Detached Avungan Mod). During this process, he distanced himself from the theater and pushed himself into invisibility as usual (Social Isolation Scheme - Social Withdrawal Mode). After every failure he experienced, he distanced himself from people and camouflaged himself in the social environments he entered. (Afife Jale interpreted not being on the agenda as a failure. Failure Chart) Darülbedayi, on the other hand, has come a long way in this process and started to produce works at the European level. However, no one offered a role to Afife Jale. He felt used because those who put him on stage no longer wanted him. (Skepticism Scheme) Afife met her second and last love, Selehattin Bey, at the casino she went to with her friends during these depressive times. Selehattin Pınar was one of the most loved people of the period.
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