Municipel Theaters

Municipal Theaters are kinds of theater institutions that are supported by city municipalities in each city. The municipal theaters present plays that appeal to the audiences of each city. The most important Municipal Theaters are Istanbul Municipal Theater and Bakırkoy Municipal Theater in Istanbul but there are also some other important municipal theaters in Anatolia like Eskisehir Municipal Theaters or Kocaeli Municipal Theaters.

Darülbedayi, which was officially affiliated with the Istanbul Municipality in 1931, was renamed as Istanbul Municipal Theater (IMT) in 1934. The first works of many playwrights were staged at Istanbul Municipal Theatre for the first time and many new playwrights were introduced to Turkish audiences through the Municipal Theatre. The first children's theatre was set up at IMT in 1935. This period also became a period during which children’s plays were regularly and continuously staged. Especially, Ferif Egemen’s initiatives in this field added historical characteristics to our children’s theatre. Today, the Municipal Theatre, which has six stages in five theatre buildings accomodates about two thousands spectators each day.

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