TIYATROTEM is an off theatre company from Istanbul and has specialised in a modern method of staging traditional Turkish shadow plays. TIYATROTEM is comprised of Ayse Selen and Şehsuvar Aktas. Depending on the production, they are joined by dramaturg and
theorist Çetin Sarıkartal. Ayse Selen and Şehsuvar Aktas develop their productions in their studio which are then staged at different national and international venues.
They describe themselves as follows: "From traditional storytelling to modern theatre – the theatrical possibilities of puppet theatre forms like Karagöz (Turkish shadow play), Ortaoyunu (improvisation theatre), Meddah (storytelling) and Tekerleme (supporting fairy
tale in Turkish narrative theatre, full of cheek and repartee), show that storytelling and, later on, popular theatre permanently oscillated between asserting and breaking illusions and that the texts were always self-referential. TIYATROTEM goes on a journey to recover this wonderful but also difficult legacy. The plays LAHANA SARMA (THE CABBAGE), BÖYLE DEVAM EDEMEYIZ (WE CANNOT GO ON LIKE THIS) and ALEM BUYSA KRAL ÜBÜ (IF THAT'S HOW THE WORLD GOES, THEN UBU IS KING) are distinguished by the characteristic
features of the Tekerleme: a symmetric structure or recurrence of moments, situations and expressions as well as imitations, incorrect pronunciation, self-referential play, stepping out of the role, roles within roles, the act within the act, distancing effects and the blending of irony and grotesque that are all part of the storytelling and theatre tradition of Turkish art."