THEATER, A WORLD OF MAGIC BY IMPROVING CHILDREN’S CREATIVITY ANALYSIS OF A PLAY: “THE MAGIC FLUTE”

Salvador Dali says: “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings”. This quote refers that imagery and creativity are unlimited. The world of theater is a world of magic. The elements, scenery, lighting, costume, effect, music and players are the main components of a play by stage adaptation for creating the magic of the theater. Equally the components contain empty spaces, which can be filled with the own experiences and according to the point of view by the director. These empty spaces can be formulated different, according to the director, who conveys his/ her messages to the audience through the channel. Creativity is an ability, which is defined as, to imagine something that is not existing, to do something with a different way, to create new ideas; and creativity begins if there is no limit. As George S. Patton said: ‘Don’t say people how they have to make something. Say just what they have to do and see how they amaze you with their creativity. The childhood is the most important period of improving the creativity as it is by the formation of the character of the children. Slovhover defends that, creativity is an imagery journey and it can be arise anytime. The power of imagery is very important by creating a work of art and is “sine qua non” for creativity. Creative drama has an important role and contribution to activate the imagery of the children, as a child’s play. The child’s play “The Magic Flute” is chosen for this study as a focal point. In this study, the text of the play, the impact of the concepts and the findings will be analyzed and it will be observed how and with which purpose the director formulates the music, effect, lighting, costume and scenery, to improve the creativity of the children. The famous opera “The Magic Flute” of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is adapted to a child’s play by Seden Edgü. Through the child’s play “The Magic Flute” directed by Can Doğan, we will conceive that, how the creativity, which is defined as “No limit for imagery”, is created. The theater is a magical world. It sometimes makes the audience laugh or think, engulfs them and enriches the world of the audience with this magic. That is how you start questioning topics you have never thought of before, look at things with a new perspective and enrich our imagination. The images brought on by this magical world enriches our outlook on life and our thoughts and feelings. As Esen Çamurdan said, “Things said by people in the theater are not important alone; to whom they have said to in what circumstances and how they have said it have become more important. The grand epilogue of a fallen king in tattered clothes to the poor will not be the same thing if a mighty king is speaking to masses who are afraid of him.” (Çamurdan, 1996, s. 43) So in this regard, the audience is our exit point. Our audience are kids who are at the peak of their creativity and it is obvious that the theater carries this creativity one step further. But how? Which elements in the theater support creativity? According to modern thought, creativity is an ability that exists in all humans and is a behavior type which can be observed in a wide range of areas, from daily life to scientific works. (San İ., 1979, s. 1) The elements that trigger this characteristic are elements such as music, costume, decor, effects and lighting in the theater which creates images in the minds of the audience. For kids who enrich their lives with games, the theater is the most real one. Creativity can also be described as dreaming, creating images in children’s minds and letting them run free. The things perceived in the minds of the audience and the imagery they create are the starting points of creativity. Wit, which is an essential element in creativity (for years this has been presented as two opposing notions), has been thought of as a whole different concept but now it is being realized that these two notions actually complete each other. (Landau E., 1974, s. 7-8) W. Amadeus Mozart’s famous libretto “The Magic Flute”, has been chosen as the focal point of this paper where we explore creativity, because of three creative elements: The fact that the piece was composed by Mozart, the genius child of music, the fact that it is a children’s play, the fact that it was adapted by Seden Edgü, who set out to introduce Mozart to kids and adapted the piece according to the culture and perceptions of Turkish kids and the interpretation of Can Doğan, who combined the cinema and the theater by pushing the boundaries of directing and stimulated the creative imaginations of kids with the many elements he introduced. In the words of Özdemir Nutku “The unlike art, sculpture, architecture, ceramics or photography, is not the product of a frozen beauty, but is an art that can be reevaluated without losing its freshness or factualism. That is why it needs creative people with the ability to capture current events, people who have the habit of reading and researching an art form. In other words, it exists and lives through creative people (Nutku, 2001, s. 9). In this paper, we will examine this play put forth by creative people and try to reaffirm Özdemir Nutku’s argument.