

This thesis looks at the alternative theater field in Turkey especially after mid 2000s which is separated from conventional theater making styles by the usage of blackbox stages, new texts (translated or locally written), experimental dramaturgies and new acting techniques. Through the memoirs of the festival, this study also discusses the emergence of contemporary performing arts in Turkey in 1990s. Through tracing the exciting, humorous and joyful moments in the festival narratives, the interaction between the festival and the everyday life in the village was explored. The implications of commemorating the art director of the festival, Hüseyin Katircioglu, who died untimely in 1999, shows itself in various ways including a reflection on his role between the artists and the local people of Assos. Local people participated in the festival sometimes just by openning their garden to theatre rehearsals or by acting in the plays, or by helping to sew the costumes.Through interviewing with the participants of the festival, both with the artists and the local people of Assos, it is asked how the festival was remembered. The festival was based on site-specific art works which were produced in three weeks in Assos and most of the time with the collaboration of the local people.

Assos International Performing Arts Festival, which was held between the years 19 in Assos, in a small village in the Western Turkey, is the topic of this study.
