In 1955, before Yıldız Kenter travelled to New York for a Rockefeller Fellowship, one of her mentors Nurettin Sevin whispered a warning: ‘This is your chance—don’t let anyone hold you back’¹.

Kenter took these words to heart. She devoted herself to theatre, and her passion for theatre remained strong despite the difficulties, such as a low income, unexpected expenses, and a tough schedule. Marshall’s diary reveals her diligent touring routine with overnight travel between performances². Her fellowship year in the United States marked a turning point in this lifelong pursuit. In her letters to Muhsin Ertuğrul, she emphasized that the experience during fellowship proved invaluable to her despite the difficulties of expensive living and hot temperatures because it enabled her to understand Western theatre while advancing Turkish stagecraft³. Despite external pressures, she remained rooted in her homeland. People told her that she would have become famous and rich if she had stayed in the U.S.A. But she always replied from deep within her, “Pursuing theatre in Türkiye granted me dignity.” For her, dignity outweighed all other worldly gains—it was both a personal and artistic compass⁴.

Emerging from a year of absence into the radiant light of Turkish theatre, Yıldız Kenter captivated audiences in 1956 with her performances in Finten, The Guest (marking her first shared stage with her brother Müşfik Kenter), and The Rainmaker. But the true magic destined for theatre history was born in 1957 with The Desert Mouse: two Kenters, one heartbeat, touching the souls of their audience (figure 1)⁵.

Figure 1: In 1957–1958, Yıldız Kenter performed on stage with her brother Müşfik Kenter in Ladislas Fodor’s play The Desert Mouse.

© Courtesy of  Devlet Tiyatroları Belgeliği

After Muhsin Ertuğrul was dismissed from the State Theatre in 1958, Yıldız and Müşfik Kenter left the State Theatre and, with Ertuğrul’s guidance, started an artistic theatre. With performers like Genco Erkal, Şükran Güngör, and Sadri Alışık, they gained a huge success, taking high-quality theatre to İstanbul audiences⁶.

The Kent Players ensemble, founded in 1959 at Karaca Theatre, emerged from the United Artists Ensemble, which pioneered privately organized theatre groups in Türkiye. It became a leading model in the 1960s for innovative theatre companies, inspiring the establishment of new private institutions with its repertoire of contemporary, canonical, and original works⁷.

Yıldız Kenter and her brother received the İlhan İskender Cup in 1960 for their excellent acting work. She received this distinction once more in 1962 and Turkish Women’s Association crowned her as Woman of the Year in 1963. Kenter made good use of this symbolic capital when she approached the Rockefeller Foundation again, in 1963. In a letter to Robert W. Crawford, one of the assistant directors of the Humanities and Social sciences division of the Foundation, she stated how keen she was to keep abreast of American theatre developments which she had not been able to see in person since 1955. Yet, she underlined that she managed to stay current of undertakings in major European theatre centres including Edinburgh, London, Paris and Stratford, thanks to sojourns paid from her own funds. Because she was now teaching at the İstanbul Conservatory, she thought it was time to visit university theatres in U.S.A. to observe rehearsals, classes, as well as acting and stage techniques. The best moment for her would be July 1963, following her Anatolian tour. Moreover, she wanted to go with her brother Müşfik Kenter. Kenter concluded her letter by highlighting her aforementioned awards⁸.

The Rockefeller Foundation officers agreed, considering that this tour would enhance the Kenters Turkish theatre work through the combination of domestic traditions with international insights. They were given a grant to visit theatrical centers in Europe, the United States, and Canada for as much as 92 days, beginning July 1, 1963. Kenter’s own terms were used almost literally in the Foundation Annual Report (figure 2).

Figure 2: Description of the grant in the Rockefeller Foundation Annual Report for 1963.

Source: The Rockefeller Foundation annual report for 1963, New York, Rockefeller Foundation, 1964, p.151.

Thanks to the Rockefeller Foundation grant, the two Kenter (figure 3) travelled through the U.S.A. and Canada where they visited major theatre centres at Stratford (Connecticut and Ontario), Minneapolis, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis impressed Yıldız, but she noticed the artistic director’s strong control and the restrictions on the actors’ individuality. The production of Tis a Pity She’s a Whore at Los Angeles left them unimpressed regarding both content and direction. The Actor’s Workshop in San Francisco made a strong impression on them so they discussed potential future exchange programs with director Jules Irving.

Figure 3: A stage play performed by Yıldız Kenter and her brother Müşfik Kenter (1963).

Source: Rockefeller Archive Center, Rockefeller Foundation records, Photographs, “Kent Players’ Theatre”, 1962- 1964, 805, Turkey, Sub-series R, Dramatic Arts (Theatre), Box 167, Folder 3246. © Courtesy of Rockefeller Archive.

One of the most important results of her Rockefeller Fellowship and grant was a new twist to the representation of women in theatre and society in Türkiye. From Vivien Leigh’s Lady Macbeth to Restoration drama’s critique of women’s place in society to the enduring power of Anatolian women through mythology and history, Yıldız defended the idea that theatre is a powerful medium to explore how women’s voices have been shaped, suppressed, and reclaimed over time. Yıldız’s fellowship observations reflect her consideration of those issues. For example, when she saw Vivien Leigh perform Lady Macbeth, she noted:

“Most of the people whom I met there did not care much for Vivien Leigh’s Lady Macbeth. On the contrary, I thought she was an excellent Lady Macbeth as she had the coldness and, which is more important, the determination and that strange quietness of a very ambitious woman.”

Historically, women who defied traditional expectations were often seen as dangerous or transgressive. Similarly, in her notes to John Marshall, Kenter highlights the lines from Love for Love, where Tattle states: “All well-bred persons lie. Besides, you are a woman; you must never speak what you think.” Kenter continues, “I believe that even these two lines could give one a truthful yet colourful image of the period.” These lines show how women were forced to stay in certain roles and were systematically silenced. They were passive and submissive. They had no open thoughts or ambitions to express⁹.

These reflections on women’s voices in Western theatre, the silencing of women in Restoration drama, and the historical evolution of female identity in Anatolian culture converged in Kenter’s decision to launch a project Ben Anadolu (I, Anatolia) to the stage. During her fellowship, Yıldız Kenter had been inspired by Shakespeare’s The Seven Ages of Man, which influenced her conceptualisation of the play. She initially shared the idea with a few individuals, and ultimately, at Kenter’s request, Güngör Dilmen wrote the script and Halat Talman translated the text into English¹⁰.

Yıldız Kenter staged Ben Anadolu, performed the 16 different female characters and played Ben Anadolu in different countries (figure 4). In the play, Kybele transforms into Artemis of Ephesus, and Artemis of Ephesus transforms into the Virgin Mary. Yıldız Kenter shows the woman’s fight to keep the power, her capability to “know the beat of the street” of society and her first movements towards not desiring to be a tragic heroine. At another moment, the woman turns from the daughter of a bear tamer into Theodora, the Byzantine empress. Later, she transitions from a Byzantine girl into Nilüfer Hatun, the bride of Osman Bey, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, becoming Ayşe Sultan. She takes on the role of Nasreddin Hodja’s wife and cries out on stage:

“I said I am Nasreddin Hodja’s wife, and now you won’t even bother asking my name.” And in the end, the woman succeeds—Kenter succeeds. She reminds us of the right to exist without being defined by a man’s title, to be known by one’s own name”¹¹.

The play was criticised for allegedly presenting a Greek vision of Anatolian heritage and historical characters in a biased manner. Kenter defended the play by emphasizing its essence, which highlights cultural unity and Ottoman tolerance, not religious bias. Kenter refused a restricted cultural perspective and situated the play within a Turkish–Western synthesis, drawing from her exposure to American theatre, where she observed art’s ability to bridge cultural divides and foster mutual understanding¹².

Figure 4: Yıldız Kenter in Ben Anadolu (I, Anatolia).

© Courtesy of Milli Kütüphane Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü

Yıldız Kenter’s artistic journey was never driven by the pursuit of fame, but by an unwavering commitment to the dignity of the craft. From Shakespeare to Brecht, her performances on stage demonstrated a unique honesty that defied the ephemeral nature of fame. Recognized as Woman of the Year in 1962 and later honoured as a State Artist and recipient of the Turkish Presidency’s Grand Prize for Culture and Arts, Kenter’s acclaim came not from spectacle, but from substance. Her celebrated performance in Queen Lear at an advanced age reaffirmed her belief in the transformative power of theatre. As one of the 100 most successful women of the 21st century, she stood not only as a remarkable artist but as a devoted educator and a moral compass in Turkish theatre. Her legacy is a testament to how dignity — not celebrity — leaves the deepest impression on a nation’s cultural memory¹³.

Have you forgotten or skipped our former post about Kenter’s first North American visit ? Go to https://rockfellows.hypotheses.org/4811

[Cite]

1. Rockefeller Archive Centre, Rockefeller Foundation records, RG 12, Officers Diaries, John Marshall, interview with Nurettin Sevin, March 9, 1955. ↩︎
2. Rockefeller Archive Centre, Rockefeller Foundation records, RG 12, Officers Diaries, John Marshall, interview with Yıldız Kenter and Nihat Akçan, March 8, 1957. ↩︎
3. Gürün, D., Tiyatro benim hayatım: Yıldız Kenter’in hayat hikâyesi, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2022,pp. 56-57. ↩︎
4. Haşar, S., “Yıldız Kenter’i Kaybettik”, Aydın Sanat,  5(10), 2019, pp. 155-163. ↩︎
5. Devlet Tiyatroları.  “Yıldız Kenter’in Devlet Tiyatrosu yılları fotoğraf karelerinde”. T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Devlet Tiyatroları. Retrieved 09.02.2025 ↩︎
6. Şener, S.,  “Cumhuriyet’in 75. yılında Türk Tiyatrosu”, İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1999, p. 174. ↩︎
7. Erkoç, G., “Theatrical Movements During the Period Between 1960-1970”. Tiyatro Araştırmaları Dergisi, 13(13), 2002 ↩︎
8. Rockefeller Archive Centre, Rockefeller Foundation records, “Kent Player’s Theatre”, 1962-1964, RG 1-Projects (Grants), Series 805 – Turkey, Sub-Series R (Humanities and Arts). All the information about the Kenter grant is taken from this folder, unless otherwise mentioned. ↩︎
9. Rockefeller Archive Center, Rockefeller Foundation records, Fellowships, “Yıldız Akçan”, 1954-1957, RG10.1, Series 803- 805, Turkey, Sub-series E, Dramatic Arts (Theatre), Box 480, Folder 7171. ↩︎
10. One of the most enduring gains of Yıldız Kenter’s fellowship in New York was meeting Talât Halman, a young doctoral student who would become a pivotal figure in Turkish culture and arts. Their friendship led to collaborations on projects like Turkish Literature Through the Ages and Mevlâna, blending Turkish literary heritage with global stage traditions and significantly shaping modern Turkish theatre and literature . For more detailed information, see Gürün, D., Tiyatro benim hayatım: Yıldız Kenter’in hayat hikâyesi, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2022, p. 59 and p.218 for Talât Halman’s translation. ↩︎
11. Doğan, E., “Yıldız Kenter: Kadını Anlatan Kadın”, Kazan Kültür, 2023. Retrieved 29.01.2025 ↩︎
12. Kültür Servisi, “Ben Anadolu’ya Gizli Engel”, Cumhuriyet, (1987, 3 Temmuz/ 3 July). ↩︎
13. İKSV, “Yıldız Kenter- Honorary Awards”, İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, 2022. Retrieved 08.02.2025 ↩︎

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