Puppeter of Turkish shadow theatre puppetry, actor, conjurer-magician, and clown. Nevzat Açıkgöz was trained by his father, shadow puppeteer Irfan Açıkgöz (Hayali Camcı Irfan), a glassmaker by trade (cam, “glass”), and by Şukrū Yeșukay, whose masters were Hayali Tenekeci Çefik and Hayali Sefer Mehmet.

Nevzat Açıkgöz performed in a still well known three-person troupe with Mazhar Gençkurt (called Mazhar Baba) and Süleyman Gökgezer from 1920-1968. A talented actor of orta oyunu (“middle play”, improvised comedy, “play in the open air”), he performed as Kavuklu (“Big Hat”), the figure that corresponds to the Karagöz character in shadow theatre. He presented on almost every Turkish stage, in a well-known television series, and did commercials. In April 1981, he played in Paris for Turkish Week organized by UNESCO. He composed contemporary texts that enriched the classical repertoire of traditional Turkish theatre.

(See Turkey.)