Western-style theaters in various multiethnic, multi-confessional urban centers, such as Constantinople (Istanbul), Smyrna (Izmir), and Thessaloniki began in the early nineteenth century amongst non-Muslim and foreign communities. Acting became a new form of viable employment outside the domestic sphere for women. It also challenged social conventions by being a vehicle for social change, which addressed issues of morality, work, and family (Khalapyan 2006).

The viability of acting as a career for women was coupled with the growing interest and artistic inv…