Abstract Despite their rich and politically significant theater and performance cultures, the Ottoman Empire and Turkey have not received the scholarly interest they deserve. Motivated by the recent scholarship in the field, this Symposium presents a critical discussion on the trends and emerging approaches in Ottoman and Turkish theater and performance historiography. As they study canonical works and emerging voices in the field, the authors analyze historiography as a field of vibrant contestation. The Symposium consists of four essays: a broader discussion on the politics of theater historiography on Turkey and the Ottoman Empire, followed by studies on historiographical approaches to Turkey’s Armenian, Jewish, and queer theater and performance cultures. As the most comprehensive critical study on the subject, the Symposium serves as a reference volume for scholars working on Ottoman and Turkish theater and performance, and contribute to broader theoretical and methodological debates.