produced ORIGINAL PLAYS

“ANOTHER PLACE”

(Turkish: Baska Yer)

2019

A Dance Theatre Piece

Premiered in Ankara,Turkey

Synopsis: Filiz, a young woman, moves into a new community where everyone is completely free to be their true selves. She suddenly finds herself in the middle of a somewhat dysfunctional polyamorous relationship. This relationship pushes her to deconstruct what she knew about human socialization.

“Another Place” is a journey of rediscovering the meaning of friendship, love, and connection, through the eyes of an outsider.

Much like my own story of coming to the progressive California as a foreign student from a conservative country.

I wore many hats during this production. I wrote, choreographed, and directed the play. I was my own stage manager too. I had a production assistant to help me. And the cast was especially versatile and helpful too.

“BERNADETtE”

2018

A Dance Theatre Piece

Premiered in San Diego, California

Synopsis: After years of living abroad, Chris, a young man who moved to America with his family as a teenager, returns to his childhood home in London. This house has a way of trapping pain and tragedy in its walls. Chris is forced to face his long ignored past, including his little brother who killed himself in this house. The ghost of Bernadette, a woman who lived in Chris’ house long before him helps Chris reconnect with his past and find peace in the darkness.

I wrote, directed, and choreographed this play. I was also an ensemble dancer during two performances.

“Bernadette” is a teenage theatre maker’s passion project. Although still learning, I am a much better theatre maker than I was when I wrote this play. I am more educated and more experienced. But this play will always be close to my heart. It’s still a reflection of my soul.

Directing experience

“pEER GYNT”

UCSD THEATRE AND DANCE DEPARTMENT

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

This production taught me about the importance of the very clear distribution of labor in a big theatre production. Before Peer Gynt, I worked on smaller projects where I had to wear many hats. As a result, I found myself performing tasks that were not my job and I was warned by the stage managers for it. It was a true learning experience. It made me a much better team player.

“HOMESICK”

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Written by Savanah Lyon

Through this play, I familiarized myself with the power of movement in storytelling. I got to choreograph each scene transition using symbolic movement frozen in time. I discovered that moving bodies can tell stories much more efficiently than words sometimes.

“corpse bride”

DIRECTOR/ CHOREOGRAPHER

This was a high school production. But there is a good reason I chose to still feature it on my website. Directing and making plays is not an easily accessible experience for a student in Turkey. My school did not have a student-lead theatre club. I prepared a through presentation with plans about budgeting and artistic visions, to convince the school board to let me produce a play. There were not any opportunities available, so I created one, for myself and many other young aspiring theatre artists. Some of the younger children I recruited into the club went on to study theatre as young adults. I am proud of what we did as a bunch of high school students.

as a Performer…

NON-MOLTO

Feature Film

Actor, supporting character

|I played a disoriented artist, trying to hold onto life.|

sir the musical

Stage Play

Actor & Dancer

|This production gained me incredible mentors whose influence can't be overestimated.|

wHITELASH
the musical

Stage Play

Dancer

|I was about to praise my friend Johnny Echavarria for creating this incredible political musical about 2016 U.S. elections. But then he cast me as a Trump supporter…|

A.V.

Short Film

Actor (Lead)

This project was one of the most emotionally taxing roles I ever had to take on. I played a sexual assault survivor.

Faded Orange

Interactive Short Film

Actor (Lead)

filmmaking & Media production

I believe videos and stage plays are siblings. I do not separate one from another. I work everyday to become proficient in both craft, for they are both tools to communicate through performance. I also just really love editing. In addition to artistic shorts, I make informative videos and silly comedy skits. Here are a few examples:

 REELS

My Acting Reel

My Dance Reel

Cinempress multimedia arts llc

I created Cinempress less than a year after I graduated from UC San Diego. My initial goal with this startup was to provide a legal venue through which I can produce all my projects. Cinempress, is a hub of potential to be developed into something amazing as I keep investing in all my creative endeavours. Please visit cinempress.com for more info!