Genco Erkal

Genco Erkal was born in Istanbul in 1938. He graduated from the Psychology Department at Istanbul University. Since 1959, he has been a part of many important theater groups. In 1969, Erkal founded the Dostlar Theatre and directed many plays, which were written by famous writers such as Gorki, Brechet, Sartre, Peter Weiss, Steinbeck, Havel, and Tankred Dorst as well as Turkish writers Aziz Nesin, Haldun Taner, Nazım Hikmet, Can Yücel, Refik Erduran, Vasıf Öngören, Orhan Asena and Behiç Ak. Erkal has adapted novels, stories and poems for his plays. He has taken part in several symphony concerts such as Prokovief’s “Peter and the Wolf,” Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale,” and Fazil Say’s piano work “Nazim” as well. Erkal has performed in many principal roles in Turkish films such as “At,” “Faize Hücum,” “Hakkari’de Bir Mevsim,” and “Camdan Kalp,” which were nominated and received many awards in important international film festivals. He directed and acted Haldun Taner’s musical “Keşanlı Ali Destanı” for TRT television. Erkal has received many awards such as “Best Actor of the Year” and “Best Theater Director. Between 1993 and 1998, he acted in many French plays such as Nazim Hikmet’s “Sevdali Bulut,” Philippe Minyana’s “Ou vas-tu Jérémie?” and “Simyaci,” which was adapted from Paulo Coelho’s famous novel in the Avignon Festival in Paris. In 2008, Erkal wrote and directed the documentary playwriting “Sivas ′93”. It have been staged in Turkey and Europe. He received the "Best Successful Actor of the Year" in the 15th Sadri Alışık Film and Theater Awards for his role in the "Marls′in Dönüşü."

Reference: mafm.boun.edu.tr; wikipedia.org