Nurkan Erpulat was born in Ankara. He studied Acting in Izmir, then Theater Education at the Universität der Künste Berlin (Berlin University of the Arts) and finally Stage Direction at the Hochschule “Ernst Busch” (Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts) in Berlin.
His early projects include “Jenseits – Bist Du schwul oder bist Du Türke?” - Beyond – Are you gay or are you Turkish?) at the Hebbel am Ufer Theater (HAU) in Berlin.
He went on to direct, among others, an adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Castle at the Deutsches Theater Berlin (German Theater Berlin) and Maxim Gorky's Children of the Sun at the Volkstheater Wien (People’s Theater Vienna). His productions and projects – some in the field of youth theatre – have been invited to festivals and guest performances in Germany and abroad, and have received numerous awards.
Besides other projects, he collaborated with Jens Hillje to develop the play “Mad Blood”, which he then directed at Ballhaus Naunynstraße Berlin (Naunyn Street Ballroom) in 2011. The play was invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen (Berlin Theater Meeting) and was honored by the journal Theater heute as play of the year for 2011.
For a time, he was resident director with the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus (Düsseldorf Playhouse). Since 2013, he has been a resident director at the Gorki Theater Berlin, where he has notably staged Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard”, “The Legal Haziness of a Marriage“ by Olga Gryasnova and “Youth without God" by Horvath. In 2017 Erpulat staged "Hiob" at the Staatsschauspiel Dresden (State Playhouse Dresden).
In Vienna, Nurkan Erpulat produced "Dunkel lockende Welt" (Darkly Enticing World) by Händel Klaus, for which he was awarded the Nestroy Prize in 2020. In 2021, with Jules Massenet’s “Werther” he brought his first opera to the stage at the Regensburg Theater.
Since 2019, Nurkan Erpulat has been engaged as instructor and course manager for Stage Direction at the Bavarian Academy of Dramatic Arts in Regensburg.
Photos: Juliane Zitzlsperger
