Isil Kasapoglu

Isil Kasapoglu is a famous theatre director who known as one of the living legends of Turkish theatre. After graduating from Galatasaray High School, Kasapoglu studied at the Theatre Department of the University of Paris Sorbonne where he completed his education in 1981. From 1978 to 1983 he worked at the Pierre Vial workshop of the Paris State Conservatory, where he assisted many directors in Paris. In 1982, he founded a theatre named Theatre a Venir in Paris and directed numerous works there, many of which have participated in festivals and held organized tours. Upon the invitation of Istanbul Municipality City Theatres, he returned to Turkey and directed the plays The Servant of Two Masters (1987) and King Lear (1990), both of which have granted him many awards. During his time as a director at the State Theatre, he has staged Shakespeare plays in many cities of Anatolia such as Adana, Antalya, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Konya, Sivas, Trabzon and Van. He was one of the founders of Aksanat Production Theatre (1995) in Istanbul and the founder of Izmit Municipality City Theatre, which made its grand opening with the six-hour full version of Hamlet in 1997. Kasapoglu founded his own independent theatre, Semaver Kumpanya, in Istanbul in 2002. He has received the following awards for numerous works he has staged throughout his career.