Director & Stage designer Nuh’un Gemisini Aramak (Searching for Noah’s Ark)
Produced by ENKA Sanat, premiered at İKSV Istanbul Theatre Festival, Istanbul, 2022
Nuh’un Gemisini Aramak, written by Gökhan Erarslan and directed by Ayşe Draz, premiered at the 26th Istanbul Theatre Festival. Produced by ENKA Sanat as part of their Co-Production programme, an initiative launched during the pandemic to support the creation and staging of new Turkish theatre works. The play examines the myth of family through two brothers whose lives have been shaped by their father’s political convictions, while passing before us snapshots of recent history that sink swiftly into the depths of memory. Compelled to travel back to their hometown in an old family truck, the brothers resurface buried memories one by one, until they find themselves stranded together in a desolate steppe. In the presence of the younger brother’s fiancée, and witnessed by the audience, they are made to reckon with one another. This outsider, not yet family but on the threshold of becoming so, offers oblique glimpses into the roots of their conflict, while the shifting perspectives in their remembered images reveal how much depends on where one stands.
As director, Ayşe Draz invites audiences to reflect on illusion through the themes of memory, watching, being watched and bearing witness. The production offers a playful viewing experience that lays bare how the actors construct the world of the play on stage, how they efface themselves to become characters, while exploring the stage's capacity to both create and dissolve illusion. The production places cameras, large screens and a live on-screen actor on stage alongside the performers, with the projection and technical team remaining visible throughout, signalling from the outset that what unfolds is both a performance and a representation of one. Scenes are replayed first in close-up on screen and then live on stage, weaving together cinematographic and performative modes of storytelling.
Written by Gökhan Erarslan Director Ayşe Draz Dramaturgy Özlem Hemiş Assistant Director Simla Güran Lighting design Ayşe Ayter Costume design Şeyma Arslaner Projection design & Technical operation efrîn nowar & Umut Rışvanlı Set & Scenography Ayşe Draz, Özlem Hemiş, efrîn nowar, Umut Rışvanlı Photography Altuğ Ulu Poster design Eda Gündüz Video Volkan Işıl On-screen actor Mert Yılmaz News anchor Tilbe Saran Cast Kutay Kunt, Tutku Erten, Yılmaz Sütçü
* ENKA Sanat extends its thanks to Kadir Has University Theatre Department, Ayça Bildik, Gizem Bilgen, Selçuk Metin, Mihran Tomasyan and Çıplak Ayaklar Kumpanyası for their contributions.
From the press:
İKSV Tiyatro
Mimesis
Artı Sahne
Photos: Ilgın Sönmez
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© AYŞE DRAZ, 2026