Şermola Performans (İstanbul)
Co-founded as Destar Theatre on 17 October 2008 by Mirza Metin and Berfin Zenderlioğlu, Şermola Performance operates today under its current name with Mirza Metin as artistic director.
Between 2008-2010, Şermola staged productions as a touring theatre company.
In 2010, the group leased a bar in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district and converted the premises into a theatre.
Here, for the following six years, the group created and staged productions, as well as providing training and instruction.
In 2016, the theatre venue was forced to close because of political and economic factors, and Şermola carried on once more as a touring company.
We have won theatre awards from numerous Istanbul-based institutions across a range of categories, and have drawn dozens of reviews for out plays.
Over the course of 11 years, Şermola Performance has created 18 productions, including one children’s play. We have taken part in festivals both at home and overseas, performed tours and reached audiences numbering thousands.
In 2018, a branch office was set up in Cologne, Germany by Mirza Metin.
FOUNDING OBJECTIVES
- To write, produce and present modern Kurdish plays and to bring them to an international audience;
- To research Mesopotamian narrative traditions and establish a connection with contemporary theatre;
- To access audiences in Turkey, particularly in Istanbul, as well as overseas;
- To address contemporary, historical and social issues and share them with audiences.
OTHER VENTURES
- Developing and implementing local and international institutional collaboration projects;
- Carrying out research into acting, directing, playwriting and narrative traditions, as well as developing and implementing associated training/educational programs;
- Şermola dreams of opening a new theatre in Istanbul;
- Şermola believe that having dreams and creating theatre play a crucial part in the struggle for freedom;
- Şermola see theatre as a form of aesthetic resistence within the triangle of life, the arts and politics.
