Iraz Akcam: Actor
Role: Cell
Producers: BKM, Nisan Ceren Özerten
Writer: Engin Günaydın
Director: Engin Günaydın & Doğu Yaşar Akal
Creative Producer: Nisan Ceren Özerten
Executive Producer: Naz Güven
Stage Design : Deniz Saip
Music: Tolga Çebi
Motion Design: Utku Demirkaya
Production Asistants: Öykü Kalkan, Defne Başoğlu, Neşe Deniz Demirdöven
Cast: Engin Günaydın, Cengiz Bozkurt, Şinasi Yurtsever, Nilperi Şahinkaya, Kubilay Aka, Deniz Cengiz, Gökçen Gökçebağ, Buğu Selen Somer, Didem Buğday, Can Güvenç, Eray Karadeniz, Iraz Akçam, Meriç Taner Kadıoğlu, Ömer Güneş, Su Lara Aslan, Alican Yücesoy, Rüştü Onur Atilla, Derya Karadaş, Selin Şekerci, Gülse Birsel
Genre: Comedy

Explanation:

A surreal and ironic story of cells trying to survive within a collapsing organism.

Iraz Akçam: Choreographer
Project: Oyun Dairesi
Writer: Johanna Spyri
Director: Yunus Emre Terzioğlu

Iraz Akcam: Performer & Writer & Director
Translator, co-writer: Nazlı Tecimer
Sound Designer: Saliha Turan
Photographers: Derin, Küpeli, Ezo Şara Uray
Mask Designer: Nevin Köksal
Poster Designer: Defnenur İpek Botsalı
Festival: 2nd Thessaloniki Fringe Festival
Performance Page: https://www.instagram.com/rit_performance/

Explanation:

“Rit-” performance was selected for the 2nd Thessaloniki Fringe Festival. Iraz performed on 16th and 17th of May 2024. Performed in English.

Rit- explores the platform-driven digital landscape we live in.
It focuses on themes of digitalization, isolation, and alienation in
modern society, shaped by social media addiction and the influence
of platform algorithms.

Originally created as Iraz Akçam’s graduation performance from the
Theater Department at Kadir Has University in June 2023, the piece
was first performed in Turkish. It was later selected for the 2nd
Thessaloniki Fringe Festival, where it was performed in English on
May 16th and 17th, 2024.

Rit- is a physical poetry performance, blending ritualistic
RAP (Rhythm and Poetry) aesthetics with powerful physical
storytelling.

The performance invites viewers to delve into the roots of
individual and collective consciousness, creating a
compelling exploration of our contemporary existence.

Mule Chwing It’s Saddlebag

2023-ongoing

Proje Tasarım / Yönetmen: Dicle Doğan
Yaratıcı performans: Iraz Akçam, Simge Günsan
Müzik / Canlı Perküsyon Performans: Esmani Kılıç
Yazar: Yazig Mahmud Sıfatsız
Görseller: Ege Canpolat
Yapım: https://www.kadropa.com/

Explanation:

By Kadro Pa: Kadro Pa was founded to bring together artists from different disciplines and cultures, providing a safe and equitable space for creative production.
We created this project in 2023 with the Kadro Pa collective, which I’m a part of. Our play, which was also performed at the Istanbul Fringe Festival in 2024, continues to be staged in various cities across Türkiye.

This play was inspired by Dicle Doğan’s cross-country travels on foot. It tells the story of the act of women walking in many different layers. As they walk and live, women are suppressed, crushed, intimidated, and made to feel alienated. The patriarchal narratives we are exposed to are not only a concern for women in Türkiye; they are a universal issue. This performance tells the story of what the journey carries as women drift away from themselves, their dreams, and traditions.

A pink-patterned carpet (a very traditional motif in Türkiye) becomes a shelter, a backpack, a grave. Or sometimes, it’s just a pink carpet. Inside this carpet, sisters—heartbroken, burned by grief, drunk on joy, roaring with rage. Minds merge with the live
music accompanying the performance. With our own folk song, clay darbuka, and the pink carpet. It is a rebellion. With respect and longing, we created a space inspired by the folk song of Hasret Gültekin titled To What Should a Person Dedicate Their Life To? Hasret was a bağlama virtuoso who was killed at the age of 23 because of the hate-filled policies in Türkiye. The question of “What should a person dedicate their life to?” is at the very core of our play.

How can we separate our struggles from one another? We are being killed; we are dying at very young ages. That’s why our greatest wish is to lay these common issues at the feet of theaudience. Just like our carpet, woven with stories of longing and resistance.

Iraz Akçam: Actor/Deviser/Writer
Role: Goddess Hekate & Deviser
Project: Kadir Has University Graduation Play
Writer: Devised, Team
Director: Serdar Biliş
Movement Director: Leyla Postalcıoğlu

Explanation:
Family stories intertwined with the tales of mythological characters. The play Anne (means Mother in English), created through devised works and improvisations, connects the family narratives of the past to the present, telling the contemporary story by referencing history.

Iraz Akcam: Actor
Role: Helen
Director: Suzan Ida von Schmalensee
Text: A collection from Trojan War epics and texts
Performers: Iraz Akçam, Cemre Naz Gözütok, Hande Elaman, Lidya Nisan Ersemiz, Sena Çalışkan, Öyküsu Özyürek, Umay Aydoğmuş

Explanation :
The women of Troy have been here for thousands of years, reborn in every era. Trapped on this land, they relive the same life over and over. Klytemnestra, Thetis, Andromache, Kassandra, Hecuba, and Helen… They struggle to exist as women upon the earth.
In every age, they are surrounded by patriarchal wars, systems of exploitation, and oppressive norms. Sometimes, the women of Troy are in our neighborhoods; other times, they appear in news stories that chill us to the bone.

Has time been shattered by war?
Or are we witnessing a trial that has been silenced for centuries?

Iraz Akçam: Actor
Role: Nina Mihaylovna Zarechnaya
Project: DOT Theatre Kadir Has University Play
Writer: Anton Chekhov
Text Editing: Nezaket Erden, Team Work
Director: Hakan Emre Ünal
Movement Director: Seçil Demircan
Poster Design: Defnenur İpek Botsalı
Cast: Iraz Akçam, Arda Yeşillikçi, Taha Yusuf Karakaş, Berfin Ertan, Birsu Demir, Utku Coşkun, Batuhan Alpay, Beyza Ertarhanacı, Melisa Doğan, Mert Aydın

Iraz Akçam: Assistant Director/Actor
Role: Ömer & İclal
Project: Sadri Alışık Tiyatrosu
Writer: Sadık Şendil
Director: İsmet Numanoğlu

Iraz Akçam: Actor
Role: Ophelia
Project: INGED Drama Festival
Writer: Don Zolidis

Played in English

As the Crow Flies  Season 3 Episode 4

2024

Iraz Akcam: Actor
Role: Ruhiye Demir
Platform: Netflix
Director: Burak Müjdeci
Cast: Birce Akalay, İbrahim Çelikkol, Iraz Akçam
Plot of Episode: Ruhiye Demir (Iraz Akçam), the criminal at the center of the scandal, is captured.
Genre: Drama

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81684441

Explanation:
“As the Crow Flies” explores the clash between Generation X and Generation Z, two generations with vastly different ways of life. Perspectives, approaches, and the paths they take to reach their goals have changed dramatically from the ways of Generation X.

Iraz Akcam: Actor
Role: Nergis (Main Cast)
Channel: Star Tv – Prime Time
Episodes: 26
Producer: NG Media
Director : Emre Kabakuşak, Işılsu Günday
Director of Photography: Serdar Armutlu
Cast: Öykü Karayel, Sarp Apak, Akın Akınözü, Iraz Akçam, Meriç Aral, Kaan Çakır, Müfit Kayacan, Ayça Koptur, Onur Bilge, Ülkü Duru, Esra Dermancıoğlu, Esengül Aypek, Yeşim Gül Akşar, Yıldırım Özcan, Elmira Akgün, Mustafa Arda Işık, Bartu Barlas Bozacı, Alper Irvan
Genre: Drama

Explanation:

At a young age, Asiye, who struggles to raise her two children, dedicates herself to their happiness despite all her hardships, becoming both a mother and a father to them. Her life is turned upside down when a disaster strikes her daughter Nergis, whom she has always protected.

On a journey from Amasya to Istanbul, which will be one-way for Asiye, she meets Mahir, a man who helps them on the road despite being a stranger. Years later, Mahir is returning to Istanbul from Russia. Thanks to Mahir, Asiye and her children find refuge in the Demirhan mansion, but this is not a salvation—it is a cruel twist of fate.

Iraz Akcam: Actor
Role: Ayşe (Lead Role)
Director : Anvar Matzhanov
Script Writer: Nurlan Koyanbyaev & Sabit Rakhimbayev
Producers: Alim Yapım
Cast (Turkish): Iraz Akçam, Kadir Doğulu, Erdal Cindoruk, Ece Gürer, Sedat Bilenler, Deniz Karausta, Ferhat Işıktaş
Cast (Kazakh): Nurlan Koyanbayev, Zhan Baizhanbayev, Ramazan Amantai, Dariga Badykova, Gulnaz Zholanova, Zhahan Utargaliyev, Kajet Smagulov’dan
Genre: Comedy

Explanation:

What is the news ‘Kazakh-style business in Turkey (2021)’ about
In the fifth part of the successful franchise, businessman Zhomart Kanatovich goes international. Together with Alen, Yerkosh, Bagdaulet and newcomer Marlen, they fly to Turkey to buy a hotel at an auction. But buying a hotel is not a simple business and all the heroes are waiting for new adventures, tougher than those that were in America, Africa and Korea….

Iraz Akcam: Co-Producer & Actor
Role: Oyku (Lead Role)
Screenplay / Director: Alp Kaan Akkaya
Assistant Director: Şeyma Menevşe
Director of Photography: Bahtiyar Çal
Producers: Can Sipahi, Kasım Okutan
Co-Producer: Iraz Akçam
Cast: Iraz Akçam, Alya Polat
Genre: Drama

Explanation:
After the death of her hoarder mother, Öykü returns to the house she hasn’t set foot in for years, only to find her mother’s loneliness among the hundreds of belongings she once tried to escape.

Iraz Akcam: Actor
Role: Simay (Lead Role)
Screenplay / Director: Simay Yiğit
Director of Photography: Marc Malilay
Producers: London Based British Turkish Production
Cast: Iraz Akçam, Berkan Demir
Genre: Drama

Explanation:
After having spent 7 years in London, Selin is trying to re-adapt to her hometown, İstanbul, following her big break-up with her fiancé whom she left in London as she spends the night with her friend, trying to reconnect with her surroundings with the push of psychedelics.

Iraz Akcam: Actor
Role: Defne
Director: İdil Karabulut
Director of Photography: Yunus Ekinci
Cast: Iraz Akçam & Ahmet Kuntberk Alptemoçin, Muhammed Cangören & Barış Serkan Karakurt, Doğancan Serinkaya & Toygar Durak

There is Huge Elephant In The Room

2019

Iraz Akcam: Actor
Role: Deniz (Lead Role)
Screenplay / Director: Merve Ayşe Oğur
Assistant Director: Efe Subaşı
Director of Photography: Burak Günaydın
Cast: Iraz Akçam& Nicolas Jakubiak & Merve Ayşe Oğur, Eshab Çevik
Genre: Drama

Iraz Akcam: Actor
Role: Nuran Nurse
Director: İdil Akalın
Director of Photography: İdil Karabulut
Producer: İdil Akalın
Cast: Iraz Akçam & Alp Kuntberk Alptemoçin, Alkım Çelik & Levent Ertürk & İdil Akalın
Genre: Drama

Iraz Akcam: Dancer & Performer
Choreography: Cemre Su Salur

Explanation:

Lulu’s Cabaret, a new pop-up cabaret experience, presents its performances accompanied by popular songs, with each show night built around a different theme.

Iraz Akçam: Dancer
Project: In Honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Republic
Production: Istanbul City Theatres

Explanation:
“Bu Memleket Bizim” is a commemorative stage production marking the centenary of the Republic of Turkey. Blending texts from Nutuk by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, The Epic of the Independence War by Nâzım Hikmet, and other prominent literary voices, the play reflects the spirit of the National Struggle. Co-directed by Ali Gökmen Altuğ, Aslı Öngören, Yıldırım Fikret Urağ, and Yiğit Sertdemir, the production features choreography by Dicle Doğan.

Iraz Akcam: Curator & Performer
Creative Team: Secret Third Collective
Text: Efe Reis
Performers: Iraz Akçam & Ece Zeynep Taşkın & Efe Reis

Explanation:

Secret Third Collective: The Secret Third Collective conducts research on the academic and performative aspects of Applied Theater. They have come together for the “Boundary Crossing” Project, organized by HKU University of Arts (Utrecht), Kadir Has University Theater Department (İstanbul), and GLEJ Theater (Ljubljana). Focusing on various forms of participatory theater, different mediums of performance art and participatory works.

This interactive walking performance invites participants to follow a ‘stranger’ engaging in Pedesis (the concept of “Pedesis,” originating from Ancient Greek, which implies a movement related to the feet—like walking, running, dancing, or jumping). Through liveWhatsApp voice messages, they are guided down streets from fresh perspectives. As repetitive conversations unfold, the question, ‘What to say?’ emerges. Participants examine whether retracing the same path cultivates authentic connection, considering both space and boundaries. This journey encourages a reimagining of surroundings, highlighting the transformative impact of shared walking.

A walking participatory performance by following a ‘’stranger’’ In the city. Bring your headphones and connect to your stranger, maybe you’ll end up on a wall together.

This participatory performance is NOT:

• Storytelling
• Historical narrative
• City tour
• Architectural exposition
• An article on whatever related topic you might imagine.
• Getting to know each other (but maybe getting in touch, through a distance. Keep this for later)
• Cruising (maybe a bit like cruising)
• An expedition, or photojournalism
• Documentary
• A dream, but a bit like having a dream

“We are walking together.”
Now… pay attention to how one step affords the other.
And the other, affords the other.

Iraz Akçam, Demet Taşkıran, Utku Coşkun: Performance Design & Text Adaptation & Performer
Project: Produced in Kadir Has University during the pandemic period

Explanation:
An online Zoom performance adapted from the “Birth of a Nation” segment of Mark Ravenhill’s Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat play.

The project was selected for the 3rd International Theater Festival of the Ekaterinburg State Theater Institute and was presented in Russia in video recording format.

“Welcome to Heal Space. If you’re ready, click the link and surrender yourself to the HOST so that the healing can begin.”

Director: Sabri Ocak
Performance & Choreography: Iraz Akçam
Director Of Photography: Alp Kaan Akkaya
Copywriter: Kaan Tığlı
Editing: Sabri Ocak
Color Correcting: Sabri Hasdal
Sound Desing: Ethem Saran
Music: Flux Duo – Simply Between Roads
Production: Uğur Ocak

In the project, the word “zefir”—meaning breeze, fabric, and moan—serves as a focal point for the main themes explored.

Hrant Dink Ödül Töreni
Nazan Öncel – Demirden Leblebi

2021

Performers: Songül Öden, Iraz Akçam, Ayça Bildik, Banu Fotocan, Gülçin Kültür Şahin, Zeynep Şengöz, Nesrin Uçarlar
Linkler:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9QVfy3NJQE
• https://hrantdink.org/tr/uluslararasi-hrant-dink-odulu/duyurular/3496-uluslararasi-hrantdinkodulu-nde-biz-de-variz-demirden-leblebi

Global Shakespeare Sonnets

2021

Iraz Akçam: as participant, produced a short video clip of the 67th Shakespeare Sonnet
Project: Ekaterinburg State Theatre Institute

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6HAmMqsBvTKRiY1ftcHBfO?si=XulDGVi3TnKoDfeVP3WNjA

https://www.storytel.com/tr/books/dizinin-dibi-s02e04-2621735?appRedirect=true

Iraz Akcam: Performer & Writer & Director
Translator, co-writer: Nazlı Tecimer
Sound Designer: Saliha Turan
Photographers: Derin, Küpeli, Ezo Şara Uray
Mask Designer: Nevin Köksal
Poster Designer: Defnenur İpek Botsalı
Festival: 2nd Thessaloniki Fringe Festival
Performance Page: https://www.instagram.com/rit_performance/

Explanation:

“Rit-” performance was selected for the 2nd Thessaloniki Fringe Festival. Iraz performed on 16th and 17th of May 2024. Performed in English.

Rit- explores the platform-driven digital landscape we live in.
It focuses on themes of digitalization, isolation, and alienation in
modern society, shaped by social media addiction and the influence
of platform algorithms.

Originally created as Iraz Akçam’s graduation performance from the
Theater Department at Kadir Has University in June 2023, the piece
was first performed in Turkish. It was later selected for the 2nd
Thessaloniki Fringe Festival, where it was performed in English on
May 16th and 17th, 2024.

Rit- is a physical poetry performance, blending ritualistic
RAP (Rhythm and Poetry) aesthetics with powerful physical
storytelling.

The performance invites viewers to delve into the roots of
individual and collective consciousness, creating a
compelling exploration of our contemporary existence.

Iraz Akcam: Curator & Performer
Creative Team: Secret Third Collective
Text: Efe Reis
Performers: Iraz Akçam & Ece Zeynep Taşkın & Efe Reis

Explanation:

Secret Third Collective: The Secret Third Collective conducts research on the academic and performative aspects of Applied Theater. They have come together for the “Boundary Crossing” Project, organized by HKU University of Arts (Utrecht), Kadir Has University Theater Department (İstanbul), and GLEJ Theater (Ljubljana). Focusing on various forms of participatory theater, different mediums of performance art and participatory works.

This interactive walking performance invites participants to follow a ‘stranger’ engaging in Pedesis (the concept of “Pedesis,” originating from Ancient Greek, which implies a movement related to the feet—like walking, running, dancing, or jumping). Through liveWhatsApp voice messages, they are guided down streets from fresh perspectives. As repetitive conversations unfold, the question, ‘What to say?’ emerges. Participants examine whether retracing the same path cultivates authentic connection, considering both space and boundaries. This journey encourages a reimagining of surroundings, highlighting the transformative impact of shared walking.

A walking participatory performance by following a ‘’stranger’’ In the city. Bring your headphones and connect to your stranger, maybe you’ll end up on a wall together.

This participatory performance is NOT:

• Storytelling
• Historical narrative
• City tour
• Architectural exposition
• An article on whatever related topic you might imagine.
• Getting to know each other (but maybe getting in touch, through a distance. Keep this for later)
• Cruising (maybe a bit like cruising)
• An expedition, or photojournalism
• Documentary
• A dream, but a bit like having a dream

“We are walking together.”
Now… pay attention to how one step affords the other.
And the other, affords the other.

Iraz Akçam, Demet Taşkıran, Utku Coşkun: Performance Design & Text Adaptation & Performer
Project: Produced in Kadir Has University during the pandemic period

Explanation:
An online Zoom performance adapted from the “Birth of a Nation” segment of Mark Ravenhill’s Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat play.

The project was selected for the 3rd International Theater Festival of the Ekaterinburg State Theater Institute and was presented in Russia in video recording format.

“Welcome to Heal Space. If you’re ready, click the link and surrender yourself to the HOST so that the healing can begin.”