Veteran actor Genco Erkal dies at 86

ISTANBUL

Veteran theater actor Genco Erkal, the founder of Dostlar Theater in Ankara, died of leukemia on July 31 at the age of 86. He was known as the “master of one-man plays.”

Dostlar Theater shared the news on its official account in the early hours of the morning with an emotional message, saying, “Goodbye my friends, goodbye…”

Born in Istanbul on March 28, 1938, Erkal completed his studies in the Psychology Department of Istanbul University. From 1959 on, he worked as an actor and as a director for numerous important theatre groups in Türkiye, and in 1969, he founded the Dostlar Theater, where he was the artistic director.

Erkal directed plays by international writers including Gorki, Brecht, Sartre, Peter Weiss, Steinbeck and Havel, as well as plays by Turkish writers such as Aziz Nesin, Haldun Taner, Nâzım Hikmet, Refik Erduran, Vasıf Öngören, Orhan Asena and Can Yücel. He adapted novels, stories, and poems into plays and translated plays. He wrote a documentary play, “Sivas 93.”

He was the lead in award-winning and festival-favorite films, including “At,” “Faize Hücum,” “A Season in Hakkari” and “A Heart of Glass.” He directed and acted in Haldun Taner’s famous musical play “Legend of Ali of Keshan” for the state television TRT.

He was named the year’ leading actor and best theater director numerous times. In 1982 and 1983, he won the Golden Orange Award in the Antalya Film Festival twice as the best actor. He also holds lifetime achievement and honorary awards.

Since 1993, Erkal had been acting in French as well, participating in festivals in Paris and Avignon, in three French productions: Nazım Hikmet’s “Cloud in Love,” Philippe Minyana’s “Ou vas-tu Jérémie?” and Paulo Coelho’s “Alchemist,” adapted from the eponymous title.