Theatre in Türkiye in 2026: Stages, Memory and New Voices

[TURKIYE]

Theatre in Türkiye in 2026: Stages, Memory and New Voices

From Antalya’s festival in May to the reopening of Muammer Karaca Theatre in September and October’s productions, theatre moved between the street, the auditorium and new writing.

Theatre news from Türkiye in 2026 tells more than the story of a new production. A festival brings together companies from several countries; a play revisits a city’s history; a building welcomes audiences again after years of closure; and actors give voice to scripts before they become fully staged productions. Each creates a different encounter between theatre and its public, raising questions about memory, language, movement and the ways stories are told.

Bursa, Antalya and Istanbul provided concrete milestones, with dates and venues that audiences could follow. Announced autumn programmes, from the Istanbul Theatre Festival to children’s training, also form part of this picture. Taken together, they reveal the work of theatre beyond the finished performance: restoration, writing and learning, alongside the productions that bring people together on a particular evening.

The Sevda Şener Stage at Müze Gazhane in Kadıköy, Istanbul; archive photograph dated 20 September 2024, by Pragdon, CC0.

Bursa: a city’s history takes the stage

On 5 April, Çınarın Gölgesinde (In the Shade of the Plane Tree) was performed during the 13th Bursa International Balkan Countries Theatre Festival. Marking 700 years since the conquest of Bursa in 1326, it drew on the tree dream associated with Osman Gazi and the story of the Ottoman state’s beginnings. Representatives of the governor’s office and the State Theatres administration attended an occasion that brought local history into performance.

When a historical event becomes theatre, it moves from a written or inherited account into time that an audience can experience. Characters need language and performance; the setting needs design and lighting; and the production chooses what to show and what to leave outside the scene. Knowing the date of the anniversary is therefore only a starting point: the stage adds an artistic way of engaging with memory.

Bursa’s particular connection to this history gives the occasion its meaning. The past is part of the host city’s sense of itself, rather than a distant backdrop. That connection may prompt audiences to read further or discuss how stories relate to places. Keeping the historical record distinct from its artistic interpretation helps us understand any work inspired by the past, while enjoying the experience it creates.

Antalya: an international festival takes to the streets

The 16th Antalya International Theatre Festival ran from 8 to 19 May. Its opening included a parade from Atatürk Park to Cumhuriyet Square, with the Dutch company Close-Act. Theatre entered an open urban space before returning to a programme spread across different stages and auditoriums.

The programme comprised 23 plays and 50 performances, with companies from the Netherlands, India, Spain, Romania and Tunisia, alongside seven regional Turkish State Theatres companies. It covered 15 performance spaces, seven workshops and two exhibitions. These are figures for the organised programme, showing the breadth of what was prepared; each visitor’s experience still depended on the performances they chose to attend.

Moving between the street and an indoor theatre changes how a performance is received. Someone may encounter a parade by chance, taking in its movement, costumes and sound amid the city’s noise. In an auditorium, the timing is defined and the lighting more controlled, directing attention towards details that call for sustained watching. Bringing these forms together allows a festival to meet different kinds of cultural curiosity.

From Aspendos to theatre for children

Antalya’s programme included India’s Taj Express at Aspendos, Spain’s Carmen at the marina, Romania’s Electra and Tunisia’s The Overcoat. Children’s productions included The Selfish Giant, Ormandaki Dev (The Giant in the Forest) and Çorap Gonzo (Gonzo the Sock). The selection brought different titles and forms together, rather than limiting the festival to one kind of performance.

Movement, music and stage design can offer a way into a production even when its language differs from the audience’s own. Language still matters, however: part of a work’s impact may depend on its text, tone or spoken rhythm. International productions provide an opportunity to notice these means of expression, and what image, body and sound can tell us together.

Children’s theatre changes the programming questions too. Attention span, clearly drawn characters and the way a child interacts with a performance all become part of the experience. A child may remember a movement or a moment more readily than a long narrative. Attending a festival can begin a relationship with theatre, while a conversation afterwards can turn watching into an interest that continues beyond the auditorium.

Milestone	Date in 2026	What happened or was announced
Bursa — In the Shade of the Plane Tree	5 April	A Balkan festival production drawing on the city’s historical memory
Antalya — the 16th international festival	8–19 May	A festival programme featuring 23 plays
Muammer Karaca Theatre	25 September	Audiences welcomed back after restoration
Readings of new plays	24, 26 and 27 September	Six scripts presented to audiences at Müze Gazhane
The Shadow Puppeteer’s Dream	7 October	Premiere at the Muhsin Ertuğrul Stage
30th Istanbul Theatre Festival	22 October–3 December	An announced autumn programme still to take place at the time of this report

Atatürk Cultural Centre in Samsun; archive photograph dated 28 October 2010, by CobiJa, CC0. It does not depict one of the events discussed.

Muammer Karaca: a building and its artistic memory return

On 25 September, Muammer Karaca Theatre reopened to the public following restoration. Closed since 2012, it returned with a programme combining theatre, an exhibition and other performances. İlk Temsil (The First Performance), written and directed by Özgür Kaymak, revisited the atmosphere of Beyoğlu in the 1950s through theatre, music, tango and kanto, the song-and-dance tradition associated with the district’s entertainment venues.

The venue also hosted an exhibition exploring the world of poster designer Mengü Ertel, performances connected with Deli Dumrul and Keşanlı Ali Destanı (The Ballad of Ali of Keşan), and puppet shows. Restoration uncovered remains associated with the former French courthouse and its vaults beneath the building. Several layers came together: architectural history, the memory of design and performance, and audiences returning to seats that had been absent from theatrical life for years.

Reopening a theatre is a cultural event in its own right. A building gives a production an address, a date and a place for people to meet. In someone’s memory, it may be linked to an earlier visit, an artist’s name or a play they once saw. Its return creates the possibility of new visits and new memories. Accompanying performances and exhibitions make that return an experience audiences can enter, as well as a story about building work.

Hearing a new play for the first time

On 24, 26 and 27 September, the Istanbul City Theatres’ playwriting workshop presented readings of six scripts at Müze Gazhane’s Meydan Stage. They included 32. Kat (The 32nd Floor) by Özge Oruç Ertürk, Şimdi Değilse (If Not Now) by İdil Oskay Peköz, and Kayıt Dışı (Off the Record) by Cihan Tangerli. These encounters belong to the development of new writing, placing the playwright’s voice before a shared audience.

A reading differs from a production with all its theatrical elements in place. Words and their delivery take centre stage, without requiring the final sets, costumes or movement. Audiences can focus on relationships between characters and on dialogue passing from the page into speech. A line may gain force when spoken, or listeners may hear a scene’s rhythm differently as it moves between voices.

Readings form a link between writing and performance, with value even before anyone knows which scripts will become future productions. Playwrights can hear their words come to life beyond their own silent reading, while audiences approach a stage of the process that often stays behind the scenes. Such initiatives make the creation of a script part of theatrical life, alongside the anticipation of opening night.

October: shadow puppetry and human memory

Hayalî’nin Hayali (The Shadow Puppeteer’s Dream) premiered on 7 October at 20:00 at the Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Stage. Burçak Çöllü wrote the text and music; Yiğit Sertdemir originated the story idea and directed the production. It follows a shadow-puppet and puppet performer, carrying memories of the population exchange between Türkiye and Greece in 1924 and the effects of war and displacement on people’s lives.

The play approaches history through an artist’s experience and memory. This choice brings a major event into focus through one person’s life, and through what he can animate and narrate. Shadow puppetry has its own means of expression, bringing a visible figure together with its operator and voice. When the practitioner becomes the subject of the play, the story he performs and the story he carries within him become intertwined.

The opening was accompanied by a foyer exhibition of costumes and accessories from the theatre’s historical collection. The company also renewed its tradition of lighting candles backstage and reading a text by Muhsin Ertuğrul in memory of artists who have died. These activities connect a new production with the institution’s history, and the memory of theatrical work with the people who kept its stages alive.

Children: a new programme for learning

Istanbul City Theatres announced a children’s training programme for 2026–2028, with applications scheduled for 12–16 October. The free, two-year programme at the Kerem Yılmazer Stage in Üsküdar includes theatre, music, dance, improvisation, design, diction and communication skills. It is open to children born from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2018.

The plan gives learning a place within the institution, alongside productions for children. Watching allows a child to encounter a story; training lets them explore their voice and body, and practise listening to others in a group. That experience can shape their relationship with the arts even if they never choose a theatrical career. Learning begins with participation and curiosity.

Istanbul prepares for its 30th festival

The announced programme for the 30th Istanbul Theatre Festival runs from 22 October to 3 December, with six international and 11 Turkish productions. Caroline Guiela Nguyen’s Lacrima is scheduled to open the festival on 22 and 23 October; The Picture of Dorian Gray, directed by Mehmet Birkiye, is scheduled to close it on 3 December. Talks, workshops and children’s activities are also being prepared as part of the accompanying programme.

This is the next autumn chapter in the life of the stage, following the milestones in Bursa and Antalya and the reopening of Muammer Karaca Theatre. International and Turkish productions sit alongside one another across several weeks, allowing for repeated visits. Between finished performances, new writing, restoration and training, theatre in 2026 emerges as an encounter continually renewed: stories finding bodies, voices and a place, and audiences entering through curiosity and memory.

---

Related topics

A Guide to Society and Culture News in Türkiye

Education in Türkiye in 2025: Schools, Universities and Student Life

Festivals and Cultural Life in Türkiye in 2025: Music, Cinema, Art and Living Traditions

Life on Istanbul’s European and Asian Sides: Everyday Differences Across the Bosphorus

Café Life in Türkiye: Tea, Coffee, Conversation and Working Away from Home

Public Etiquette in Türkiye: Queues, Transport, Mosques and Parks

Big-City and Small-Town Life in Türkiye: Social Pace, Privacy and Family Ties

Student Life in Türkiye in 2025: Universities, Accommodation, Costs and Community

Society and Culture in Türkiye: A Review of 2026
​