Ayhan Hulagu
Bio
Ayhan Hulagu is an award-winning New York-based actor and writer. After obtaining his college degree, he joined the Sahika Tekand Studio Players in Istanbul. Hulagu brought his artistic experience to the U.S. and founded the US Karagoz Theatre Company, followed by Studio Garage. His shows have been seen in nearly 40 states across the U.S., and he organized masterclass workshops and exhibitions to win new fans and audiences for Anatolian Theatre at international festivals and universities. Hulagu has been a guest artist at multiple universities, including Cornell, UC Berkeley, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, and Harvard. He directed a postdoctoral project about American folktale in Anatolian theatre at the University of California, Irvine, Department of Drama. A master’s thesis was written at the Shanghai Theatre Academy on his projects.
He brought Don Quixote, Hamlet, Stories of Dede Korkut, and 1001 Nights Tales to traditional Turkish theatre for the first time and was nominated for the best-adapted plays of the year in America in 2021. His works have been featured at major international festivals, including the 44th Vancouver Film Festival, the 61st Chicago Film Festival, the 34th Neapolis International Theatre Festival, and both the Hollywood & New York Fringe Festivals. He made history as the first artist to introduce traditional Turkish theatre, with its nearly 700-year history, to Broadway.
Hulagu lives in the United States and continues to take part in cinema and theatre projects.