Mehmet Esen

Mehmet Esen was born on October 13, 1958 in Istanbul. His interest in performing arts from an early age began when he watched a play by Münir Özkul at the age of six and then staged a one-man show at Cihangir Primary School. This early experience was the first step that led him to theatre. He continued his interest in theater during his years at Ankara Atatürk High School; After the training he received at Ankara Experiment Stage, he started to take part as an actor in the same troupe.

Here, he took part in the play Bozkır Dirliği with his coursemate Altan Erkekli. An important turning point in his art journey was meeting Erkan Yücel. With Yücel's guidance, he joined the Revolutionary Ankara Art Theater (DAST), but during this period he was subjected to political pressure and was even detained for a short time.

After their experience at DAST, the group they founded moved to Istanbul with the support of Haldun Taner.

The artist was first introduced to meddah as the apprentice of Münir Özkul. He took part in meddah plays such as Dream and Reality and Kaşif-i Eyvah Nadir Efendi directed by Özkul. He was arrested during the September 12 coup and had to undergo heart surgery due to health problems. During this difficult period, he met Genco Erkal and started working at Dostlar Theatre.

Another important loss in the artist's life was the death of Erkan Yücel; Esen, who was deeply affected by this incident, did not take the stage for four years. He returned to his artistic life by reviving Dream and Reality in memory of Yücel. With the help of Nevzat Ayaz, the governor of Izmir at the time, he broke the passport ban and went to Germany and joined the Theater community.

He took part in many projects in Berlin as both an actor and director, and also achieved great success with his role in Kerim Afşar's play Criminals and Innocents.

The improvised meddah show he performed at Leman Kültür in 1994, with the contribution of Tuncel Kurtiz, was the beginning of a new trend for both him and his audience. The spontaneous style that emerged during this period also inspired names such as Cem Yılmaz and Ata Demirer in later years. He returned to Germany in 1997 and continued his theater work in Berlin.

When he returned to Turkey in 2000, he wrote a novel called Love is Bigger than Life, describing his experiences. In various periods of his artistic life, he played important roles in both theater and cinema; In 2011, he took the stage in DOT Theatre's play Festen.

In 2021, he brought together his writing, directing and acting experience with his film Yapayalnız, which he wrote and directed. Most recently, he won the "best actor" award at the Montreal Film Festival with his performance in the short film Lost, directed by Ekin Onat. According to Esen, who also put forward important views on the subject of meddah and the transmission of the kavuk, master meddah İsmail Dümbüllü's turban was not actually original; He also states that he continues this tradition with Erkan Yücel's will.

Mehmet Esen was born in 1958 in Istanbul, Türkiye.

Productions in which he took part

He took part in a total of 45 productions; 12 of the most well-known are listed.

• Kingfisher (2022) — Vahit
• Call My Manager (2020)
• Reckoning (2009)
• Şaşıfelek Çokmazı (1996) — Mehmet
• The Two Faces of January (2014) — Turkish Plainclothes Policeman
• Winter Sun (2016) — Ismail
• Cage (2021) — Turgut
• September (2005)
• Walking into Fire (2010)
• Gunpowder in My Blood (2009)
• Ayla (2017) — Colonel Celal
• Forbidden (2014)

Production and imprint information was taken from TMDB.