Nurkan Erpulat, in-house director at the Gorki, was born in Ankara. He studied acting in Izmir before studying directing at the Hochschule Ernst Busch in Berlin. His early projects include Jenseits – Bist Du schwul oder bist Du Türke? at Berlin’s HAU. His directing credits include a play adaptation of Kafka’s Schloss at the Deutsches Theater Berlin and Kinder der Sonne at the Volkstheater Vienna. His works have been invited to festivals and guest performances in Germany and abroad and have won numerous awards. He directed, among others, the play Verrücktes Blut (Crazy Blood), co-developed with Jens Hillje, at Ballhaus Naunynstraße Berlin, which was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen in 2011 and chosen as play of the year by Theater heute. He worked as in-house director at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus. At the Gorki, he directed Chekhov’s DER KIRSCHGARTEN for the opening.