Faculty

Profile

Office hours: Monday/Wednesday: After 4pm and by appointment. Location: 65 West 11th Street, Room 257

About Zishan (Zisan) Ugurlu:
Zishan (Zisan) Ugurlu has worked extensively both in New York and abroad as a theater artist since 1995. She is a director and performer-in-residence at La MaMa Theater. Zishan was invited to New York City from Istanbul by Ellen Stewart (former artistic director of La MaMa theater) to be a member of Great Jones Repertory Company. Through Ellen Stewart / La MaMa, Zishan obtained her Green Card followed by her citizenship. She holds two MFA degrees: one  from Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, Turkey, where she completed a directing thesis in “Staging Concepts of Raymond Queneau’s Exercices De Style” under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Cevat Capan; Columbia University, completing an Acting Thesis Production, a devised theater piece "Godard-Distant and Right " under the direction of Robert Woodruff. Zishan holds a Ph.D from Ankara University, exploring “The Importance of the Play as a Cultural Concept” under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Sevda Sener and Prof. Dr. Metin And.

After teaching at Wesleyan University and Trinity College, she has  been teaching at Eugene Lang College The New School University for Liberal Arts since 2004.

Zishan has performed in numerous notable productions with the Great Jones Repertory, including Panorama (2018-2019) directed by Italian theater company Motus (led by Daniela Nicolò and Enrico Casagrande) which was selected to be part of "The Under the Radar Festival." The production was nominated for an Ubu Award for Best Direction as well as Outstanding Innovative Design and Outstanding Performance Art Production for the New York Innovative Theater Awards. Panorama was presented in several cities and festivals in Italy and across Europe: Ghent- Belgium, Barcelona-Spain, Innsbruck- Austria, and Berlin, Germany. She has also acted in The Trojan Women, (Helen) directed by Andrei Serban and composed by Elizabeth Swados; the production toured internationally across Asia and Europe. She played Carmen in Robert Wooduff’s award winning Godard-Distant and Right (2000) which was awarded as The Best Production in the Nanterre Theatre Festival in Paris. Zishan has worked closely with directors including Jay Scheib as Monique in Koltes' West Pier (2003), Medea in Müller's Medea, (2008) and Betina in Veronese's Woman Dreamt Horses (2006). Solo performance credits include the world premiere of Fo's Peasants Bible, (2002) Alighieri's Dante (2003) both directed by Ron Jenkins and Watanabe's Antigone, directed by Gisela Cardenas (2007). Zishan also gave a Turkish musical concert in 2002 titled as Musica Alla Turca.

Zishan's directing career has spanned over more than two decades across several countries. She recently directed The Marrige (September 2024) by Witold Gombrowicz and invited to The International Gombrowicz Festival in Radom - Jan Kochanowski Powszechny Theater and she received the "Best Director Award" by the Jury. The production is also performed at Dramatyczny Theatre in Warsaw  (October 2024). The Medea (April 2024) based on the text of Andrei Serban’s Greek and Latin text by Euripides and Seneca, a composition by Elizabeth Swados (1972). This newly adapted and reimagined version is set on the global refugee crisis. Fragments, Lists, and Lacunae (2020) written by Alexandra Chasin, featuring philosopher Judith Butler as a performer;  the production was presented at New York Live Arts.  She is the founding artistic director of “Actors without Borders-ITONY.” It is an ensemble-based theater company with a commitment to introduce well known and highly regarded but rarely produced national and international playwrights to American audiences. Her recent directing credits include:The Franca Rame Project (2019) by Dario Fo and Franca Rame, Agamemnon - in Greek (2016) by Aeschylus, Measure for Measure - in Turkish (2015) by William Shakespeare,  She Talks to Beethoven (2015) by Adrienne Kennedy, Baghdadi Bath - in Arabic (2013) by Jawad Al Assadi, π-ROJECT - in Greek  (2012) based on The Persians by Aeschylus, Purge (2011) by Sofi Oksanen,  Kebap-Mady Baby.edu - in Turkish (2010) by Gianina Carbunariu, The Father (2008) by August Strindberg, Operetta (2005)  by Witold Gombrowicz, The Last Supper  (2004) by Lars Norèn, Serious At All (1998) and Watershed (1996) by Tom Soper, Until the Next Whirl  (1995) by Rumi.

Zishan's particular affinity and fascination in the genre of Solo Performance has led her to direct a multitude of performances presented at United Solo Festival in New York. She was awarded “Best Direction” for Yu Ling Wu’s  Dream American, (2018) Harlem Blooms in Spring by Jersten Seraile, Race Free by Maria Mukuka, In the Storm of Pleasure (2014) by Daniel Benhamu (Winner of Best Debut Award). Zishan has also directed other solo performances for different venues: The Surrender  (2014) by Toni Bentley at The Clurman Theater, (Theater Row), Oysters, Orgasms, and Obituaries (2011) by Raina von Waldenburg (Nominated for New York Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Solo Performance at La MaMa) and Request Program (2005) by F. X. Kroetz at La MaMa. She was selected to have an honored Membership at United Solo Academy on the heels of her successes.

Zishan leads the Lang College Prison Initiative Reading Group, which is supported by Lang's Civic Engagement and Social Justice Office and is related to the Prison Abolition movement. She has been teaching Scene Study:Prison Plays with Fortune Society, formerly incarcerated individuals at Lang and in prisons, since 2008. Zishan's significant contributions to prison education and social justice were recognized when she was awarded the prestigious 2020 Gramsci International Prize for Theater in Prison by INTIP (UNESCO Partner). 

She has also worked as a science fellow at Ligo Project working with Dan McCloskey Lab. Zishan has been inclined to expand her knowledge in neuroscience and was creating theater courses integreating Neuroscience.

Zishan teaches a range of theater classes including: Fundamentals of Acting, Scene Study, Creating Solo Performance, Monologue Workshop for Auditions, Acting for the Camera, Scene Lab: Epic Theater, Introduction to Directing, Post-Modern Directing, and Directing:Devised Theater. Each of her courses are designed to explore a range of scientific and socio-political issues.

Zishan firmly believes in Andrei Tarkovsky's wisdom:

“An artistic discovery occurs each time as a new and unique image of the world, a hieroglyphic of absolute truth. It appears as revelation, as a momentary, passionate wish to grasp intuitively and at a stroke all the laws of this world-its beauty and ugliness, its compassion and cruelty, its infinity and its limitations.”

Degrees Held

MFA: Columbia University School of the Arts, New York - Completed Acting Thesis Production, a devised theater piece "Godard - Distant and Right " under the direction of Robert Woodruff (2000)

Ph.D: Theater Department of Ankara University, Turkey - Completed Dissertation: “The Importance of the Play as a Cultural Concept” under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Sevda Sener and Prof. Dr. Metin And   

MFA: Theater Department of Istanbul Mimar Sinan University, Turkey - Completed Directing Thesis “Staging Concepts of Raymond Queneau’s Exercices De Style” under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Cevat Capan 

BA: Theater Department of Ankara University, Turkey - Completed thesis “Aziz Nesin’s Plays and Structuralism” under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Aysegul Yuksel - Summa Cum Laude 

Professional Affiliation

• Actors Equity (2000 - Present)
• Screen Actors Guild (SAG Eligable)
• Actor and Director-in-Residence at La MaMa E.T.C. (1993 - Present)
• Artistic Director of Actors Without Borders-ITONY (2004 - Present)
• Artistic Director of Eugene Lang Productions (2004 - 2011)
• Curator of The Gallery at Marmara-Manhattan (2000-2010)

Performances and Appearances

SELECTED ACTING CREDITS:

• Panorama Concevied and Directed by Motus -The production was nominated for an Ubu Award for Best Direction as well as Outstanding Innovative Design and Outstanding Performance Art Production for the New York Innovative Theater Awards. 
• Antigone in Antigone - Written by José Watanabe. Directed by Gisela Cardenas 
• Solo Performer in Peasants’ Bible - Written by Dario Fo. Directed by Ron Jenkins.
• Betina in Woman Dreamt Horses - Written by Daniel Verenose. Directed by Jay Scheib
• Medea in Medea - Written by Heiner Mueller / Seneca. Directed by Jay Scheib
• Monique in West Pier - Written by Bernard Koltes. Directed by Jay Scheib. Festival Koltes
• Dante in Dante - Written by Dante Alighieri. Directed by Ron Jenkins, composed by Desak Suartilaksmi with Balinese master Nyoman Catra. 
• Brontsoski in The Whore From Ohio - Written by Hanoch Levin. Directed by Victor and Geyula Attar
• Saudade in Case B - Written and directed by Kameron Steele
• Caliban in The Tempest  - Written by William Shakespeare. Adapted and directed by Nyoman Catra and Ron Jenkins, composed by Desak Suartilaksmi
• Drapaudi in Draupadi - Conceived and directed by Ellen Stewart. Performed with members of Kerela Team of Kathakali Artists
• Ayline in Dead Tech / The Master Builder - Written by Henrik Ibsen. Directed by Kristin Marting
• Cavale in Cowboy Mouth - Written by Sam Shepard. Directed by Lee Hyunjung
• Laura in In Transit - Written by Denise Bonal. Directed by Françoise Kourilsky
• Carmen in Godard-Distant and Right. Directed by Robert Wooduff. The Best Production in the Nanterre Theatre Festival in Paris.
• Mother in A Dream Play - August Strindberg. Directed by Sonoko Kawahara
• Chorus in Electra - Sophocles. Directed by Andrei Serban
• Creusa in Medea - Euripides/ Seneca. Directed by Andrei Serban
• Helen in Trojan Women - Euripides. Directed by Andrei Serban
• Iocaste in Oedipus Rex - Written by Sophocles. Directed by Ellen Stewart
• Yunus Wife in Yunus - Conceived and directed by Ellen Stewart

FILM ACCOLADES:

• Principal Actor in feature film The Letter, with Tarik Akan. Directed by Ali Ozgenturk - a part of the Cannes Film Festival, Calcutta Film Festival, and Argentina Film Festival
• Principal actor in Dog Race, a short  film directed by Enid Zentelis. Presented at New York and International Film Festivals
• Zishan Ugurlu: A Turkish Actor in the U.S.A, (documentary) CNN Turkey

THE NEW SCHOOL, EUGENE LANG COLLEGE, STUDENT PRODUCTIONS - DIRECTING:

• Hoppla, We’re Alive! by Ernst Toller (2019)
• The Mom, The Dad, & The Holy Spirit by Yu Ling Wu, Joshua Laclé & Aliyah Hakim (Senior Capstone)(2018)
• Not About Nightingales by Tennessee Williams (2016)
• Elegant Degradation based on Charles Mee’s Orestes 2.0 (Senior Capstone)(2014)
• Marathon Dancing: Letters to Wall Street in the Era of Wonderful Nonsense based on They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? by Horace McCoy (2014)
• The Judith of Shimoda by Bertolt Brecht (2012)
• The Law of Remains by Reza Abdoh (Senior Capstone)(2011)
• The Realm of Darkness by Leo Tolstoy (2010)
• Temptation by Vaclav Havel (2008)
• Blood on the Cat’s Neck by Rainer W. Fassbinder (2007)
• Operetta by Witold Gombrowicz (2006)
• Big Love by Charles Mee. (2004)

PUBLIC PROGRAMS CREATED FOR THE NEW SCHOOL:

• Underground by Lisa B. Thompson - Staged Reading at La MaMa Theater (2022)
• Gridlock - Prison to Purpose II: Digital Performance, written by Johnny L Ward, directed by Zishan Ugurlu. Excerpts from an anthology exploring the conditions of Texan Prisons (2021)
• Understanding Black Lives Matter Movement: Digital Event, presented by Frank Leon Roberts, hosted by Zishan Ugurlu (2021)
• Alumni 360 Fireside Chat: Digital Event: Lang Alumni hosted by their faculty; hosted by Zishan Ugurlu and alum Yu Ling Wu. (2021)
• The Death of Truth / Truth Has Died - Digital Performance: Directed by Zishan Ugurlu. Adapted by Jake Lavin and Zishan Ugurlu. (2020)
• Hoppla! We're Alive! Fragments from the play - Directed and Designed by Zishan Ugurlu and written by Ernst Toller for the New School Centenerary. (2019)
• The Film Club - Staged Reading: Directed and Designed by Zishan Ugurlu, written by Adrienne Kennedy. The event was honouring Adrienne Kennedy. (2015)
• A Movie Star Has to Star in Black and White - Staged Reading: Directed and Designed by Zishan Ugurlu, written by Adrienne Kennedy. The event was honouring Adrienne Kennedy. (2015)
• Short Eyes - Staged Reading: Directed by Zishan Ugurlu and Written by Miguel Pinero, Performed by formerly incarcerated individuals (2014)
• What a Stranger May Know - Installation Performance: Directed by Zishan Ugurlu, Written by Eric Ehn. The project was dedicated to the victims and families of the Virginia Tech Shooting. (2012)
• The Osiander Project Preface- Staged Reading: Directed by Zishan Ugurlu, Written by Geoffrey Paul Gordon and David Morgan (2008)
• Oxygen - Staged Reading: Directed by Zishan Ugurlu, Written by Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffmann - Nobel Laureate. (2008)
• Anna in the Tropics - Staged Reading: Directed by Zishan Ugurlu, Written by Nilo Cruz (2008)

COMISSIONED STUDENT PRODUCTIONS - DIRECTING:

• Atin Ölumu Arpadan Olsun - Bahcesehir University, Istanbul (2022)
• Marathon Dancing: Letters to Wall Street in the Era of Wonderful Nonsense based on They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? by Horace McCoy -  Rutgers University 250th Anniversary (2015)
• Black Market / Zaman-e  - Bilgi Univeristy, Istabul (2010)
• Seven Jewish Children by Caryl Churchill - Kadir Has University, Istanbul (2009)
• Blood Wedding by Federico G. Lorca -  Trinity College, Hartford CT (2004)

Research Interests

• To explore the symbiotic relationship between the arts and sciences through the creation of a new theatrical vocabulary.
• Neuroscience, architecture, film.

Awards And Honors

• Best Director Award for The Marriage by The International Gombrowicz Festival.
• The Mellon Periclean Faculty Leadership (PFL) Program™ Award in the Humanities. Supported by the Mellon Foundation and The Eugene M. Lang Foundation. 
• Lang Faculty Opportunity Fund Award 
• 2020 Gramsci International Prize for Theater in Prison -  ITIP UNESCO partner (Awarded yearly to individuals)
• Tony Award Regional Theatre for La MaMa Theater (Resident Actor and Director at La MaMa)
• Best Director Award for Dream American for United Solo Performance Festival (Director)
• Best Peformance award at Nisville Jazz Theater Festival for Balkan Bordello (Dramaturg)
• Best Debut Award for Storm in Pleasure for United Solo Performance Festival (Director)
• Honored Membership at United Solo Academy
• Ubu Award Nomination for Panorama in Best Direction (Performer)
• Nominations for Outstanding Innovative Design and Outstanding Performance Art Production for Panorama for the New York Innovative Theater Awards. (Performer)
• Nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance for Oysters, Orgasms and Obituaries for the New York Innovative Theater Awards (Director)
• Audience Award for Best Play Kebap, Radical Newspaper (Director)
• Martin Scorsese Award, for acting in the film Dog Race (Actor)
• Grand Marnier and W. Johnson Awards at the New York Film Festival, for acting in the film Dog Race (Actor)
• Fox Foundation Fellowship, Theater Communication Group (TCG) (Fellowship)