ABOUT DOT
DOT is an independent contemporary theatre company, co-founded in 2005 in Istanbul by Murat Daltaban, Özlem Daltaban and Süha Bilal. DOT’s first venue was opened in October 2005 at the Mısır Apartment in Istiklal Street.
DOT has been delivering high voltage theatre productions to the Istanbul audience in its own venue for twelve seasons under the artistic direction of Murat Daltaban. DOT produces a wide selection of plays from various countries and cultures to integrate a critical eye to the arts and cultural scene and enliven the debate on current and global social issues.
DOT works in artistic direction, production and venue management.
Artistic Development
Dot is artistically concerned with the spirit of the age. Innovative adaptations of contemporary texts form the repertoire. Underlining the repertoire is the story of the urban dweller.
Production
Dot produces plays for its own repertoire and venue. Dot is open as co-producer to partnerships with international festivals and/or institutions.
Venue Management
Dot presents its audience self-produced shows in its self-managed venue.
In 2005 DOT’s first venue was opened at the Mısır Apartment in Istiklal Street.
In 2008 a new venue was set up at the Bilsar Building for the DOTATBILSAR project. The project ended in 2009 (1st Mobile Project)
In 2009 a new theatre space was created at Macka G-Mall for the DOTATMARS project. The project ended in 2014. (2nd Mobile Project)
In 2010 a new theatre space was set up at the Koleksiyon Campus in Sariyer for the DOTATKOLEKSIYON project. The project ended in 2011. (3rd Mobile Project)
In 2011 DOT‘s main venue moved from the Misir Apartment to Macka G-Mall.
In 2015 the main venue was moved to much bigger and newly built space at Kanyon. DOT‘s new venue in Kanyon was named DOTKANYONDA.
DOT Team
Founding Partners: Murat Daltaban, Süha Bilal, Özlem Daltaban
Dot Artistic Direction: Murat Daltaban
Production, management and Publicity: Özlem Daltaban
THE PLAYS (2005-2017)
Frozen (22 September 2005)
Written by Bryony Lavery / Directed by Mustafa Avkıran
Love and Understanding (11 November 2005)
Written by Joe Penhall / Directed by Murat Daltaban
The Censor (2 February 2006)
Written by Anthony Neilson / Concept-Directed by Naz Erayda
Faraway (23 March 2006)
Written by Carly Churchill / Directed by Emre Koyuncuoğlu
A Play For Two (17 May 2006)
Concept, Designed and Directed by Bülent Erkmen
Written by Yekta Kopan
Staged at the 15th International Istanbul Theatre Festival and 4th International Theatre Olympics.
Bug (22 September 2006)
Written by Tracy Letts / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Mercury Fur (18 October 2007)
Written by Philip Ridley / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Blackbird (14 Febuary 2008)
Written by David Harrower / Directed by Emre Koyuncuoğlu
The Storyteller (17 May 2008)
Directed by Murat Daltaban
Staged at the 16th International Istanbul Theatre Festival
Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat (DOTATBİLSAR) (16 October 2008 – 6 June 2009)
Written by Mark Ravenhill / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Shopping and F***ing (4 November 2009)
Written by Mark Ravenhill / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Pornography (DOTATMARS) (19 November 2009)
Written by Simon Stephens / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Punk Rock (DOTATMARS) (22 April 2010)
Written by Simon Stephens / Directed by Rıza Kocaoğlu
Mandrel (28 May 2010)
Written by Hakan Günday / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Staged at the 17th International Istanbul Theatre Festival
Festen (DOTATKOLEKSIYON) (22 January 2011)
Written by David Eldridge / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Orphans (DOTATMARS) (20 October 2011)
Written by Dennis Kelly / Directed by Tuğrul Tülek
Beautiful Burnout (6 January 2012)
Written by Bryony Lavery / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Yellow Moon (26 September 2012)
Written by David Greig / Directed by Pınar Töre
A Play For Two (12 November 2012)
Written by Bülent Erkmen and Aslı Mertan / Directed by: Bülent Erkmen
Der Goldene Drache (8 December 2012)
Written by Roland Schimmelpfenning / Directed by Serkan Salihoğlu
Overspill (27 March 2013)
Written by Ali Taylor / Directed by Tuğrul Tülek
Theatre Uncut 1 (20 November 2013)
(4 Short Plays)
The Fat Man Written by Anders Lustgarten / Directed by Serkan Salihoğlu
Things That Make No Sense Written by Dennis Kelly / Directed by Tuğrul Tülek
A Bigger Banner Written by Mark Ravenhill / Directed by Serkan Salihoğlu
Fragile Written by David Greig / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Theatre Uncut 2 (15 January 2014)
(3 Short Plays)
Housekeeping Written by Lucy Kirkwood / Directed by Murat Daltaban
The Price Written by Lena Kitsopoulou / Directed by Pınar Töre
Dalgety Written by David Greig / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Fight Night (14 March 2014)
Concept, Designed and Written by Alexander Devriendt & Fight Night Original Cast
Directed by Murat Daltaban
Theatre Uncut ISTANBUL
Short Plays Project
(February 2014 – May 2014)
READINGS for the 19th ISTANBUL THEATRE FESTIVAL
(16 May 2014)
A Lesson In Lynching Written by Ayfer Tunç / Directed by Hannah Price
Like Knocking On The Door Of A Familiar House On An Ordinary Day
Written by Berkun Oya / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Apollo 8844 Written by Derem Çıray / Directed by Hannah Price
Police State Written by Davey Anderson / Directed by Hannah Price
Flesh On Bone Written by Hakan Günday / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Smoke (And Mirrors) Written by Stef Smith / Directed by Murat Daltaban
SHORT PLAYS FROM THEATRE UNCUT ISTANBUL WERE READ DURING THE EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL AT THE TRAVERSE THEATRE AUGUST 18TH.
Midsummer (A Play with Songs) (10 December 2014)
Written by David Grieg – Gordon McIntyre / Directed by Serkan Salihoğlu
Midwinter (3 December 2015)
Written by Zinnie Harris / Directed by Murat Daltaban
NippleJesus (11 February 2016)
Written by Nick Hornby / Directed by Serkan Salihoğlu
Growth (8 November 2016)
Written by Luke Norris / Directed by Serkan Salihoğlu
How to Hold Your Breath (23 December 2016)
Written by Zinnie Harris / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons (5 April 2017)
Written by Sam Steiner / Directed by Mert Öner
Rhinoceros (3 – 12 August 2017)
Written by Eugène Ionesco
Adapted by Zinnie Harris / Directed by Murat Daltaban
2017 EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
A co-production with Edinburgh International Festival and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in association with Dot Theatre Istanbul.
Meet Me At Dawn (November 2017)
Written by Zinnie Harris / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Square Go (2 November 2018)
Written by Kieran Hurley & Gary McNair / Directed by Mert Öner
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart (21 November 2018)
Written by David Greig / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Let the Right One In (2 February 2019)
Adaptation Jack Thorne from John Ajvide Lindqvist’s bestselling novel and screenplay / Directed by Murat Daltaban
Mouthpiece (8 November 2019)
Written by Kieran Hurley / Directed by Mert Öner
AWARDS
CRITICS’ AWARDS FOR THEATRE IN SCOTLAND (CATS)
2017 – 2018 Season “Best Director”
Murat Daltaban – Rhinoceros
2017 – 2018 Season “Best Production”
Rhinoceros
2017 – 2018 Season “Best Music and Sound”
Oğuz Kaplangı – Rhinoceros
2017 – 2018 Season “Best Male Performance”
Robert Jack – Rhinoceros
UNESCO’s International Critics Union Award (TEB)
2005-2006 Season, Theatre of the Year Award
Dot Theatre with all productions.
2008-2009 Season, Production of the Year Award
Dotatbilsar – Shoot/Get treasure/Repeat
2010 -2011 Season, Theatre of the Year Award
Dotatkoleksiyon – Festen
Afife Theatre Awards
2016 Best Actor
İbrahim Selim – NippleJesus
2016 Best Lighting Design
Cem Yılmazer – Midwinter
2015 Best Actor
Tuğrul Tülek – Midsummer
2012 Best Production
Beautiful Burnout
2010 Best New Generation Project
Punk Rock
2009 Best New Generation Project
Dotatbilsar – Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat
2009 Best Actress
Mine Tugay – Blackbird
2008 Best Supporting Actor
Rıza Kocaoğlu – Mercury Fur
Sadri Alışık Theatre Award
2013 Best Supporting Actress
Ece Dizdar – Golden Dragon
2012 Jury Special Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Orphans and Beautiful Burnout
2011 Best Director for Production of the Year
Murat Daltaban – Festen
2010 Best New Generation Project
Dotatmars, Pornography and Dot, Shopping and F***ing
2008 Best New Generation Project
Mercury Fur
The Tiyatro Dergisi Theatre Awards
2008 Best Production – Bug
MOBILE PROJECTS
DOTATBILSAR – 2008/2009 Theatrical Season
The Bilsar Building, located in Istanbul’s Tunel area, was transformed into a theatre space for Dot. Mark Ravenhill’s SHOOT / GET TREASURE / REPEAT consisting of 17 short plays and 1 radio play was prepared for the space. The Dotatbilsar Project began in September 2008 and ended in June 2009.
DOTATMARS – 2009/2010 Theatrical Season
In 2009, a new theatre space was created for Dot at G-Mall, a cultural centre located in Macka, Istanbul, with the support of The Mars Entertainment Group. The Dotatmars Venue Project went on for 5 seasons and ended in January 2014.
DOTATKOLEKSIYON – 2010/2011 Theatrical Season
FESTEN / KUTLAMA premiered January 22nd through the collaboration of DOT and KOLEKSIYON. The play was staged at the Koleksiyon Campus in Sariyer. The project ended in June 2011.
PROJECTS
2016 Dot Play Reading
How to Hold Your Breath
Written by: Zinnie Harris Directed by: Serkan Salihoğlu
2013 Theatre Uncut Istanbul
Short Plays Project
THEATRE UNCUT was started in Great Britain by project directors Emma Callander and Hannah Price in 2010 with a simple idea. They asked playwrights to write short plays about the current political situation.
In the first three years of THEATRE UNCUT playwrights from England, Scotland, USA, Argentina, Spain, Greece, Syria, Iceland and Egypt joined in and the plays were staged in 17 countries. The project received awards from the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012, Fringe First, Herald Angel and Scotsman Spirit.
DOT staged 15 selected plays from Theatre Uncut as “MAKAS OYUNLARI” in the 2013-2014 season in Istanbul.
Playwrights participating in the “THEATRE UNCUT ISTNABUL” project, which began with a week long workshop in February in Istanbul and was realized with a DOT – THEATRE UNCUT collaboration are Davey Anderson and Stef Smith from Britain and Ayfer Tunç, Berkun Oya, Hakan Günday and Derem Çıray from Turkey. Murat Daltaban, Emma Callander and Hannah Price are directing the readings in Istanbul and Edinburgh.
First readings of “THEATRE UNCUT ISTANBUL” were done May 16, 17 and 20 May for the Istanbul Theatre Festival. The plays will be read at The Edinburgh Fringe August 18th 2014 at the Traverse Theatre.
2011 Playwriting Workshop with Leo Butler
From June 26th to July 2nd 2011, British playwright Leo Butler came to Istanbul for a playwriting workshop with Dot artistic director Murat Daltaban and novelist/playwright Hakan Günday.
The Workshop focused on the development of a text from scratch as a collaborative effort involving the director, the playwright and the actor.
Mr. Butler also performed a single day extra workshop with members of the Dot company about the principles of basic playwriting.
The workshop enabled Hakan Günday to produce a complete play and also sparked great interest for playwriting and text development not only at Dot but also in the literal and theatrical community in Istanbul.
This workshop was realized in collaboration with British Council
2009 British Playwrights Talk at Dot
DOT’s BRITISH PLAYWRIGHTS TALK AT DOT panel series realized with the support of THE BRITISH COUNCIL met with the audience in the 2008/2009 season.
Philip Ridley Talks Mercury Fur February 28th 2009
Mark Ravenhill Talks Shoot / Get Treasure / Repeat March 14th 2009
Aleks Sierz Talks In-Yer-Face Theatre May 2nd 2009
Simon Stephens Talks Pornography and Punk Rock March 28th 2010
2007 Dot New Plays Project
To initiate contemporary playwriting and the production of new contemporary plays in Turkey, Dot called on playwrights/emerging playwrights of all ages.
The project was supported by Das Schauspielhaus Hamburg, Istanbul Goethe Institut and the Cultural Office of the Austrian Embassy in Istanbul and attended by 69 playwrights with 80 plays.
The 11 selected playwrights were called to attend a playwright’s workshop led by the noted young Austrian playwright Bernhard Studlar in 12-18 February 2007.
The 11 new short plays, written during the workshop, were read by professional actors at Dot in May 2007.
2007 The Dot Talk Series
The Talks were done under the title “Dot Meetings March 27th” for World Theatre Day, in the form of 7 different meetings with 6 moderators, from March 27th to 31st.
Discussions were held on theatre bringing together performance artists, film and theatre directors, novelists, festival directors, contemporary artists, cultural operators, academicians and audience members, it’s place in today’s preferences, it’s relation to governmentDynamics subsidized establishments, it’s relation to the media, the say cultural policies have in change, it’s relation to the European Union, it’s push in transformation, it’s progress through civilian enterprise and what is taking place in the world currently.
500 people watched the meetings with 35 speakers.
-What’s the deal with Theatre?
-Dynamics Triggering Transformation: Performance Arts – Public Sphere – Civilian Initiative
-Where is Government Subsidized Art Heading?
-Re-thinking United Differences
-New Establishments and New Cultural Policies in a New Age
-If It Only Made the News
-What’s Happening in the World?
2007 Dot Play Reading
To introduce new plays and playwrights from different countries a reading of Woman from The Past (Die Frau von Früher) was done April 2007 in collaboration with The Goethe Institute.
The play was read by Uğur Polat, Murat Daltaban, Tülay Günal, Güneş Berberoğlu and Mine Tugay.
Playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig attended a discussion with the audience after the reading.
2006 – 2007 – 2009 Touring
A Play For Two
2006 – Al limite al confine LA TURCHIA FRA EUROPA E ASIA in Trent, Italy;
2007 – Balie Theatre within the Festival “Turkey Now” in Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
2007 – International European Festival Projektion Europa, in Hamburg, Germany.
The Storyteller
2009 – Dot has performed for the Transeuropa Festival, in Hidelsheim, Germany.
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