Leyla is a theater artist from Istanbul, Turkey.
She has directed productions of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare; Marys Seacole, by Jackie Sibblies Drury; Furlough’s Paradise, by a.k. payne, among others.
Previously, she served as the artistic director of Gakko, an international arts education collective devising interdisciplinary summer camps for high school students. She directed 12 programs in Japan, France, Indonesia, Romania and the US.
Leyla’s directing practice is rooted in scenographic thinking and authorship of live event in a world inundated with content. Where are the spaces where we can come together and be seen in what we stand for, rather than (or, as well as) in what we righteously resist? Her artistic and educational projects are investigations in creating such human arrangements.
MFA Directing, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, 2023
BA Architecture, Yale College, 2016
picture credit: Ella Pennington