Ayça Işıldar Ak

Ayça Işıldar Ak — Biography

Ayça Işıldar Ak is one of the founders of Mahşer-i Cümbüş, one of Turkey's pioneering improvisational theatre groups; alongside the stage she works as a television actress, voice artist and creative-drama teacher. In recent years she has appeared on screen in İyi Adamın 10 Günü (10 Days of a Good Man), Aldatmak and Bir Gece Masalı.

Born in Ankara, she completed primary, middle and high school in Bursa. From 1997 to 2001 she studied dramatic writing in the Theatre Department of Ankara University's Faculty of Language, History and Geography, and in 2001 she founded Mahşer-i Cümbüş with friends from the department. She took a master's degree in creative drama at the same university's Faculty of Educational Sciences, finishing her postgraduate studies in 2005. She taught creative drama and theatre at the Çankaya Public Education Centre and at Mamak Anatolian High School, and from 1998 on took part in theatre festivals in Denizli, Ankara, Bursa, Fethiye and Istanbul.

On screen she first appeared in Star TV productions such as Kadın İsterse and 24 Saat, and brought her group's shows to television in the programme Anında Görüntü Show. In the mid-2000s she also worked in advertising and radio voice-over, television dubbing, audiobook and radio-play adaptations. Kadınları Anlama Kılavuzu (2010) and Tövbeler Olsun (2021) followed. She sang folk songs for the Doğa İçin Çal project.