Is Shakspere Shakespeare?

EGE MALTEPE

Ege Maltepe is an actress, writer, and director born in Istanbul. She began her theatre career at the age of 14 with legendary theatre artist Ferhan Sensoy at Ortaoyuncular Company. She later developed an international career in New York. After watching one of her monologues, Academy Award–winning director Mike Nichols described her performance as “Excellent.”

Her original plays—Variations After Joe (2009), devised through improvisation, Tea for 3 (2012), TITS by Prof. G (2013), and Women of New York (2016)—were staged in New York. She has co-created a distinctive series of theatrical concerts with pianist and composer Emir Gamsız, including Drama in Beethoven, Talking to Schubert, Genius: Chopin (Later titled Chopin Time), The Tempest, and Bach’s Riddle, structuring classical music with theatrical performance and storytelling.

Maltepe graduated from Bilkent University’s Acting Department and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for postgraduate study in the United States. She trained at The New Actors Workshop in New York—founded by three legends of American theatre/cinema Mike Nichols, George Morrison, and Paul Sills. In New York she worked with leading figures including Edward Albee, Stanley Tucci, John Patrick Shanley, Kevin Kline, and Eve Ensler.

Her training spans a wide range of performance techniques, with a particular focus on Viola Spolin’s improvisation method. In 2009, she founded Spolin-ist, introducing Spolin’s theatre games approach to Turkiye, and translated Improvisation for the Theater into Turkish. She has since led workshops and taught in institutions including New York University, Istanbul University, and major cultural organisations in both the US and Turkiye.

Returning to Istanbul in 2018, Maltepe co-founded Spolin Game School and Bach Café with Gamsız, establishing a platform for interdisciplinary performance. During the pandemic, they expanded their work to include Dactylo Doré Publishing and the digital platform Jeux d’Art.

As an author, her first children’s novel The Secret in the Clay Pot is published in 2024. Her first comic book Chatty Pianist: Bach’s Riddle, following successful theatrical concert for families, co-authored with Emir Gamsız, published in 2026. She’s currently working on her book on the technique and philosophy of acting, Art of Play.

As an educator, she continues to teach through her “Art of Play” methodology at Bilgi University, while developing new interdisciplinary works for stage and digital programming for Jeux d’Art.

For film-theatre credits and more details please visit egemaltepe.com

EMIR GAMSIZ

Emir Gamsız is a Turkish pianist, composer, writer, and interdisciplinary artist with one of the most unconventional paths in classical music. A former professional basketball player in the Turkish Basketball League, he began playing the piano at 20. Within a year, he was admitted—at an unprecedented age—to the piano department of Istanbul University State Conservatory (1995), later receiving the Lions Club’s Young Musician of the Year award (1999).

After graduating, he continued his studies in Paris with Seba Baştuğ Şen and Hüseyin Sermet, where he began performing professionally. Since then, he has appeared across Europe, the United States, and Turkiye. In 2008, he became the first Turkish pianist to perform J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations in Türkiye. He has also collaborated with leading musicians including Chen Halevi, Natalie Clein, Marina Chiche, Ittai Shapira, and Belcea Quartet.

Beyond performance, Gamsız works across composition, writing (philosophy and sociology), film, and interdisciplinary practice. He has produced radio programmes, written articles for Andante and Milliyet, and created long-running sold-out children’s productions, including The Tempest and Bach’s Riddle. His compositional work, encouraged by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer David Del Tredici at City College of New York, led to his debut album Alla Turca Around the World (2013).

During eleven years in New York, he developed numerous interdisciplinary projects with playwright-director Ege Maltepe, spanning theatrical-concerts and films. Together, they also curated concert series at Caffe Vivaldi and launched film projects exploring art, culture, and society. Gamsız is the creator of the “Chatty Pianist” concept which has been presented at venues including Lincoln Center, Süreyya Opera House and across international festivals. Chatty Pianist is an original form of stage performance that combines sociological approach to stories unfolded through a piano recital.

Since returning to Istanbul, he has co-founded Bach Café, launched the digital platform Jeux d’Art, and expanded into publishing, recording, and animation. His recent work includes multiple album recordings and the widely successful theatrical concert Bach’s Riddle. Current projects include new albums, books, and performances, including Chatty Pianist – comic book and his book Is Entertainment Art? Gamsız is currently teaching Music Appreciation – a curriculum he designed – in Bilgi University. Through Jeux d’Art, Gamsız has developed an alternative digital platform designed to give artists the fair share of their work,distinct from other mainstream channels.

For more details please visit app.jeuxdart.com and emirgamsiz.com