KUGACZ/SEMERCI STUDIO
Mertcan Semerci was born in Istanbul. He graduated from Bilkent University (Ankara), Faculty of Music, Dramatic Arts and Theatre. Mertcan Semerci worked at the National Theatres in Ankara and Istanbul and collaborated with Tatbikat Theatre as a stage manager and lighting operator. He has appeared as an actor in more than 20 plays and dance shows. He is passionate about movement and training. He trains Brazilian jitsu. Participant in the educational programme Martial Partnering. Mertcan Semerci lives in Poland, where he has been working with Studio Matejka since 2016, taking part in the company’s projects and workshops. He was part of Tandem, a project run by Studio Matejka together with the Izmir-based Budalasultan art collective (2016), and co-creates Studio’s new project, Angry Man. He collaborates as a performer with Cecilia Lagerström’s Stockholm-based Alkemister ensemble (Suffering: On Our Perception of Pain, 2017). Since 2018 he has been working with Teatr ZAR, with whom he performs in the Medeas: On Getting Across.
Aleksandra Kugacz-Semerci graduated in philosophy from the University of Wrocław, Poland. She is an actress/performer, member of Studio Matejka since 2014. She co-created Teatr Studio Czykowy, led by Jerzy Welter. Aleksandra Kugacz-Semerci took part in Teatr ZAR’s training programme and worked with Anatoly Vassiliev in the Masters in Residence programme. In 2013, at the Grotowski Institute, she created her solo piece Exits, inspired by the contemporary history and culture of Romania as well as Herta Müller’s novels and essays. With Matejka Studio, she co-created the site-specific performance Harmony of Contradictions: Poland (2014) and the film No More Heroes (2016). In 2015 and 2016, aided by a scholarship from the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage, she created a project inspired by the postwar experiences of residents of former Breslau (solo piece Being at Home).
Together with Jubilo Foundation, whose activities engage people at risk of social exclusion: the homeless, prisoners and the disabled, she took part in the project Hidden Cities, which included a concert of traditional songs and the performance Black Night White Day. Aleksandra Kugacz-Semerci participated in Studio Matejka’s Tandem project, together with the Izmir-based Budalasultan art collective (2016). She co-creates Studio Matejka’s new project, Angry Man. She runs theatre and voiceover workshops with children, young people and adults.