Tanju Girişken

Tanju Girişken (born 1989) is a Turkish theatre director, writer and actor. Born in İzmir, Turkey, he has worked at various theatres in Turkey and Germany.

Early life and education Girişken was born in 1989 in İzmir, Turkey. He studied acting at Istanbul University and graduated in 2012. From 2020 to 2023, he studied directing in the master's programme at the Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich.

Career While studying directing in Munich, Girişken staged ruhen in resistance. antigone and befristet / für immer at the Theaterakademie August Everding.

In 2024, he directed Georg Büchner's Leonce and Lena at Deutsches Theater Göttingen. Reviewing the production for Die Deutsche Bühne, Sarah Heppekausen described it as an exploration of multilingual everyday life and of language as both barrier and bridge. A review in taz described the production as telling a story of transit between two worlds and noted its focus on identity, transcultural experience, language and political violence.

In 2026, Girişken directed Felicia Zeller's Der Fiskus at Theater Trier. He also directed Ibrahim Amir's Das Opferfest at Stadttheater Gießen. His work Mutter dili – alle Farben meiner Sprachen was premiered at Nationaltheater Mannheim. In 2026, he directed Stefan Wipplinger's Kri as part of the Salzburg Festival's youth programme jung & jede*r.

Girişken's work often engages with migration, multilingualism, belonging, resistance and contemporary forms of storytelling. His productions have included documentary and biographical material as well as collective and performative approaches.

Selected productions Directing and writing

ruhen in resistance. antigone, Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding, director and writer Cyrano de Bergerac, Istanbul City Theatre, actor The Glass Menagerie, Istanbul City Theatre, actor

Awards and recognition

2023: Audience Award, Körber Studio Junge Regie, for befristet / für immer