Okday Korunan

Okday Korunan — Biography

Okday Korunan has long been a member of the Istanbul State Theatre and also works as a director and playwright. Television viewers know him best as Salih in Cesur ve Güzel. At Korunan Sahne, which he founded in 2025, he stages his own plays, Nazım'ın Kedisi and Geleceğini Biliyorduk.

He turned to theatre in his high-school years, graduated from the Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory in 1988 and began work the same year at the Diyarbakır State Theatre. He wrote a master's thesis on actor training under Müşfik Kenter (1992) and earned a proficiency degree in film and television at Marmara University (1996). He served as deputy director of the Istanbul State Theatre in 1993, 1999 and 2005, taught diction, body language and acting at several institutions, and has had poems and newspaper articles published.

His stage work has been recognised with awards: a special İsmet Küntay prize for Bir Şehnaz Oyun, the İsmet Küntay Best Actor prize for Pir Sultan Abdal, and a Yeni Tiyatro magazine award for Andrey in Üç Kızkardeş. As a director he won Best Director for Hiç Kimsenin Öyküsü; Kendi Gök Kubbemiz brought two awards, and his own play İyi Şanslar was honoured as best new play in 2020. On screen he began in 1987 with On Kadın; Çökertme, Yağmur Zamanı, Kınalı Kuzular, Fatih Harbiye, Çocuk, Akif and Ateş Denizi followed.