They converted a disused workshop into a theater space which quickly gained popularity, and by working closely with local teachers, the city council, businesses and government agencies, they were able to develop an innovative, free at source, education program.
While there he directed Scott Joplin's Treemonisha, Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars and had a workshop performance of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock.
The artistic director at the time, Tom Morris, asked Ergen to create something new and different from the normal operatic preconceptions in a manner similar to that of Tete-a-Tete of the Riverside Studios.
The Turkish Prime Minister appeared on stage, drunk at the time after spending the afternoon drinking raki, appealing to the people to return.
He is now founder of Yeni Kusak Theatre in Istanbul and runs Turkey's only new writing program Oyun Yaz with the British Council.
Sweet Smell of Success by John Guare and Marvin Hamlisch Mare Rider by Leyla Nazlı Mehmet directs extensively abroad in Israel, Ireland, Canada and Turkey.