Turkish and U.S. actors, playwrights and artists have planned, researched and fundraised for three years to create the international theater collaboration "S/he," an exploration of what it means to be a woman by exploring the body as a battleground from each cultural perspective.

The play not only includes such unique elements as Turkish scene titles and unusual symbolism of a mannequin but also free outreach events.

The production runs at Ithaca's Kitchen Theatre until May 15. After its Ithaca premiere, "S/he" will travel to Turkey and New York City during fall 2011.

"S/he" is the second project presented by the International Culture Lab (ICL), a theater company co-founded by Melanie Dreyer, assistant professor of directing and acting in Cornell's Department of Theatre, Film and Dance, and Gabriele Schafer, a professional actress and translator based in New York City.

The project weaves together two one-act plays, written by Turkish playwright Zeynep Kaçar and American playwright Tammy Ryan, to explore the female body from each cultural perspective.

The show is linked to such outreach efforts and events as a lecture presented May 5 at Cornell by Nilüfer Göle, professor of sociology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris and a leading authority on the political movement of today's educated, urbanized, religious Muslim women. And Cornell Law School hosted a mock trial April 28 focusing on the right to veil on campus, providing opportunities for undergraduate theatre students to work with law students to examine this issue from a judicial perspective.

"The mock trial presents some fascinating intersections between the legal system and the theatrical event," Dreyer said. "In this case, both performative frameworks are compromised as individual entities (the script is thin by dramatic standards, the legal proceeding is edited and reduced to fit a theatrical format with jokes added for entertainment value) in order to enhance the places where these two disciplines intersect."

Upcoming outreach efforts include the following discussions at the Kitchen Theatre:

Dreyer and Schafer have cast three Turkish and three American actors in the play, including students from Cornell and Yeditepe University in Istanbul.

"This process has included a lot of time for sharing ideas," said Elif Akbaydogan, a senior at Yeditepe University who is an actor in the play. "We are trying to find common ground."

Tickets for the Kitchen Theatre performances are $23 and $24, with special $11 student rush tickets available at each performance. To buy tickets, go to http://www.kitchentheatre.org, call 607-273-4497 or visit the Ticket Center in Center Ithaca, 171 The Commons.

Kathy Hovis is manager of marketing and public relations for the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance.