Amir Reza Koohestani

Amir Reza Koohestani was born in Shiraz, Iran in 1978 and is considered to be one of the most important Iranian theatre makers of his generation. After a brief experience as a performer, he devoted his time to write his first plays: “And the Day Never Came” (1999), which was never performed and “The Murmuring Tales” (2000) which received critical acclaim in Tehran, during the 18th FADJR International Theatre Festival. In 2001 he founded the Mehr Theatre Group in Tehran, whose first piece “Dance on Glasses” brought Koohestani international recognition. After studying in Manchester, UK, for several years, he returned to Tehran where his creations have made him a major actor of the resurgence of theatre in his country. In February 2012, the movie “Modest Reception”, which script was co-written by Koohestani and Mani Haghighi, won the NETPAC Award at the Berlin International Film Festival 2012. Koohestani’s work has been shown in many European countries for the past 15 years. “Amid the Clouds”, “Timeloss” and “Hearing” (2015) have been shown in Iran, as well as at Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, Wiener Festwochen, the Oslo International Theatre Festival, Zürcher Theater Spektakel, Santarcangelo Festival in Italy or the Festival d’Automne à Paris, among others. Koohestani also staged several shows at German theatres, amongst them Münchner Kammerspiele, Schauspiel Köln, Theater Dortmund, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and Theater Freiburg. He also directed Richard Wagners opera “Tannhäuser“ at Staatstheater Darmstadt. His plays are noticed for their poetic style and explore, with a critical symbolism, the everyday life of characters caught up in the turmoil of their environment. His upcoming projects include a short performance at Comédie de Genève in September 2018, an adaptation of “Macbeth” at Münchner Kammerspiele in December 2018, and an adaptation of “The Kitchen” by Arnold Wesker at Theater Freiburg, in May 2019.

As of May 2019.