Akbar Alizad Explained

Ali Akbar Alizad (Persian: علی اکبر علیزاد; born 1973) is an Iranian theater director, known mostly for his performance of Waiting for Godot (2006).^[1] Alizad has been a member of the Aein Theater Group and the Leev Theater Group for 10 years, and in 2006 he founded his theatrical group named 84theater.^[2]

Career

Alizad is a lecturer at the Cinema & Theater College, University of Art since 2004, teaching drama analysis, playwriting, and dramatic principles.

He was also a member of the Aeein Theater Group from 1991 to 2004 and a member of the Leev Theater Group from 2004. In 2009, he met Noel Greig in Tehran to hold a workshop where Alizad translated his book; Playwriting: A Practical Guide, into Persian.

Performances 2005–2009

• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, Tehran, Molavi Hall (2005)
• Two Latin American plays, Tehran, Department of Cinema & Theater (2006)
• Oleanna by David Mamet, Tehran, City Theater (2006)
• Anniversary Celebratory and Swan Song by Chekhov, Tehran, Department of Cinema & Theater (2007)
• Ohio Impromptu, Footfalls, Come and Go,^[3] Catastrophe, and Rough for Theater 1 by Samuel Beckett^[4] (Tehran, Molavi Hall, June 2008)
• All That Falls by Samuel Beckett, Artist home, Tehran, September 2008
• Police by Slawomir Merozek, first premier: May 2009
• Catastrophe & Come and Go by Samuel Beckett, Romania, 2009
• What Where / Mountain Language^[5] Beckett/Pinter, (2010)
• Magic Mountain, written and devised by Ali Akbar Alizad (2010), a collaboration between 84theater and 20 Stories High from Liverpool, performed in Manchester, UK, as a part of Contacting the World Festival
• Catastrophe and Come and Go by Samuel Beckett, UK, Manchester, 2010
• Endless Monologue, a documentary performance based on the verbatim technique. July 2011, East Gallery, Tehran
• Play by Samuel Beckett, Arasbaran Art Center, Tehran, November and September 2011.
• Krapp's Last Tape, by Samuel Beckett, Molavi Hall, 2012
• Tango, by Slawomir Merozek, (banned by Iranian Art censorship)
• The House of Bernarda Alba by Lorca, Tehran, 2014
• Act Without Words I & II by Samuel Beckett, Tehran, Moje No hall, 2014
• Oleanna by David Mamet, Tehran, Samandarian hall, 2015^[6]
• Mountain Language/Faith in Ourselves by Harold Pinter/Martin Crimp, Tehran, Molavi Hall, 2016
• Fragments by Samuel Beckett, Tehran, City Theater (2016)
• The Maids by Jean Genet, Tehran, Molavi Hall, (2018)
• Alice in Tehran, written and directed by Ali Akbar Alizad (in rehearsal)

Notes and References

1. Book: Houppermans, Sjef . Présence de Samuel Beckett . 2006 . . 978-90-420-2117-4 . 431 .
2. Web site: [e-mail] . An Interview with Ali Akbar Alizad, Director of Piece by Samuel Beckett / Many Iranians Still Regard Beckett an Absurdist Playwright . 2023-04-01 . en . 28 December 2016 . en.
3. Come and Go by Samuel Beckett xvid. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/Y1ge4sws824 . 2021-12-20 . live. 30 March 2011. YouTube.
4. Ohio Imprumptu by Samuel Beckett.mp4. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/7vZ-YVnEClc . 2021-12-20 . live. 21 June 2011. YouTube.
5. Web site: Vol 56, No 1 | TDR/The Drama Review | | MIT Press Journals . 2013-03-15 . 2018-09-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180915123306/https://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/dram/56/1 . dead .
6. Web site: 2015-07-02 . 'Oleanna' at Iranshahr . 2023-04-01 . Financial Tribune . En.