Mohammad Aghebati Explained

Birth Date:	1975
Birth Place:	Mashhad, Iran
Nationality:	Iranian
Field:	Theater director, scenic design, actor
Training:	Tehran University of Art, Brooklyn College

Mohammad Aghebati (Persian: محمد عاقبتی, born: 1975) is an Iranian theater director,^[1] scenic designer and actor. He has staged numerous dramas during his career, including Oedipus the King by Sophocles, AKA Jocasta; God’s Dead Words, Hamlet, The Prince of Grief^[2] by William Shakespeare, and Kiss You and Tears by Vaclav Havel.

Aghebati graduated from Tehran University of Art majoring in theater directing in 2000. Upon graduation, he became a member of the Leev Theater Group. After departure from Leev Theatre Group, he moved to New York and started a special research fellowship at Yale University, School of Drama.^[3] He then followed his education by obtaining his M.F.A in Performance and Media Arts at Brooklyn College, New York.

Agehbati is the co-founder and artistic director of Maaa Theater which is currently active in New York and Tehran.

Career

Director & Set Designer

• Apart-Ment @ African American Arts and Culture Complex, New York, NY
• The Little Black Fish @ Madison Square Park Children Festival(2018), New York, NY
• Where Do We Come From? @ Art House (2018), Tehran, Iran
• King Lear @ Iranshahr Theater (2017), Tehran, Iran
• The Little Black Fish @ Downtown Arts (2016), New York, NY
• Blackout @ Charles Eisemann Center (2016), Dallas, TX
• I Was King Richard (Based on Shakespeare’s Richard II) @ Tehran International Fadjr Theater Festival (2016), Tehran, Iran
• Hamlet, Prince of Grief  @ Under The Radar, Public Theater (2013), New York, NY
• Opera Mani & Mana @Vahdat hall, world children  (2012), Tehran, Iran
• Skellig and Children of the Fly (Based on “Skellig” by David Almond) By Mehdi Kushki @ City Theater (2012), Tehran, Iran
• Woman from the Past @ City Theater (2012), Tehran, Iran
• Simorgh (Based on Attar's Conference of the Birds) @ Vahdat Hall for Universal children Day (2011), Tehran, Iran
• Childhood Songs @Iranshahr Theater  (2011), Tehran, Iran
• Peter Avhh Testimony @ Khorram Abad Theater  (2010), Khorramabad, Iran
• Arash (Based on “The Book Of Kings”) @Vahdat hall, World Children Day (2010), Tehran, Iran
• Voice Room By Reza Soroor @ Leev Theater (2010), Tehran, Iran
• The Sky of Snowy Days (Based on “Bonnie & Clyde” script by Robert Benton and David Newman) By Mohammad Charmshir @ City Theater (2009), Tehran, Iran
• Only God Has the Right to Wake Me Up (Based on "Oscar and the lady in Pink" by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt) By Mohammad Charmshir (2008), Tehran, Iran
• Jocasta; or God’s Dead Words (2008), Tokyo, Japan
• Only God Has the Right to Wake Me Up (Based on "Oscar and the lady in Pink" by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt) By Mohammad Charmshir (2006), Berlin, Germany
• Raiders to the Sea By J.M Synge @ Iran National TV (2006), Tehran, Iran
• I Have to Go, I am Too Late (Based on a novel by Patrick Modiano) By Mohammad Charmshir (2005), Tehran, Iran
• Kiss You and Tears (Based on Vaclav Havel's letters) By Mohammad Charmshir (2003), Heidelberg, Germany
• The Maids By Jean Genet @ Fadjr Theater Festival (2001), Tehran, Iran
• Purgatory By William Butler Yeats @ Fadjr Theater Festival (2000), Tehran, Iran

Honor & Awards and Nominations

• Best Director and Set Design from Hamedan International Theater for Children and Youth 2018
• Brooklyn Art Council Grant for The Little Black Fish 2018
• NYSCA grant for The Little Black Fish 2017
• LabWorks Artist @ New Victory Theater for The Little Black Fish 2016
• Nominated for the Best Children performance @ The National Critiques Circle for Skellig and Children of Fly, 2013
• Nominated for the Best Designer @ The National Critiques Circle for Skellig and Children of Fly, 2013
• Won Best Director @15th International Festival of Theater for Children & Youth, Isfahan – Iran Only God has the Right to     Wake me Up, 2008
• Nominated for the best Set and costume Design @15th International Festival of Theater for Children & Youth, Isfahan – Iran, Only God has the Right to Wake me Up, 2008
• Won Best Director @ 22nd International Fadjr Theatre Festival, Tehran Kiss You and Tears, 2004
• Won Best Performance @22nd International Fadjr Theatre Festival, Tehran Kiss You and Tears 2004
• Awarded the Medal of Honor from President Khatami as Iran’s successful Young Theater Artist for his direction of Kiss You and Tears, 2004
• Won Best Director @20th International Fadjr Student Theatre Festival, Tehran The Maids, 2002
• Won Best Performance @20th International Fadjr Student Theatre Festival, Tehran, The Maids, 2002
• Won Best Director @18th International Fadjr Student Theatre Festival, Tehran Purgatory, 2000
• Won Best Performance @18th International Fadjr Student Theatre Festival Purgatory, 2000

External links

• • Fadjr International Theater Festival Official Website
• Under the Radar Festival 2013
• RIAF: The complicated logistics of an international arts festival
• Censorship mars Iranian theatre: dramatist
• Lions and Elephants and Penguins, Oh My! RIAF Gets the Scoop on Leev Theater Group’s “Hamlet, Prince of Grief”
• Interview with Iranian director Mohammad Aghebati.
• Japan Foundation Performing Arts News
• Asia Society Symposium: The Shiraz Arts Festival: A Global Vision Revisited
• Review Symposium: The Shiraz Arts Festival: A Global Vision Revisited
• Iranian play ‘Jocasta’ faces criticism
• Trilogy on stage
• A unique blend of art at the 9th Bharat Rang Mahotsav
• Greek tragedy raises 3,000-year-old questions

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mohammad Aghebati. IMDb. 2019-12-22.
2. News: A 'Hamlet' Based on Brevity, the Soul of Wit, and Little Toys. Isherwood. Charles. 2013-01-20. The New York Times. 2019-12-22. en-US. 0362-4331.
3. Web site: Home .