Nikta Sabouri & Isabelle Sanatdar Stevens
Selected from over 40 submissions from local artists, these artists represent exceptionally innovative and relevant works for our time. The selected artists are Nikta Sabouri, an Iranian-American freelance theater director, dramaturg, actor, and translator based in Boston and Iranian-American writer, actor and singer Isabelle Sanatdar Stevens.
Nikta Sabouri’s project will be the first English translation of the 60-minute play Testament of Bondar Bidakhsh, a dramatic account of the fall of the Vizier to Yama, the King of Persia. This high-ranking official constructed a magical cup to give Yama infinite knowledge and absolute power, which ultimately led to their mutual downfall.
The Testament of Bondar Bidakhsh is the third play in the “Naqqali Trilogy” book by Bahram Beyzaie. The book consists of three works that blend traditional Iranian storytelling modes with contemporary Western theatrical practice, each concerning a heroic figure from Persian mythology.
Isabelle Sanatdar Stevens’ work centers on the voices of Middle-Eastern immigrants, refugees, and their children. Her solo performance piece, Mahsa’s Last Song, will reflect on what is happening in Iran currently. On September 16th, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini “mysteriously” died in a hospital after being taken into police custody by the Iranian Morality Police for “not wearing her hijab appropriately”. Stevens is also 22, and during the Islamic Revolution her father was arrested, and her uncle was killed by Islamic Republic forces for protesting.
Mahsa’s Last Song also highlights the impact and influence that younger generations have on facilitating change. Mahsa was the same age as Isabelle at the time of her death. The piece will reflect on the revolution transpiring in Iran currently and the four+ decades since the Islamic Revolution, through the use of vignettes of stories, music, and silence.
The Pipeline Project invests directly in local performing artists, writers, and performance makers, providing concrete and tangible pathways to production at the professional level. It embodies core principles of New Rep’s Renewal Vision, with a renewed commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and accountability (IDEAA) infusing every aspect of the company’s work as it seeks to build community collaborations and give voice to the diverse interests of those communities.
Nikta Sabouri is an Iranian-American freelance theater director, dramaturg, actor, and translator based in Boston. Selected as one of New Rep’s 2023 Pipeline Project Residencies, her project will be the first English translation of the 60-minute play Testament of Bondar Bidakhsh, a dramatic account of the fall of the Vizier to Yama, the King of Persia. This high-ranking official constructed a magical cup to give Yama infinite knowledge and absolute power, which ultimately led to their mutual downfall. The Testament of Bondar Bidakhsh is the third play in the “Naqqali Trilogy” book by Bahram Beyzaie. The book consists of three works that blend traditional Iranian storytelling modes with contemporary Western theatrical practice, each concerning a heroic figure from Persian mythology.
Sabouri, who earned her B.A. in theater directing at Tehran University in Iran and an M.A. in theater theory and dramaturgy at University of Ottawa, Canada, says: My objective in this project is to recount an original myth of Persia, introduce an Iranian traditional dramatic form, and bring it into the melting pot of Bostonian theatre to foster cross-cultural communication, understanding, and compassion amongst an audience of diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Learn more about Nikta: https://www.niktasabouri.com/
Isabelle Fereshteh Sanatdar Stevens (she/her) is a writer, performer, artist, and activist who makes art that centers around love and loss, and usually responds to questions that don’t have concrete answers. Low-income, Queer, first-gen Iranian-American with a found family of immigrants and refugees from different backgrounds, there’s a dream in her heart that is always reminding her of its presence: to amplify her communities’ voices, experiences, and languages, and put them on U.S. stages front-and-center. Isabelle is a recent graduate of Smith College where she studied Theatre, English, and Translation. She is currently a first-year MFA Playwriting Candidate at Boston University. @isabellesanatdarstevens #MahsaAmini #ArmitaAbbasi #SayHerName #ZanZendeghiAzadi
Her solo performance piece, Mahsa’s Last Song, which was chosen as part of New Rep’s 2023 Pipeline Project Residency program, will reflect on what is happening in Iran currently. On September 16th, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini “mysteriously” died in a hospital after being taken into police custody by the Iranian Morality Police for “not wearing her hijab appropriately”. Stevens is also 22, and during the Islamic Revolution her father was arrested, and her uncle was killed by Islamic Republic forces for protesting.
Mahsa’s Last Song also highlights the impact and influence that younger generations have on facilitating change. Mahsa was the same age as Isabelle at the time of her death. The piece will reflect on the revolution transpiring in Iran currently and the four+ decades since the Islamic Revolution, through the use of vignettes of stories, music, and silence.
Isabelle says: Solo performance is something I’ve been exploring more and more over the years, and it holds a very special place in my heart, as growing up in my community oral history and storytelling were often how stories and histories were passed on from my elders to me. To me, solo performance allows for an intimacy that only monologues and one-person shows can achieve; it’s the act of doing what’s at the heart of theatre–telling a story, from one person to another.
ALEXANDER PLATT* he/him/his (Actor) is thrilled to be working on New Rep’s 2023 Pipeline Project! Area credits include: Macbeth (The Hanover Rep Theatre); Macbeth, Social Creatures, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Trinity Rep); Stage Kiss, Chinglish (Lyric Stage Company); Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, True West (Gloucester Stage); Miss Holmes, Miss Holmes Returns, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Neville’s Island (Greater Boston Stage Company); Hamlet (Actor’s Shakespeare Project); Assassins, Hedda Gabler, Far Away, Festen, Paul, Why Torture is Wrong…, Don Carlos (Gamm Theatre); Cloud 9, Arcadia, Insignificance (Nora Theatre); Futurity (The Wilbury Theatre); The Etymology of Bird (Providence Black Rep). Alexander served as the Artistic Director of Elemental Theatre Collective in Providence, RI from 2006-2012 and has an MFA in acting from Trinity Rep Conservatory.
LEWIS D. WHEELER* has previously appeared at New Rep in Ideation, The Gift Horse, Muckrakers, Pattern of Life, Rancho Mirage, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Silence, and a touring production of Cyrano. Recent credits include Finish Line (Boston Theater Company); Hand to God (SpeakEasy Stage Company); and Uncanny Valley (Stoneham Theatre). Regional credits include No Man’s Land (American Repertory Theater); Richard II (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Blood on the Snow (Bostonian Society); A Number and The Glass Menagerie (Lyric Stage Company); Doubt and An Ideal Husband (Gloucester Stage Company); and five seasons with Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre. Also, American Stage (FL), Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Nora Theatre Company, Underground Railway Theater, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Vineyard Playhouse, Publick Theatre, Cape Rep, Shakespeare Now, Wellesley Repertory Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre. Lewis was a founding member of Harbor Stage in Wellfleet, where he performed in The Seagull and Hedda Gabler and directed David Rabe’s Sticks and Bones. Film and television credits include Manchester by the Sea, Live by Night, Black Mass, The Company Men, Pink Panther 2, Louisa May Alcott (PBS), Brotherhood. Lewis earned his BA in Theatre and Film Studies at Cornell University and his MFA from the American Film Institute. He resides in Boston and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity since 2004. He appears next in To Kill a Mockingbird as Atticus at Gloucester Stage and in Shakespeare in Love at SpeakEasy Stage.
◊ member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society
º member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829
