Reza Abdoh: Theater Visionary

Reza Abdoh (1963-1995) was an Iranian-born American theatre director and playwright known for his groundbreaking, experimental productions. Abdoh died of AIDS in 1995 at the age of 32 having created an impressive body of stage spectacles known for their sensory overload, ferocious energy and hallucinatory dreams capes. Abdoh was an enigmatic and prolific creative force and with his company, Dar A Luz, formed in 1991, he created productions that have made a major impact on experimental theatre worldwide and whose influences are still being felt and talked of to this day. The Los Angeles Times called his work "Puzzling, fragmented, hard-edged and brilliant as a diamond." the Village Voice called it "Astonishing." Prominent theatre artists were also fervent admirers; Richard Foreman, for example, has said, "The aesthetic shock of encountering Abdoh's turbulent work sent me reeling."