Reza Shirmarz (Persian رضا شیرمرز), is a Greece-based published and awarded playwright, translator, researcher, theatre director and essayist with more than 30 books both written and translated by him, who has been collaborating with major

publishing companies Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, theaters, drama schools, radio channels, journals, etc. in Iran. Reza Shirmarz was elected as a member of the board of directors of Iran's Playwrights

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

for 3 ongoing years. He has also been a professional member of bodies such as Iran's Playwrights Guild,

PEN America PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...

and

Dramatists Guild of America The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Me ...

. He also is a language specialist and a full member of

Chartered Institute of Linguists Founded as the Institute of Linguists in 1910, the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) received its Royal Charter in 2005, and is a professional association for language professionals. CIOL supports linguists throughout their careers, and pro ...

(CIOL) in London.

Early life

Reza Shirmarz was born in

Khoy Khoy ( Persian and az, خوی; ; ; also Romanized as Khoi), is a city and capital of Khoy County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2012 census, its population was 200,985. Khoy is located north of the province's capital and largest cit ...

and raised in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

, the capital city of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. His father was a

ground forces An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

general with no interest in art. Shirmarz is

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Eu ...

, speaking

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

since childhood. He is

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

. Shirmarz has been influenced by great modern and

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a '' ...

writers and thinkers since his childhood. His siblings were all well-educated, and he was particularly influenced by his brother who was a movie fan and now is a script-writer and film director, as well as by his sister's interest in

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s especially sociology. He began to read Persian

classic literature A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or particularly noteworthy. What makes a book "classic" is a concern that has occurred to various authors ranging from Italo Calvino to Mark Twain and the related questions of "Why Read the Cla ...

, especially

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...

, when he was a teen. He also was quite fascinated by modern

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

, particularly the works of great modern Iranian writer,

Sadegh Hedayat Sadegh Hedayat ( fa, صادق هدایت ; 17 February 1903 – 9 April 1951) was an Iranian writer and translator. Best known for his novel '' The Blind Owl'', he was one of the earliest Iranian writers to adopt literary modernism in their car ...

. He began to read intensively the non-Persian literature after a couple of years. This was the first step for him to get familiar with western literature. Later on, Shirmarz began to read more of ancient and modern drama which strengthened his creative imagination. Such an intensive reading assisted him in his playwriting and translation career in the coming years. He said once: "Reading and translation were like workshops I attended in order to learn how to create drama." Poetry is another branch of literature that the Iranian author and artist has pursued throughout his life. In addition to Iranian classic and modern poets, Shirmarz attempted to go meticulously through the eastern and western poetry as well. In the coming years he wrote a book on modern English poets

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works includ ...

and

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

Career overview

Reza Shirmarz wrote several plays of which two -''Cinnamon Stars'' and ''Crystal Vines''- were celebrated on a national scale in

Fajr International Theater Festival Fajr International Theater Festival (est. 1983) occurs annually in Iran, featuring local and international theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to p ...

and Iran's National Playwriting Contest. He also translated tens of plays and books by famous world

dramatists A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and authors, including

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his fo ...

(11 plays), Menanderus (1 play),

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the ...

(20 plays),

Terentius The gens Terentia was a plebs, plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentilius Harsa, Gaius Terentius Arsa, Tribune of the Plebs, tribune of the plebs in 462 BC, but Livy calls him ''Terentilius'' ...

(2 plays),

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

(7 plays),

Edward Bond Edward Bond (born 18 July 1934) is an English playwright, theatre director, poet, theorist and screenwriter. He is the author of some fifty plays, among them '' Saved'' (1965), the production of which was instrumental in the abolition of th ...

(1 play),

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

(5 plays),

Terence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wa ...

(2 plays),

Clifford Odets Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...

(2 plays), Iakovos Kambanellis (6 plays),

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for novels about a barrister named Horace Rumpole. Early life Mortimer was born in Hampstead, Londo ...

(5 plays), Arthur Watkyns & J.A. Ferguson,

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as '' The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (196 ...

, Marjorie Bolton,

Jean Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ''Antigone'', an ad ...

, etc. He is mostly specialised in theater and philosophy. His last book on Robert Wilson, well-known American theater director, was published in 2015 by Ghatreh publishing company in Tehran. One of his recent translations from Greek into

was

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...

's ''

Poetics Poetics is the theory of structure, form, and discourse within literature, and, in particular, within poetry. History The term ''poetics'' derives from the Ancient Greek ποιητικός ''poietikos'' "pertaining to poetry"; also "creative" an ...

'' which was published in 2018 in Tehran by a major publishing company called Ghoghnoos. Although some of his works were already published at the time of President

Mohammad Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 t ...

, they have been constantly censored and banned by the Iranian official authorities since the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad, but he never gave up creating new pieces of art and translating drama and philosophy into Persian. More than six of his works, such as ''Cinnamon Stars'', ''Crystal Vines'', ''Deep Blue Sea'', ''Yellow Snow Falls'', etc. are officially announced as forbidden to be published and distributed. One of his translations is ''

The Big knife ''The Big Knife'' is a 1955 melodrama directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by James Poe based on the 1949 play by Clifford Odets. The film stars Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Wint ...

'' by

which has been prohibited for more than a decade.

Migration

Reza Shirmarz moved to Greece in 2010 to do research on ancient

Greek culture The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan civilization, Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine ...

and civilization, learn

Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southe ...

while studying at the

university of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

and translate Greek theatrical and philosophical works into

directly from Greek. Six plays of Iakovos Kambanellis were the first series of theatrical works he translated directly from Greek language into Persian. He received a scholarship from the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the effort and assistance of Konstantinos Passalis, the cultural deputy of Greek embassy in

in 2009. He has been translating the complete works of

into

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision of th ...

of which the first volume (''The

'') was published in 2017. The book was sold out in a short time and was republished in 2020. Reza Shirmarz announced in one of his recent interviews that he is translating the eight books of

into

at the moment along with other projects he is carrying out. He said that

Rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...

is going to be published soon by major Iranian publishing company called Ghoghnoos. In addition to his research and translation activities, Shirmarz wrote several plays such as ''Immigrants'', ''The Corners of Death'', ''The Pipe'', ''Tsunami'', etc. in English while living in Greece. His play ''Immigrants'' was translated into Greece a couple of years ago.

Plays

*''Cinnamon Stars'' (celebrated play in

and National Playwriting Competition, published by Namayesh Publication Center, 2007). This play was given a reading in the National Theater located in Tehran. Next year the playwright attempted to direct it with a professional crew, but the performance was banned by official authorities after long

rehearsal A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of practising, to ensu ...

s. * ''Crystal Vines'' (celebrated play in

and published by Namayesh Publication Center, 2008). This play was read in National Theater as well, but banned at the time of performance as well in 2009. *''My Hands'' (published in Theater Magazine, 2009) * ''Deep Blue Sea'' (published in a literary magazine called Payab, 2010) * ''Meeting'' (2011) * ''Yellow'' ''Snow Falls'' (2012) (published in a literary magazine called Payab, 2011) * ''The Corners of Death'' (2013), a modern four-part play * ''Acharnon'' ''Street'' ''Vulture'' (2014) * ''Lanterns Are Weeping'' (2014), the third part of the trilogy called ''Cinnamon Stars'' * ''Immigrants'' (2015, English); this one-act play was translated into Greek by Nikos Anastasopoulos in 2016. * ''Tsunami'' (2016) * ''The Pipe'' (2019) * ''Muzzled'' (2022): This play is a response to

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic ex ...

's '' Catastrophe'', a short play which was written in support of dissident

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

Vaclav Havel. ''Muzzled'' was published by ''

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...

'' on January 12, 2022. ''Catastrophe'' by Beckett and ''Mistake'' by Havel were published together by ''Index'' in 1984. ''Muzzled'' was also published by ''Index'' in the 50th

anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saint ...

birthday of the

Sage Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

journal in January 2022.

Books

* ''Stage Speech: Practical Exercises'', published by Ghatreh Publication Company, 1st edition in 2012 and 12th edition in 2020. * ''I think through my eyes, on Robert Wilson’s Visual Theater'', Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2015. * ''Comedy'' (forthcoming) * ''The Philosophy of Theater'' (forthcoming)

Translations

*''The Bad-Tempered'',

Menander Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His re ...

, Sooreh University Press, 2000. * ''The complete plays of

'': ''

Acharnians ''The Acharnians'' or ''Acharnians'' (Ancient Greek: ''Akharneîs''; Attic: ) is the third play — and the earliest of the eleven surviving plays — by the Athenian playwright Aristophanes. It was produced in 425 BC on behalf of the young drama ...

The Knights ''The Knights'' ( grc, Ἱππεῖς ''Hippeîs''; Attic: ) was the fourth play written by Aristophanes, who is considered the master of an ancient form of drama known as Old Comedy. The play is a satire on the social and political life of cla ...

The Clouds ''The Clouds'' ( grc, Νεφέλαι ''Nephelai'') is a Greek comedy play written by the playwright Aristophanes. A lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens, it was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423BC and was not ...

The Wasps ''The Wasps'' ( grc-x-classical, Σφῆκες, translit=Sphēkes) is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes. It was produced at the Lenaia festival in 422 BC, during Athens' short-lived respite from the ...

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...

, The Birds,

The Frogs ''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus i ...

, Thesmophoriazuse, Ecclesiazuse, and

Plutus In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Plutus (; grc-gre, Πλοῦτος, Ploûtos, wealth) is the god and the personification of wealth, and the son of the goddess of agriculture Demeter and the mortal Iasion. Family Plutus is most commo ...

'', in Seven volumes, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2015. * ''The complete plays of

'': ''

Amphitryon Amphitryon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side", Latin: Amphitruo), in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. His mother was named e ...

, The Comedy of Asses,

The Pot of Gold ''Aulularia'' is a Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The title literally means ''The Little Pot'', but some translators provide ''The Pot of Gold'', and the plot revolves around a literal pot of gold which the ...

, Two Bacchides, Casket,

Curculio ''Curculio'' is a genus of weevils belonging the family Curculionidae and subfamily Curculioninae. Members of the genus are commonly referred to as acorn weevils or nut weevils as they infest the seeds of trees such as oaks and hickories. The ...

Epidicus ''Epidicus'' is an ancient Roman comedy written by T. Maccius Plautus. It is said to have been one of Plautus's favorite works. Epidicus is the name of the main character, who is a slave. The plot takes many turns as Epidicus tries to please his m ...

, Menaachi,

Merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

, Braggart Soldier,

Haunted House A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

The Girl From Persia ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

, Psudolous, The Rope,

Stichus ''Stichus'' is a comedic Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. Some scholars allege that this play was not, in fact, written by Plautus Plot In Athens, the two daughters of wealthy Antipho, Philumena and Pamphila, ar ...

Trinummus ''Trinummus'' is a comedic Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. It is called "The Three Coins" because in the play an imposter () is paid three coins to dress up as a messenger from Syria. According to the prologue ...

, Triculentus,

Casina Casina ( egl, label=Montanaro, Caṡîna ; egl, label= Reggiano, Caṡèina ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about west of Bologna and about southwest of Reggio Em ...

& The Captives'', in three volumes, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2002. * ''The Anatomy of Drama'', Marjourie Boulton, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 1st edition in 2003 & 4th edition in 2013. * ''Stage for Speech'', by Evangeline Machlin, Ghatreh Publishing Company, First edition 2003 & 10th 2013. * ''Seven

One-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writ ...

s'' by

: ''

How He Lied to Her Husband ''How He Lied to Her Husband'' is a one-act comedy play by George Bernard Shaw, who wrote it, at the request of actor Arnold Daly, over a period of four days while he was vacationing in Scotland in 1904. In its preface he described it as "a samp ...

'', ''

The Glimpse of Reality ''The Glimpse of Reality, A Tragedietta'' (1909) is a short play by George Bernard Shaw, set Italy during the 15th century. It is a parody of the verismo melodramas in vogue at the time. Shaw included it among what he called his "tomfooleries". ...

'', ''

Augustus Does His Bit ''Augustus Does His Bit: A True-to-Life Farce'' (1916) is a comic one-act play by George Bernard Shaw about a dim-witted aristocrat who is outwitted by a female spy during World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often ab ...

'', '' Passion Poison & Petrifaction'', ''

The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet ''The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet: A Sermon in Crude Melodrama'' is a one-act play by George Bernard Shaw, first produced in 1909. Shaw describes the play as a religious tract in dramatic form.Violet M. Broad & C. Lewis Broad ''Dictionary to the ...

'', ''

The Dark Lady of the Sonnets ''The Dark Lady of the Sonnets'' is a 1910 short comedy by George Bernard Shaw in which William Shakespeare, intending to meet the " Dark Lady", accidentally encounters Queen Elizabeth I and attempts to persuade her to create a national theatre. ...

'', '' Annajanska The Bolshevik Empress'', Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2007. * ''Great Peace'' by

, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2009. * '' Golden boy,'' Clifford Odets, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2009. * ''Essays on

Aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, Epistemology, knowledge, Ethics, values, Philosophy of ...

'', by

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialist, existentialism (and Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter ...

, 1st edition in 2001 & 6th edition in 2005, Ahange Digar Publication, 2009. * ''Evoking

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

'' by

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2009. * ''Orchestra'' & The Dye-Hard, two one-act plays by Jean Anhoui and

Harold Brighouse Harold Brighouse (26 July 1882 – 25 July 1958) was an English playwright and author whose best known play is ''Hobson's Choice''. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Stanley Houghton, of a group known as the Manches ...

, Ghatreh Publishing Company. 2009. * ''The Boy Comes Home'' & ''The Londonderry air'', two plays by

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

Rachel Field Rachel Lyman Field (September 19, 1894 – March 15, 1942) was an American novelist, poet, and children's fiction writer. She is best known for the Newbery Award–winning ''Hitty, Her First Hundred Years''. Field also won a National Book Award, ...

, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2010. * ''He & His Trousers'' & ''The Wrong Man & Woman'' by Iakovos Kambanellis, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2010. * ''Sheppy'' by

, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2010. * ''The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theater'', Volume 5: Asia/Pacific, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2010, celebrated as the best educational book of the year in Roshd Book Festival. * Ancient Roman Comedies: ''

Andria Andria (; Barese: ) is a city and ''comune'' in Apulia (southern Italy). It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind Bari, Taranto, and Foggia) ...

& Phormio'' by

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2010. * ''

The Dock Brief ''The Dock Brief'' (US title ''Trial and Error'') is a 1962 black-and-white British legal satire directed by James Hill, starring Peter Sellers and Richard Attenborough, and based on the play of the same name written by John Mortimer (creator o ...

'' & ''Women at War'', two plays by

and Edward Percy, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2010. * '' Browning Version'' & ''

Adventure Story Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the Introduction to the ''Encycloped ...

'' by

, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2010. * ''Letter to Orestes'' & ''Thebes Sidestreets'' by Iakovos Kambanellis, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2011. * ''Characters for Violin and Orchestra'' by Iakovos Kambanellis, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2011. * ''Such Stuff As Dreams'' & ''Wanted, Mr Stuart!'', two plays by J.A. Ferguson and Arthur Watkyn, Ghatreh Publishing Company, 2012. * ''

'' by

s, from

, Ghoghnoos Publishing Company,1st edition 2017, 2nd edition 2020. * ''

'' by

s, from

(forthcoming)

Articles and essays

*''The Post-modern Literature of

'', in Kelk Literary Magazine, Tehran, 2004. * ''An Analytical View on "

", A Comedy by

'', in

Hamshahri ''Hamshahri'' ( fa, همشهری, "Fellow citizen"; ) is a major national Iranian Persian-language newspaper. History and profile ''Hamshahri'' is published by the municipality of Tehran, and founded by Gholamhossein Karbaschi. It is the first ...

Philosophical Magazine, Tehran, 2007. * ''Structural Analysis of

’ Comedy-writing'', in

Tehran University The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching p ...

, Tehran, 2008. * '' Iakovos Kambanellis, A Contemporary Greek playwright'', in Directors’ Center Book, 1st volume, 2012. * ''Theater and

Phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

'', in Directors’ Center Book, 2nd volume, 2013. * ''Dramatic Interaction'',

The Linguist ''The Linguist'' (formerly ''The Incorporated Linguist'') is the bimonthly journal of the UK's Chartered Institute of Linguists. The headquarters is in London. History and profile The journal was established in 1962. ''The Linguist'' includes n ...

, Vol 54/N 1,

, 2015. * ''Dancing in Chain'',

, Vol 54/N 5,

, 2015. *''A Short Review of Children Theater in Greece'', Theater Magazine, 2015. * ''Stage Design in Greek Theater'', Theater Magazine, 2015. * ''An Introduction to Contemporary Greek Theater,'' Theater Magazine, 2015. * ''Desperate Liaisons,''

, Vol 55/N 2,

, 2016. * ''Theater Architecture in Modern Greece,'' Theater Magazine, 2016. * ''Playwriting in Modern Greece'', Theater Magazine, 2016. * ''What Does Theater Mean'', Theater Magazine, 2017. *''An Introduction to Contemporary Theater of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

'', Theater Magazine, 2017.

Collaborations

Reza Shirmarz translated two essays on African

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

s and their theatrical aspects which were published as parts of a book called ''Drama and Religion'' published in

by Iran's

Performing arts center Performing arts center/centre (see spelling differences), often abbreviated as PAC, is used to refer to: * A multi-use performance space that is intended for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. :T ...

in 2007. He has been also active in various Iranian radio channels as writer, translator and narrator for more than a decade. Shirmarz has adapted and translated more than 100 dramatic works to be performed in radio and has been active as a theater critic as well for several years. Despite all his artistic efforts in Iranian mainstream theater and media, he and his colleagues were deprived of their activities at the time of Mahmood Ahmadinezhad, the extremely fundamentalist Iranian president who was elected in year 2009. Shirmarz was also active in the administrative part of

for three years at the time of reformist Iranian president

from 2001 to 2004. He has worked with several literary or theatrical magazines (''Kelk'', ''Theater'', ''Payab'', etc.), journals (''

'' in London), newspapers (''

'', ''Farhikhtegan'', ''Shargh'', ''Jame'e'', etc.), news agencies (IBNA, ISNA, etc.) for almost two decades since the outset of his career. He has also been giving speeches and lectures as a playwright,

theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, researcher,

theorist A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

and critic in different performing arts centers in Iran, mostly in Tehran. Reza Shirmarz became an honorary member of Vanagahan Theater Group in Iran and conducted a number of voice and speech workshops for the actors of the group. He also performed some vocal parts of some of the performances of the group in three languages a couple of years ago.

Memberships

* A full member of

(CIOL) in London * A full member of Iran's Playwrights Guild * A full of

* A professional member of

* A board member of Iran's Playwrights Guild

References

External links

rezashirmarz.ir

rezashirmarz.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirmarz, Reza Living people Iranian translators Iranian dramatists and playwrights Iranian essayists Iranian theatre directors Vocal coaches Speech coaches Iranian writers 1974 births Persian-language poets