Nassim Soleimanpour (, born 10 December 1981) is an Iranian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. He is best known for his 2010 play ''White Rabbit Red Rabbit''.

Early life and education

Soleimanpour was born in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran."''White Rabbit Red Rabbit''"
nassimsoleimanpour.com His father is a novelist. He studied

set design Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

at the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

, and started teaching a computer-aided set design course there, but always continued to write – poems, short stories and stage plays. Having refused compulsory military service in Iran, he was not allowed to leave the country until 2013, when he was granted a passport."Nassim Soleimanpour's ''White Rabbit Red Rabbit'' at World Theatre Festival"
interview by Sarah Kanowski and

Richard Fidler Richard Fidler is an Australian radio presenter and writer. He hosts an hour-long interview program, '' Conversations with Richard Fidler'' on ABC's Radio National, and was a member of the Australian comedy group the Doug Anthony All Stars. '' ...

ABC Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

, 23 February 2013

Works

''White Rabbit Red Rabbit''

Soleimanpour's 2010 play ''White Rabbit Red Rabbit'' has been performed widely and in more than 20 languages."''Nassim'' review – language and life lessons from a vivid Iranian voice"
by

Lyn Gardner Lyn Gardner is a British theatre critic, children's writer, and journalist who contributes reviews and articles to ''The Stage'' and '' Stagedoor'' and has written for ''The Guardian''. Theatre critic and educator A graduate in drama and English ...

, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 10 August 2017 It is to be performed each night by a different actor, who has not seen the script before. First performed at the 2011

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

and

Clubbed Thumb Clubbed Thumb is a downtown theater company in New York City that commissions, develops, and produces "funny, strange, and provocative new plays by living American writers." Since its founding in 1996, the company has earned five OBIES (including ...

's Summerworks festivals,''White Rabbit Red Rabbit''
Aurora Nova it has since been performed by an array of A-list actors, including F. Murray Abraham,

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular cast member on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of the daytim ...

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Joyce DiDonato Joyce DiDonato (née Flaherty; born February 13, 1969) is an American opera singer and recitalist. A coloratura mezzo-soprano, she has performed operas and concert works spanning from the 19th-century Romantic era to those by Handel and Mozart. ...

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, Stana Katic and many more at its premiere in New York City at the

Westside Theatre The Westside Theatre is an off-Broadway performance space at 407 West 43rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building houses two auditoriums: the Upstairs Theatre, which ...

in 2016 where it ran for 42 weeks, produced by

Tom Kirdahy Thomas Joseph Kirdahy (born June 18, 1963) is an American Tony Award, Tony and Olivier Award-winning theatrical producer, film producer, lawyer, and Activism, activist. Kirdahy's upcoming projects include the 2024 Broadway revival of ''Gypsy (mu ...

. Soleimanpour first saw the play in 2013 at the

Brisbane Powerhouse The Brisbane Powerhouse is a performing arts and cultural centre which is housed in a former power station in the Brisbane suburb of New Farm in Queensland, Australia. The venue offers an array of live performances, visual art displays, exhibit ...

, Australia, during the World Theatre Festival. In summer 2024 it was announced that the play will be performed for the first time in London's West End in October of the same year at Soho place. The vast array of performers included

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, John Bishop,

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, Daisy Edgar Jones,

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Pearl Mackie Pearl Mackie (born 29 May 1987) is a British actress. She is best known for playing Bill Potts in the long-running television series ''Doctor Who''. Mackie is a graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her first major television role ca ...

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, Tonia Sotiropoulou and

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. The play run was extended, due to many performances being sold out and new performers added such as

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Rory Kinnear Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor. He won two Olivier Awards, both at the National Theatre, in 2008 for his portrayal of Sir Fopling Flutter in ''The Man of Mode'', and for playing the William Shakespeare villain ...

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and

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Other works

His play ''Blind Hamlet'' premiered during the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Assembly Roxy. ''Nassim'', which requires the actor and audience members to speak

Farsi Persian ( ), also known by its endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoke ...

(Persian), premiered in Edinburgh in 2017 and played at the

Arts Centre Melbourne Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central M ...

in early 2018. ''Nassim'' had its New York premiere in December 2018 at Stage II of the

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama, and the New York City Center 55th Street Theater) is a performing arts center at 131 West 55th Street (Manhattan), 55th Street between Sixth Avenue, Six ...

, where it played until April 20."Ashley Park, Lee Pace, Will Eno, More Join ''Nassim'' Before Show Closes Off-Broadway"
by Olivia Clement, ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...

'', April 4, 2019

Awards

Soleimanpour has won several awards, including: * Dublin Fringe Festival Best New Performance 2012 * Summerworks Outstanding New Performance Text Award 2011 * The Arches Brick Award, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011

References

External links

* *
''White Rabbit Red Rabbit''
on

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

's '' Working in the Theatre'' series * (

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Soleimanpour, Nassim 1981 births Living people Writers from Tehran Iranian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights Iranian male writers 21st-century Iranian writers 21st-century male writers