Kian Moradi
This Portfolio is Presenting Five Categories of Kian Moradi's Artistic Creations:
1. Academic Theses 2. Project-Based Research 3. Refereed Projects 4. Workshops and Creative Achievements 5. Playscripts
From 2007 to 2024
Embedded Files
Biography
Kian is a PhD student in Humanities at Concordia University, Montreal, specializing in the aesthetics of the performing arts. He holds an MFA in Theatre Practice from the University of Alberta and an MA in Dramatic Arts from Tehran Azad University. Dedicated to the performing arts from an early age, Kian has been actively involved in theatre since 2002, contributing to numerous productions across various cities in Iran. He has participated in national and international festivals as a performer, director, actor, designer, and playwright, including the 19th Highfest Theatre Festival in Armenia, the 19th Iran International University Theatre Festival, and the 21st and 38th Fadjr International Theatre Festivals in Tehran. His work has been recognized with awards in multiple categories at these events. Currently, his research focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to the relationship between body and space, drawing on performance studies, aesthetics, and process philosophy.
Preface
What is the body? What is space? Can the body truly exist apart from the space it inhabits? Gilles Deleuze suggests that the body is a living machine, a medium through which the multiplicity of existence flows. In my view, the body and space are inseparably linked, each defining and redefining the other. The body encounters space as an organic confrontation, whether within the confines of the womb or the vastness of the cosmos. This alchemical interaction invites us to continuously rebirth our consciousness with every movement. Let us somatically embrace this unending cycle of transformation and heightened awareness.
1. Academic Theses
Spring 2024
A Horse Named Shabrang: Synthesizing Theory and Practice to Develop a Methodology for Ritualistic Performing Arts
Final Thesis for MFA in theater Practice, University of Alberta
Kian Moradi as Director, Choreographer and Performer
Supervisors: Prof. Lin Snelling and Dr. Stefano Muneroni
Venue: The Corner Stage, Fine Arts Building (FAB), University of Alberta
A Horse Named Shabrang is a ritualistic dance-theatre piece where the entire universe is depicted as burning in flames. Performers, along with the audience, gather at The Corner Stage to invoke the mythological horse, Shabrang, in an effort to redress the crisis.
A Horse Named Shabrang is a ritualistic dance-theatre piece where the entire universe is depicted as burning in flames. Performers, along with the audience, gather at The Corner Stage to invoke the mythological horse, Shabrang, in an effort to redress the crisis.
Winter 2016
Siah fights against Joker: A Comparative Analysis of Mikhail Bakhtin's Carnivalesque Theory, Grotesque Bodies and Iranian Traditional Comedies
Final Thesis for MA in Dramatic Arts, Tehran Azad University
Kian Moradi as Director, Choreographer, and Performer
Supervisors: Dr. Ghotbeddin Sadeghi and Dr. Ferdos Hajian
Venue: Central Tehran Azad University, Theater House
Web link: https://youtu.be/fwXzpujREAw
Siah Fights Against Joker is a dialectical performance blending elements of Iranian comedy and Western carnival traditions, featuring chanting and dancing. The piece explores the confrontation between a Western clown and an Iranian clown, highlighting the cultural interplay between these comedic archetypes.
Siah Fights Against Joker is a dialectical performance blending elements of Iranian comedy and Western carnival traditions, featuring chanting and dancing. The piece explores the confrontation between a Western clown and an Iranian clown, highlighting the cultural interplay between these comedic archetypes.
2. Project-Based Research
2. Project-Based Research
Winter 2024
Inter-Reality
Exploring Intermediality in Performance through Geometrical Optics
Kian Moradi as Creator
Web link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pazX0pNPtsN-JV-g1Xu8kpFjXDjoBMc5/view?usp=drive_link
Winter 2024
Lumiere Study #6 Film
Kian Moradi as Choreographer and dancer
Director, Camera and Editing: Andrew Denton
Music: Michael Reinhart
Other performers: Lin Snelling and Jennifer Nikolai
Web link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14UUMXPNSOBAsIjrd07UnjtPcb5NXGr24/view?usp=sharing
Winter 2020
Underwear
2nd Maan Theater Festival, Tehran, Iran
Kian Moradi as Director, Playwright, Choreographer, Performer
Web link:
Underwear Straps explores social power relations affecting youth, inspired by Michel Foucault's Power-Knowledge theory. This piece integrates painting, design, acting, dancing, and live music, all woven into a simple plot about a girl who sacrifices herself to be painted. The performance is rooted in improvisation, reflecting a dynamic and multifaceted approach to storytelling.
Winter 2015
Love's Labors Lost
Central Tehran Azad University, Small Theater House Venue
Kian Moradi as Director, Choreographer, Scene and Light Designer
Web link:
Love's Labors Lost by Shakespeare is an experimental performance combining puppetry with a traditional Iranian play style known as "Cafe Theater." This project-based research explores the feasibility of staging Western plays, such as Shakespearean works, in the style of traditional Iranian theater.
Fall 2014
Faust
Central Tehran Azad University
Small Theater House Venue
Kian Moradi as Director, Performer, Choreographer
Faust by Goethe is an experimental performance using "fingers" instead of full-body actors and "replicas" instead of traditional set decorations, all performed on a table. This project-based research explores the feasibility of staging large-scale plays, such as Faust, in the format of micro-theater.
Spring 2010
Fifteen's Night Moon Light
Avini Theatre complex, Hamedan
Kian Moradi as Playwright and Director and choreographer
Fifteen's Night Moon Light is a play that explores the psychological consequences of the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, which lasted from 1980 to 1988, on veterans. The story focuses on a veteran who, unable to form friendships, finds solace only in the combat boots of his fallen comrades. This project is based on an interview with an actual disabled veteran, providing a poignant and authentic perspective.
Fifteen's Night Moon Light is a play that explores the psychological consequences of the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, which lasted from 1980 to 1988, on veterans. The story focuses on a veteran who, unable to form friendships, finds solace only in the combat boots of his fallen comrades. This project is based on an interview with an actual disabled veteran, providing a poignant and authentic perspective.
3. Refereed Projects
Fall 2019
Dream
Highfest Festival, Yerivan, Armenia
Kian Moradi as Director and Choreographer
Web Link: https://youtu.be/fp976Sowhq0
Dream was a performance that explored the relationship between modern humans and nature. The story revolves around a woman who is initially a hostage of a wolf. Over time, she chooses to embrace the wolf and live the rest of her life with it.
Fall 2018
Seasickness
Provincial Theater Festival, Hamedan, Iran
Kian Moradi as Director
Web link:
Seasickness initially began as an idea of a journey through time. The author and I then brought this concept to the stage. The performance embodied a time journey set aboard a ship on the ocean.
Spring 2017
Parvin
19th Iran International University Theater Festival, Tehran, Iran
Kian Moradi as Director and Light Designer
Web link:
Parvin, which is also a Persian name, was developed to historically portray the condition of women through five episodes, spanning from ancient times to the present. The stage design incorporates a complex interplay of materials, fabrics, lighting, bodies, and dialogue.
Fall 2016
Brazilia
2nd KhamseTheatre Festival, Tehran, Iran
Kian Moradi as Director and Set Designer and Light Designer
Web link:
Brazilia is a project aimed at modernizing the Iranian traditional ritual known as "Tazieh." The central focus of this modernization is on innovative light design.
Summer 2013
Weft, Moon, Woof
Provincial Theater, Hamedan, Iran
Kian Moradi as Director and Actor
Web link:
Weft, Moon, Woof is an adaptation of Arabian Nights that utilizes the traditional Iranian craft of carpet weaving to depict this famous story.
Fall 2012
Brown Okarito
Kian Moradi as Director and Scene Designer and Light Designer
Iran's Nationwide Maah Theater Festival, Lorestan Province, Khurram Abad City Theater Stage
Brown Okarito is a performance that depicts the disorientation experienced by Alzheimer's patients. In this work, I explored how materials can react to and represent human issues. As shown in the images, everything on stage is presented as a negative figure, contrasting with the actual forms.
Summer 2007
Someone Like Robab
Provincial Theater festival. Hamedan, Iran
Kian Moradi as Actor and Director
Web link: https://youtu.be/9hn8SVeW6no
Someone Like Robab was a performance that celebrated the pre-modern culture of Iran and its rich tradition of storytelling. The piece aimed to depict the atmosphere and essence of traditional Iranian cities.
4. Workshops and Creative Achievements
Fall 2023
Fall 2023
Music And Conflict
Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Department, University of Alberta
Kian Moradi as the Presenter and Performer
Fall 2023
Fall 2023
Exploration of Rituals: 5 Sundays in October
Fine Arts Building, University of Alberta
Kian Moradi as the instructor
As a second-year MFA student in Theatre Practice, I conducted a series of public workshops titled Exploration of Rituals: 5 Sundays in October. These five-session workshops are part of a larger practice-based research project, A Horse Named Shabrang. This project seeks to redefine rituals through the engagement of the body with space and matter. The workshops serve as a laboratory where the cast, along with participants, ritualistically engage with the space through the four essential elements: Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire.
Fall 2023
Charcoal, Lithography, Stairs, Footprint
Fine Arts Building, University of Alberta
Performer and Director: Kian Moradi
Charcoal, Lithography, Stairs, Footprint was a series of creative performances exploring the body's role in ritualistic expression.
Summer 2021
Acting and Improvising
Held by Kian Moradi
Acting and Improvising is a series of ten-day workshops conducted as part of the Provincial Theater Festival. These workshops focus on exploring acting through the lens of improvisation, emphasizing the expressive potential of the body.
Acting and Improvising is a series of ten-day workshops conducted as part of the Provincial Theater Festival. These workshops focus on exploring acting through the lens of improvisation, emphasizing the expressive potential of the body.
Winter 2020
Body-Power-Grotesque
Maan Theater Company, Tehran
Held by Kian Moradi
Body, Power, Grotesque was a workshop aimed at rediscovering the body through the lens of socio-political power relations. It contextualized the "power theories" of Michel Foucault and Mikhail Bakhtin to explore and recognize a socio-political image of the body, deepening our understanding of the body in creative performances.
Body, Power, Grotesque was a workshop aimed at rediscovering the body through the lens of socio-political power relations. It contextualized the "power theories" of Michel Foucault and Mikhail Bakhtin to explore and recognize a socio-political image of the body, deepening our understanding of the body in creative performances.
Summer 2017
Irreversible journey to Mars
Tehran-sar Cultural House Venue, Tehran
Held by Kian Moradi
Irreversible Journey to Mars was a series of workshops exploring how to improvise heterogeneous stories using a holistic approach to the body.
Irreversible Journey to Mars was a series of workshops exploring how to improvise heterogeneous stories using a holistic approach to the body.
5. Playscripts
Mirza Parleman Khan Nahavandi (Lord Parliament from Nahavand) 2020:
This play is an adaptation of the famed novel The Cloven Viscount. It centers on a representative in Iran's first parliament in 1908 who becomes the unintended target of a shell burst, splitting him in two. The left half returns to the city, causing chaos and making terrible changes. Eventually, the right half also returns, and the two sides confront each other. After much negotiation and conflict, the two halves are finally rejoined, resulting in a more benevolent representative.
Do You Have a Beast in Your House or Laf 2019:
It is a playscript that addresses the devastating floods in Iran. The setting includes a map that outlines all visible and invisible locations of the play. On the left side of the stage is a room housing a ghoul that was brought into the house by the flood, along with a lockbox belonging to the city's bank that has ended up there. Additionally, a pickup truck has overturned in their yard. The main characters are a man and his wife, who are also caring for a neighbor's child who has lost his parents to the flood. In this grotesque situation, government officials, who are supposed to alleviate the crisis, instead impose new hardships on the flood victims. The landlord tries to keep the ghoul and the lockbox a secret to exploit them, but the officials confiscate not only the lockbox and the ghoul but also their entire house and belongings. Now, they are left with nothing.
Beytooteh (settlement) 2017:
The story is set during the Iran-Iraq War, around 1980, in Iran. Four families have taken refuge in a large, distant house that has remained safe from Iraqi rockets. This house is owned by an eccentric old woman. The main plot revolves around the skeleton of a soldier from World War II, who was once the landlord's lover, and his belongings, such as his gun and dagger. The violence within the house mirrors the brutality of the ongoing war between Iran and Iraq.
Gamasiab 2016:
This script is adapted from Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. It aims to criticize a misguided governmental decision regarding one of Iran's major rivers. The story revolves around an ancient river that originates from a mythological glacier in the city of Nahavand. The script blends modern and mythological elements with ritualistic acts. It follows a man who opposes the government's decision, ultimately facing hatred from the citizens.
Red cotton Farm 2016:
This story is adapted from Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Visit. It is set during a pivotal moment in Iran's history when feudalism is collapsing, giving rise to new social classes, such as the petit bourgeois and petit feudalists. The protagonist, Saad-Baanoo, comes from a lower-class farming family. She lost her lover when she was young in a village named Souran and has now returned to seek revenge on his murderer. Saad-Baanoo has been living in Azerbaijan for many years, during which time she planned to establish a clothing factory using cotton produced in the region—specifically on the very farms where her lover was killed by her master. In the end, she achieves her goal of revenge, which seems set to continue as she decides to become the stepmother to the murderer's son, but with her own unique intentions.
Shakespearean Tetralogy 2015:
This script is an adaptation of four famed Shakespearean plays: Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear. In the story, three witches heal Hamlet and help him become king. Hamlet appoints Iago and Macbeth as his warlords. Meanwhile, a neighboring country is thrown into chaos because its king has decided to divide his realm among his daughters, two of whom have caused turmoil. Hamlet takes advantage of this instability to launch an invasion. Iago attacks from the west, while Macbeth attacks from the east of King Lear's land. Iago plots to eliminate both Hamlet and Macbeth to seize control of both countries. He kills Hamlet and manipulates events to make it easy for Macbeth to ascend to the throne. Then, he instigates Macbeth's jealousy by insinuating that Lady Macbeth is unfaithful, driving Macbeth to madness and ...
Antoine Lied About the Little Princes (2011)
This playscript is an adaptation of The Little Prince, the renowned story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Moonlight of Fifteenth’s Night (2009)
This play script explores the psychological consequences of the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq (1980–1988) on soldiers. It focuses on a veteran who, struggling with the aftermath of the conflict, finds himself unable to form friendships with anyone except the boots of his fallen comrades.
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