Cover image by Matthew Dunivan.
DISCLAIMER
[FOR ZOOM]
American Theater Magazine feature: 'Disclaimer' Turns the Spotlight on Its Audience, Daniel Krane, March 24, 2021
"...made me feel extremely alive."
The New York Times: Songs of Separation, and Lessons in Persian Cooking, Alexis Soloski, january 11, 2021
Unlike so much remote theater, “Disclaimer” feels purpose-built for Zoom..."
"...a [...] considered study of the incomplete ways we understand what is foreign to us..."
"...both cerebral and gonzo..."
Slant Magazine: Under the Radar 2021: A Thousand Ways (Part one) and Disclaimer, Dan Rubins, January 13, 2021
"...creates a shared communal experience that feels awfully close to the sensation of sitting in a theater with other people"
"...makes Zoom feel more like a playground than a prison...the fresh, surprising ways that unsuspecting Zoomers become part of the storytelling..."
"Disclaimer ultimately poses a question that seems to justify its busy-ness: How many diversions do American audiences need to draw them in before they’ll start to pay real attention to the threat of state-sanctioned violence outside their borders?"
The Reviews Hub: Disclaimer, Carrie Lee O'Dell, January 9, 2021
"The twists and turns as Nargis transforms into an Iranian-American Hercule Poirot are engaging and funny, but also ask us to think about our own prejudices."
"...originally developed as a stage play, Disclaimer not only feels like it was made for Zoom, it actually scratches the itch for live theatre. It is funny and it is relevant, but most of all it is visceral and immediate. For that alone it should be priority viewing."
Exeunt: Review: Disclaimer at Under the Radar, Nicole Serratore, January 10, 2021
'The frantic storytelling, mishmash of genres, and up-for-it audience in a shared space is a specific kind of performance communion that serves Ahmadinejad’s text well."
"...a filmic precision and the design elements are strong..."
"...even over Zoom, Ahmadinejad’s point about empathy gets made."
Theater Pizzazz: Disclaimer, Carole Di Tosti, January 11, 2021
"...a wacky, studied, ingenious dramatic hybrid..."
"...the delightful and clever use of audience members interactively..."
"...this surprising and beautiful work is about family, cultural isolation, cultural integration, need for community and the necessity to break...xenophobic stereotypes of 'the other."
"...a complex mixture of reverse psychology, good will, food as a universal language, and superb acting, production values and humor in addition to well-honed, brilliant writing, creative teamwork and directing."
"...fun, wacky, enlightening, endearing and a lesson not in cooking but of love and diplomacy."
"How incredible, how magical this production is. I didn’t want to leave the other audience members (Chef Nargis’ family) Chef Nargis and amiable Sous Chef Hassan, all of whom created a community of family and warmth.... Suffice to say Disclaimer is awesome."
Interludes: VIEWPOINTS - A roundup of the Public Theater's digital 2021 UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL, Adrian Dimanlig, January 11, 2021
"Although it’s been translated (smoothly) into the Zoom format, the piece has retained its communal spirit, especially with Ms. Ahmadinejad confidently orchestrating the interactive performance."
"Even when Disclaimer gratuitously evolves into an admittedly amusing whodunit, her deadpan, fabulously calibrated performance cuts through the kitsch to spark genuine empathy in the viewer."
New England Theater Geek: Lose Your American Appetite for War: "Disclaimer at Under the Radar 2021, Kitty Drexel, January 12, 2021
"...Disclaimer is fun. I found myself gleefully laughing ...The back and forth between Ahmadinejad and Nazari-Robati is great."
"...veers wildly from the expected into the unexpected and back again. Although it is political, it is not about politics. It’s about the personal. Let Disclaimer be personal. It should get under your skin. It got under mine."
THE UNDER PRESENTS
[For Oculus and SteamVR]
CNET: Oculus' VR time-warping nightclub game with live actors is unlike anything I've tried before, Joan E. Solsman, January 26, 2019
"a victory for uncompromising oddity, and all the weirdos who like it."
Forbes: 'The Under Presents' is a Novel Exploration of VR and Live Immersive Theater, Jesse Damiani, November 19, 2019
"...a life force and magic...that I’ve only otherwise felt in immersive theatre experiences. That feeling, whether as a shared or private experience, is intimacy."
"The Under Presents is one of the most ambitious VR experiences ever made. It not only asks but demands a lot of its players because it wants to offer something uncompromising and distinct."
2020 - Emmy Awards, "Finalist - Innovation in Interactive Media"
2020 - Unity Award "Finalist - Best VR Game"
2020 - AIXR VR Awards "VR Experience of the Year"
2020 - A MAZE Awards "Nominee - Most Amazing Award"
2019 - IndieCade Official Nominee "Spotlight in Performance"
SKI END
The New York Times: Review: ‘Ski End’ Recalls Fun on the Slopes With Nostalgia, Elisabeth Vincentelli, May 5, 2017 (appeared in print in Sunday Arts & Leisure section on May 7).
"...dispenses, almost offhandedly, acute observations about a society in which impermanence passes for progress."
"sweet, eccentric charm"
PopDust: , Review: 'Ski End', a modern-day answer to Ionesco, Thomas Burns Scully, May 3, 2017
"the most unique theatrical experience you are likely to have this week."
The Reviews Hub, Ski End, Carrie Lee O'Dell, May 19, 2017
"moments of tremendous beauty and humanity"
"visually striking"
"thoughtful" and "imaginative"
HAND FOOT FIZZLE FACE
The New York Times: ‘Hand Foot Fizzle Face' Digs Into an Odd Collaboration Between Beckett and Jasper Johns, Melena Ryzik, June 11, 2015 (appeared in print in Sunday Arts & Leisure section on June 14).
The New York Times: Review: ‘Hand Foot Fizzle Face’ Explores Futility and Disconnection, Alexis Soloski, June 22, 2015 (appeared in print on June 23).
"...moments of unexpected beauty and others of gratifying weirdness."
Flavorwire: Staff Picks: Knausgaard, ‘The Magicians,” and ‘Hand Foot Fizzle Face,’ Moze Halperin, July 1, 2015.
"The performances here are exquisite…”
NY Theater Now: ‘Hand Foot Fizzle Face,’ Mitchell Conway, July 7, 2015.
"original and timely (even urgent)..."
"totally disorienting and beautiful and haunting.”
"Director Tara Ahmadinejad demonstrated an impeccable control of rhythm throughout the piece, executed by a fantastic team of actors.” "superb work from Piehole, this thoughtful work is an indication they are a company to keep a look out for."
OLD PAPER HOUSES
Charged.fm: 'Old Paper Houses': A Perfect New England World, Natalie Sacks, March 4, 2015.
Ask a Director: Tara Ahmadinejad, interview by Hannah Wolf, February 3, 2015.
Theatre Development Fund profile: Can We Put a Perfect World Onstage? by Eliza Bent, March 5, 2015.
The Village Voice: ‘Old Paper Houses’ and the Human Susceptibility to Utopia’s Promise, Miriam Felton-Dansky, March 11, 2015.
“brims with poignant silliness…”
“does its part to create community right where it is.”
TENDAR
Winner, Innovation and Interaction Award, Indiecade
[FOR ZOOM]
American Theater Magazine feature: 'Disclaimer' Turns the Spotlight on Its Audience, Daniel Krane, March 24, 2021
"...made me feel extremely alive."
The New York Times: Songs of Separation, and Lessons in Persian Cooking, Alexis Soloski, january 11, 2021
Unlike so much remote theater, “Disclaimer” feels purpose-built for Zoom..."
"...a [...] considered study of the incomplete ways we understand what is foreign to us..."
"...both cerebral and gonzo..."
Slant Magazine: Under the Radar 2021: A Thousand Ways (Part one) and Disclaimer, Dan Rubins, January 13, 2021
"...creates a shared communal experience that feels awfully close to the sensation of sitting in a theater with other people"
"...makes Zoom feel more like a playground than a prison...the fresh, surprising ways that unsuspecting Zoomers become part of the storytelling..."
"Disclaimer ultimately poses a question that seems to justify its busy-ness: How many diversions do American audiences need to draw them in before they’ll start to pay real attention to the threat of state-sanctioned violence outside their borders?"
The Reviews Hub: Disclaimer, Carrie Lee O'Dell, January 9, 2021
"The twists and turns as Nargis transforms into an Iranian-American Hercule Poirot are engaging and funny, but also ask us to think about our own prejudices."
"...originally developed as a stage play, Disclaimer not only feels like it was made for Zoom, it actually scratches the itch for live theatre. It is funny and it is relevant, but most of all it is visceral and immediate. For that alone it should be priority viewing."
Exeunt: Review: Disclaimer at Under the Radar, Nicole Serratore, January 10, 2021
'The frantic storytelling, mishmash of genres, and up-for-it audience in a shared space is a specific kind of performance communion that serves Ahmadinejad’s text well."
"...a filmic precision and the design elements are strong..."
"...even over Zoom, Ahmadinejad’s point about empathy gets made."
Theater Pizzazz: Disclaimer, Carole Di Tosti, January 11, 2021
"...a wacky, studied, ingenious dramatic hybrid..."
"...the delightful and clever use of audience members interactively..."
"...this surprising and beautiful work is about family, cultural isolation, cultural integration, need for community and the necessity to break...xenophobic stereotypes of 'the other."
"...a complex mixture of reverse psychology, good will, food as a universal language, and superb acting, production values and humor in addition to well-honed, brilliant writing, creative teamwork and directing."
"...fun, wacky, enlightening, endearing and a lesson not in cooking but of love and diplomacy."
"How incredible, how magical this production is. I didn’t want to leave the other audience members (Chef Nargis’ family) Chef Nargis and amiable Sous Chef Hassan, all of whom created a community of family and warmth.... Suffice to say Disclaimer is awesome."
Interludes: VIEWPOINTS - A roundup of the Public Theater's digital 2021 UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL, Adrian Dimanlig, January 11, 2021
"Although it’s been translated (smoothly) into the Zoom format, the piece has retained its communal spirit, especially with Ms. Ahmadinejad confidently orchestrating the interactive performance."
"Even when Disclaimer gratuitously evolves into an admittedly amusing whodunit, her deadpan, fabulously calibrated performance cuts through the kitsch to spark genuine empathy in the viewer."
New England Theater Geek: Lose Your American Appetite for War: "Disclaimer at Under the Radar 2021, Kitty Drexel, January 12, 2021
"...Disclaimer is fun. I found myself gleefully laughing ...The back and forth between Ahmadinejad and Nazari-Robati is great."
"...veers wildly from the expected into the unexpected and back again. Although it is political, it is not about politics. It’s about the personal. Let Disclaimer be personal. It should get under your skin. It got under mine."
THE UNDER PRESENTS
[For Oculus and SteamVR]
CNET: Oculus' VR time-warping nightclub game with live actors is unlike anything I've tried before, Joan E. Solsman, January 26, 2019
"a victory for uncompromising oddity, and all the weirdos who like it."
Forbes: 'The Under Presents' is a Novel Exploration of VR and Live Immersive Theater, Jesse Damiani, November 19, 2019
"...a life force and magic...that I’ve only otherwise felt in immersive theatre experiences. That feeling, whether as a shared or private experience, is intimacy."
"The Under Presents is one of the most ambitious VR experiences ever made. It not only asks but demands a lot of its players because it wants to offer something uncompromising and distinct."
2020 - Emmy Awards, "Finalist - Innovation in Interactive Media"
2020 - Unity Award "Finalist - Best VR Game"
2020 - AIXR VR Awards "VR Experience of the Year"
2020 - A MAZE Awards "Nominee - Most Amazing Award"
2019 - IndieCade Official Nominee "Spotlight in Performance"
SKI END
The New York Times: Review: ‘Ski End’ Recalls Fun on the Slopes With Nostalgia, Elisabeth Vincentelli, May 5, 2017 (appeared in print in Sunday Arts & Leisure section on May 7).
"...dispenses, almost offhandedly, acute observations about a society in which impermanence passes for progress."
"sweet, eccentric charm"
PopDust: , Review: 'Ski End', a modern-day answer to Ionesco, Thomas Burns Scully, May 3, 2017
"the most unique theatrical experience you are likely to have this week."
The Reviews Hub, Ski End, Carrie Lee O'Dell, May 19, 2017
"moments of tremendous beauty and humanity"
"visually striking"
"thoughtful" and "imaginative"
HAND FOOT FIZZLE FACE
The New York Times: ‘Hand Foot Fizzle Face' Digs Into an Odd Collaboration Between Beckett and Jasper Johns, Melena Ryzik, June 11, 2015 (appeared in print in Sunday Arts & Leisure section on June 14).
The New York Times: Review: ‘Hand Foot Fizzle Face’ Explores Futility and Disconnection, Alexis Soloski, June 22, 2015 (appeared in print on June 23).
"...moments of unexpected beauty and others of gratifying weirdness."
Flavorwire: Staff Picks: Knausgaard, ‘The Magicians,” and ‘Hand Foot Fizzle Face,’ Moze Halperin, July 1, 2015.
"The performances here are exquisite…”
NY Theater Now: ‘Hand Foot Fizzle Face,’ Mitchell Conway, July 7, 2015.
"original and timely (even urgent)..."
"totally disorienting and beautiful and haunting.”
"Director Tara Ahmadinejad demonstrated an impeccable control of rhythm throughout the piece, executed by a fantastic team of actors.” "superb work from Piehole, this thoughtful work is an indication they are a company to keep a look out for."
OLD PAPER HOUSES
Charged.fm: 'Old Paper Houses': A Perfect New England World, Natalie Sacks, March 4, 2015.
Ask a Director: Tara Ahmadinejad, interview by Hannah Wolf, February 3, 2015.
Theatre Development Fund profile: Can We Put a Perfect World Onstage? by Eliza Bent, March 5, 2015.
The Village Voice: ‘Old Paper Houses’ and the Human Susceptibility to Utopia’s Promise, Miriam Felton-Dansky, March 11, 2015.
“brims with poignant silliness…”
“does its part to create community right where it is.”
TENDAR
Winner, Innovation and Interaction Award, Indiecade