Bijan Mofid

Bijan Mofid (Persian: بیژن مفید‎‎; May 31, 1935 – November 2, 1984) was an influential Iranian playwright and stage director. His most famous work, Shahr-e Ghesseh, is an allegorical satire written in the form of a musical play using elements of Iranian folklore, for which he also composed the music. Bijan Mofid (playwright/director) was one of very few serious modern Iranian artists whose writing has reached beyond the intelligentsia to a broad general audience.

Life

He was born in Tehran in 1935. After teaching for several years at the University of Tehran, he founded a theater workshop, where many of Iran's finest actors received their training. The workshop's major production was Bijan's own City Of Tales (Shahr-e-Ghesseh), a profound satire that weaves social comment through adaptations of traditional music and folk tales. It toured for 3 years, was made into an award-winning film and is recognized as a classic of Iranian literature.

Bijan's work as playwright and director has had a continuous and controversial presence in Iranian theater, both on the popular stage and in experimental productions. Nine of his plays have been produced and published and their songs recorded. He directed over fifty productions for radio and television in addition to his stage work; his rare appearances as an actor included the lead role in Arbie Ovanesian's acclaimed production of Suddenly... at the 1992 Nancy International Theatre Festival.