This actor found freedom — and refuge — on the Seattle stage

Clad in a big, bulky menswear suit, “Julia” Mozhdeh Rahmanzaei stomps around the stage at the Theater off Jackson in Seattle’s Chinatown International District. 

She glares over a fake beard, holding audience members’ gazes, and shakes the program for this very play in one hand. The actor and playwright is channeling the censorship she experienced in her home country of Iran. 

As a young artist in Tehran, her theater work repeatedly ran up against the strict rules of government monitors – who shut down several of her shows, including her master’s thesis and performance, which discussed limitations of physical performance for women actors. 

Julia left Iran three and a half years ago to study for a Masters of Fine Arts in Acting at the University of Washington. In Seattle, she’s acted in several local productions, including “The Moors” at the University of Washington and “The Forgotten History of Mastaneh,” at Taproot Theater and Seattle Public Theater. 

This weekend is the debut of her autobiographical solo show, called, “I am an Actress, Where is my Country?” It traces her struggle to express herself under Iran’s repressive theocratic regime – and find her place both legally and as an artist in the U.S.

Libby Denkmann sat down with Julia Rahmanzaei and director and dramaturge Leah Adcock-Starr during rehearsals this week.

Guests:

• Julia Rahmanzaei, actor and writer for "I am an Actress, Where is my Country?"
• Leah Adcock-Starr, director and dramaturge 

Related Links: 

• I am an Actress, Where is my Country? - Theatre Off Jackson

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