Bijan Sheibani ( fa, بیژن شیبانی) is a British

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Early life and education

Sheibani was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and moved with his family to Hove when he was 7. He was schooled at St Andrew's C of E School in Hove and at

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

. He studied English literature at

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

, and holds an MA in advanced theatre practice from the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

Career

Most recent theatre credits include The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney, at the

Young Vic Theatre The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 2018 ...

Inua Ellams Inua M. M. Ellams (born 23 October 1984) is a UK-based poet, playwright and performer. Work Ellams has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre and the BBC. In June 2018, Ellams was elected as a Fellow of the Ro ...

' new play,

Barber Shop Chronicles Inua M. M. Ellams (born 23 October 1984) is a UK-based poet, playwright and performer. Work Ellams has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre and the BBC. In June 2018, Ellams was elected as a Fellow of the Ro ...

, at the National Theatre, and Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker at Home Manchester. Earlier this year Barber Shop Chronicles toured to full houses in Australia and New Zealand after two sell-out runs at the National Theatre in 2017. It will tour the US in Autumn 2018. Recent opera credits include Nothing by David Bruce at

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

and Danish National Opera (nominated for a 2017 Southbank Sky Arts Award for Best New Opera) and Tell Me The Truth About Love for Streetwise Opera. Later this year Bijan will direct Clare Barron's award-winning new play Dance Nation for the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...

(27 Aug-6 Oct). Bijan has directed two short films, Groove is in the Heart, and Samira's Party, both of which were selected for the BFI London Film Festival and other international festivals, and he is currently developing a new short film with Film Four. He was an associate director of the National Theatre from 2010 to 2015 under

Nicholas Hytner Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner (; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include ''Miss Saigon'', ''Th ...

and artistic director of Actors Touring Company (ATC) from 2007 to 2011.https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/people/10261 He won the James Menzies-Kitchen Award for Young Directors in 2003 and held the John S Cohen Bursary at the National Theatre Studio from 2003 to 2004. He was nominated for an

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

in 2010 for Best Director for his production of Our Class, and his production of Gone Too Far! by Bola Agbaje won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre in 2008. The Brothers Size won Best International Production at the Barcelona Critics Circle Awards 2008 and was nominated for an Olivier Award in the same year. Bijan's production of Nothing for Glyndebourne was nominated for a 2017 Southbank Sky Arts Award for Best Opera.

Credits

*''Through His Teeth'' by Luke Bedford and

David Harrower David Harrower (born 1966) is a Scottish playwright who (as of 2005) lives in Glasgow. Harrorwer has published over 10 original works, as well as numerous translations and adaptations. Career Harrower's first play, ''Knives in Hens'', which p ...

(2014, Royal Opera House) *''

A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...

'' by

Shelagh Delaney Shelagh Delaney, FRSL (; 25 November 1938 – 20 November 2011) was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Her debut work, '' A Taste of Honey'' (1958), has been described by Michael Patterson as "probably the most performed play by a post-war B ...

(2014, National Theatre) *''

Emil and the Detectives ''Emil and the Detectives'' () is a 1929 novel set mainly in Berlin, by the German writer Erich Kästner and illustrated by Walter Trier. It was Kästner's first major success and the only one of his pre-1945 works to escape Nazi censorship. The ...

'' (2013, National Theatre) *''Romeo and Juliet'' (2013 primary schools tour and National Theatre) *''Damned by Despair'' by

Tirso de Molina Gabriel Téllez ( 24 March 1583 20 February 1648), better known as Tirso de Molina, was a Spanish Baroque dramatist, poet and Roman Catholic monk. He is primarily known for writing ''The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest'', the play from ...

(2012, Olivier Theatre) *''

War Horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot design ...

'' (US tour 2012–2014) *''

The House of Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' ( es, La casa de Bernarda Alba) is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as a "rural trilogy". Garcia Lorca did not include ...

'' by Lorca (2011, Almeida Theatre) *''

The Kitchen The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art institution located at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was founde ...

'' by

Arnold Wesker Sir Arnold Wesker (24 May 1932 – 12 April 2016) was an English dramatist. He was the author of 50 plays, four volumes of short stories, two volumes of essays, much journalism and a book on the subject, a children's book, some poetry, and oth ...

(2011, National Theatre) *''Moonlight'' by Harold Pinter (2011, Donmar Warehouse) *''

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

'' by

Moira Buffini Moira Buffini (born 29 May 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor. Early life Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at Rhos-on-Sea in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at Gold ...

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing the stage play ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films ''Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', an ...

, Penelope Skinner and Matt Charman (2011, Lyttelton Theatre) *''The Typist'' by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (2010 Sky Arts/Riverside Studios) *''Eurydice'' by Sarah Ruhl (2010, ATC and Young Vic) *''Our Class'' by Tadeusz Slobodzianek (2009, National Theatre) Olivier Award nomination for Best Director *''

Ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

or Those Who Return'' by

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

and

Rebecca Lenkiewicz Rebecca Lenkiewicz (born 1968) is a British playwright and screenwriter. She is best known as the author of ''Her Naked Skin'' (2008), which was the first original play written by a living female playwright to be performed on the Olivier stage of ...

(2009, ATC & Arcola Theatre) *''Tarantula in Petrol Blue'' by Anna Meredith and Philip Ridley (2009, Aldeburgh Music Festival) *''The Brothers Size'' by Tarell McCraney (2007, Young Vic and Tour/ 2008 Young Vic, UK Tour and Arcola Theatre Istanbul). Olivier nomination for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre and winner of the Barcelona Critics' Circle Award for best international production. *''Gone Too Far!'' (2007, Royal Court Theatre/ 2008 Hackney Empire/Albany tour with ATC). Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an affiliate theatre. *''Fixer'' by Lydia Adetunji (2006

) *''Other Hands'' by Laura Wade (2006, Soho Theatre) *''Last Summer At Chulimsk'' (2006,

Old Museum Arts Centre Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

, Belfast - reading) *''Breath'' by Samuel Beckett (2006, BAC) *''Flush'' by David Dipper (2004, Soho Theatre) *''Party Time''/'' One for the Road'' by Harold Pinter (2003, BAC) *''Have I None'' by Edward Bond (2002, Southwark Playhouse) *''Summer'' by Edward Bond (2002, Lion & Unicorn Theatre) *''The Lover'' by Harold Pinter (2000,

Burton Taylor Theatre Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfor ...

, Oxford)

Assistant director credits

*''Measure for Measure'' development workshops (2008, assistant to Peter Brook, Bouffes du Nord) *''The Tempest'' by Thomas Ades (2007,

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

) *''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' (2006, China Children's National Theatre) *''The Tempest'' by Thomas Ades (2005,

Copenhagen Opera House The Copenhagen Opera House (in Danish usually called Operaen, literally ''The opera'') is the national opera house of Denmark, and among the most modern opera houses in the world. It is also one of the most expensive opera houses ever built at a ...

) *''As You Like It'' (2005,

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 201 ...

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

) *''A Dream Play'' by Strindberg (2005, NT) *''Twelfth Night'' (2004, English Touring Theatre) *''The Io Passion'' by Harrison Birtwistle (2004, Almeida Theatre) *''Terrorism'' by the Preshnikov Brothers (2003, Royal Court Theatre)

References

External links

Agency CVActors Touring Company productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheibani, Bijan British theatre directors Iranian theatre directors British people of Iranian descent Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Living people Year of birth missing (living people)