KARIZ Performing Arts Group

Waiting, Witnessing, Disappearing (2026)

Creation 2026

A Performance Lecture by
Hossein Tavazoni, Siavash Naghshbandi, Parastoo Ghorbani, Aida Toutounchi, Aban Hoseinabadi

Introduction
What does it mean to be on the stage, when the world around you disappears?
Presented at EASTAP 2026 Conference & Theatre Program
22 September, USVA Theatre, Groningen

Concept and Direction
Hossein Tavazoni
Video Design and Direction Team
Siavash Naghshbandi

Academic Advisor

Eleftheria Ioannidou

Mask Design

Mahoor Mirshakkak
Music
Mohammad Javad Tavazoni

Artistic Advisor

Mahyar Javadiha

Photos: Siavash Naghshbandi

Special thanks to Pieter Verstraete and Lucia van Heteren

Creation 2026

A stage performance by
Hossein Tavazoni

Introduction
The project's first development phase took place during a residency at Grand Theatre Groningen in April and May 2026. It concluded with a public sharing of the work in progress, with the support of Grand Theatre Groningen and Het Cultuurfonds. Inspired by the ancient division between barbarians and the civilised, the play tells the story of two characters from different backgrounds who begin having similar dreams about barbarians.

Cast: Makan Ashgvari & Kathlyn Wuyts

Video Design: Siavash Naghshbandi

Music and Sound Design: Makan Ashgvari

Photos: Shirin Abedi
(Photos 2–5; Photos 1 & 6 are edited screenshots.) 

Special thanks to: Sanaz Afshin & Mohammad Javad Tavazoni 

Creation 2022-2023

A documentary stage performance/artistic research by
Hossein Tavazoni

Cast
Nina Van der Woude, Ghenwa Abou Fayad & Roza Kootstra

Concept & Direction
Hossein Tavazoni
Consultant Director
Sanaz Afshin
Set & Video Design
Amir Komeolizadeh
Music & Sound Design
Mohammad Javad Tavazoni

Special Thanks
Vida Kashani

Introduction

This project takes shape through two rounds of interviews conducted with a diverse group of participants from Europe and the MENA region. Our goal is to delve into their imaginative world, exploring how they perceive themselves and their 'other', particularly in relation to their surrounding built environment. The first phase was held at the Grand Theatre Groningen in October 2022.

The initial phase of the project was presented by Hossein Tavazoni & Sanaz Afshin at the Taking Part Symposium: Participatory Practices in Arts and Heritage, hosted by the Research Centre for Arts and Society (ICOG) on June 15, 2023.

The Morning of a Day after the Death of the Dear Friend (2020)

Creation 2019

A site-based performance written, designed & directed by
Hossein Tavazoni

Introduction

Hosting only four participants for each performance, the work begins with each meeting one of the four performers at different defined locations in District 6 of Tehran (performed twice daily for one month). Walking towards an old mansion (belonging to the 1940s), each performer narrates his/her story of a young man called Ali Asghar whom they have accidentally met for a short period in different times. As the starting point of the second phase of the work, the four groups reach the building almost at the same time. Entering the mansion, the spectators are received as attendees to the lost friend's funeral, where the performers act as the hosts of this ceremony. 

During both parts of the performance, the walking tour in the historical neighbourhood and while exploring the mansion as participants of a funeral, the audience and the performers explore their memories of and nostalgia for Tehran. On this interactive-immersive ground, they are invited to jointly contemplate/question love, death, migration, and the sense of belonging to the homeland.

Awards and Nominations

35th Fadjr International Theater Festival (Alternative Theatre Section)

• The Best Play Award (Hossein Tavazoni)

Creation  2018 & 2019

A documentary stage performance/artistic research by
Hossein Tavazoni

Introduction

We began by conducting interviews with a diverse group of women in their late 40s or 50s from various countries including Iran, Russia, France, the USA, Austria, and the Netherlands. In addition to these interviews, the performers also incorporated recorded dialogues with their own mothers and close relatives. This combination of materials formed the basis of the text, creating a mosaic-like structure.

Central to the design of this project are four main sources of inspiration: the Iranian traditional passion play (Ta'zieh), the Iranian marriage proposal ceremony, Iranian mourning rituals, and F.G Lorca's play "The House of Bernarda Alba."

Thus far, the project has been staged in Iran, Georgia, and the Netherlands. Initially, we shared the first phase of our rehearsals with the theatre association of Tbilisi Medical University in an abandoned theatre hall. Subsequently, we performed at the 6th Shahr Theatre Festival in Tehran, utilizing not only the hall at Pardis Theatre but also the surrounding yard and a historical cemetery close to the venue as part of the performance's setting.

Our most recent stop was at the Grand Theatre in Groningen, where we embarked on a three-week residency to further develop the artistic research. This residency culminated in a public presentation, marking the final shaping of the work on stage. As an ongoing project, we continue to collect documentary materials and refine the text.

Creation  2016

A stage performance, written, directed, and designed by Hossein Tavazoni

Synopsis

The story revolves around a young girl who has been kept away from the outside world, isolated in an old house.  Trying to prove that she was mistakenly diagnosed as mentally disabled, years ago when she was a baby,  her family resists freeing her for having superstitious beliefs about the negative effect that their child might have on others. The girl's life changes as she meets a tender-hearted Ghoul! 

Awards and Nominations

5th International Mask Theatre Festival, Tbilisi, Georgia

Best Actress                              Best Tragedy Actress
Tina Younestabar                     Parastoo Ghorbani

Creation  2016 & 2017

A site-based performance written, directed, & designed by Hossein Tavazoni

Introduction
The old house where the previous project (Amsterdam) was performed, hosted the second site-specific project of the group: The Butterfly  (performed twice daily for 45 days). Here, the audience was limited to three people who could move freely throughout the location, with the play being performed in different rooms. While in Amsterdam we were mainly focused on the ground floor and the yard, this time we shifted our focus to the upper levels of the building. The other difference was the fact that the setting of a movie which was shot on the second floor before the production of this performance, with minor changes, was employed in this performance. Therefore, our aim was to have a new reading of the existing setting on two levels: a) the interior structure of the house as the design of the architect of this building, compared to our earlier performance; and the decoration made by the set designer of the film, which was itself an artistic reading of the second floor of the location.

After the first public performance of the project in February and March 2016, The Butterfly was invited by the selection panel of the 35th Fadjr International Theatre Festival. Since the former location was not available anymore, we selected another building and redesigned the performance based on the same text (performed twice daily for one month). The starting step was making limited restorations and cleansing of the new location, a large mansion belonging to Iranian early modernist architecture of the mid-1990s. Along with this, we studied the history of the house and its former residents. This led us to integrate the found objects on this site into the play and give shape to the movements according to the interior architecture of this foor-floor mansion. Finally, the new version of The Butterfly was performed from January 20th to 31st. The performance won the Best Plan and Idea Award as well as the Best Actress Award at the 35th Fadjr International Theatre Festival.

Synopsis
The story revolves around a young girl who has been kept away from the outside world, isolated in an old house.  Trying to prove that she was mistakenly diagnosed as mentally disabled, years ago when she was a baby,  her family resists freeing her for having superstitious beliefs about the negative effect that their child might have on others. The girl's life changes as she meets a tender-hearted Ghoul! 

Creation  (2013-2014)

A site-based performance, written & directed, and Designed by Hossein Tavazoni

Introduction

Created for the stage in 2012, the play was redesigned to be performed in an old house in 2014  (performed twice daily for two months).

Synopsis

An old house in Tehran remembers the story of its former residents: Sarah, her family, and the unseen friend who takes her to Amsterdam.

Creation  2012

A stage performance written by Hossein Tavazoni & directed by Ehsan Shayanfard 

Synopsis

The play narrates the life of Saad, a young man who is kept at a private psychiatric house. Based on his limited access to the outside world through the window of his room, he paints a picture of his interwoven illusions, imagination, and observation.

The performance revolves around the sense of otherness in a society that dictates its standards on its members. In his monologue, the leading character hopelessly tries to find a middle ground between his desires and the imposed norms. Through a nostalgic depiction of the grey milieu around him, Saad questions his very nostalgia and the sense of belonging to what shapes this world.

Cast
Hossein Tavazoni, Katayoun Saleki, Mehdi Gharehjehdaghi, Matin Farsi, & Sahar Abdollahzadeh

Assistant Director
Sahar  Abdollahzadeh

Music
Matin Farsi

Public performance
Arasbaran Complex, Samimi Mofakham Hall, October & November 2012 

THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

• Parallel Drops, 2022-23

Grand Theatre Groningen (work in progress, residency November 7-16)

•  The Morning of the Day After the Death of the Dear Friend, 2020

1st Reconnect Festival, April 14, Tehran-Groningen.                           

• The Elephant (Aras), 2019                                                                                          

37th Int Fadjr Theatre Festival.

Public Performance: Feb 20-30, Tehran.

• 20 Minutes to Ten in the Morning (2018) 

Grand Theatre, Groningen, The Netherlands 

State Medical University, Tbilisi, Georgia

6th Shahr Theatre Festival, Tehran, Iran

• Narges, 2017-2018                                                                         

36th International Fadjr Theatre Festival

20th Int. Iran University Theatre Festival

Public Performance: May 2017 & Jan 2018                                                                      

• The Little Nun, 2016

5th Int. Mask Theatre Festival, Tbilisi, Georgia

• The Butterfly  (Parvaneh), 2016-17                                                               

35th International Fadjr Festival

19th Int. Iran University Theatre Festival

Public Performance: Apr 2016 & Jan 2017

• Amsterdam, 2013-2014 

Entrez Dans L'Arène 2016, Rennes, France                                                                  

14th Tajrobeh Festival of Tehran University

5th Monologue Fest, Art University of Tehran

Public Performance: Feb & March 2014

• The Dramatic Changes of Mr Saad’s Life, 2011

Written by H. Tavazoni & Directed by E. Shayanfard        

Arasbaran Cultural Center