AMIR REZA KOOHESTANI (Playwright & Director) was born in Shiraz, Iran in 1978. At a young age, he began publishing short stories in local newspapers and working in film. After a brief experience as a performer, he devoted his time to writing his first plays – And the Day Never Came (1999) and The Murmuring Tales (2000) – for the Mehr Theatre Group. Koohestani’s third play, Dance on Glasses (2001), gained him international notoriety and the support of several European theatrical artistic directors and festivals. Further work includes the plays Recent Experiences (from the original text by Canadian writers Nadia Ross and Jacob Wren, 2003); Amid the Clouds (2005); Dry Blood & Fresh Vegetables (2007); Quartet: A Journey North (2008); Where Were You on January 8th? (2009); Ivanov (2011);  and The Fourth Wall (from the original play England by Tim Crouch, 2012) which was presented one hundred times in an art gallery in Tehran. Over the past decade, Koohestani wrote and directed the plays Timeloss (2013), Hearing (2015) and Summerless (2018), forming the “Time Trilogy” as presented at the Festival TNB, in Rennes, France in November 2018. Since 2006, Koohestani has been independently working across Europe at Munchner Kammerspiele, Thalia Theater, Deutsches Theater, La Comédie de Genève, Riksteatern and Theater Freiburg, creating more than 15 new productions. He has established strong creative partnerships with the actress, playwright and director Mahin Sadri;  light designer and scenographer Éric Soyer; composer Matthias Peyker and video artist Philip Hohenwarter. Koohestani also regularly collaborates with the actor and film director, Mani Haghighi, with whom he co-wrote the script to the movies Modest Reception (Netpac Award at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival) and Substraction (July 2023). In May 2023, after a 2 year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Koohestani and his company created and are touring Blind Runner, which premiered in Brussels as part of the Kunstenfestivaldesarts.

AMBER IMAN (Actor) most recently starred as Rafaela in Lempicka on Broadway for which she was nominated for both a TONY award and Drama League award. She made her Broadway debut as Nina Simone in Soul Doctor, earning a Clive Barnes Award nomination. Additional credits include George C. Wolfe’s Shuffle Along and the first National Tour of Hamilton. Recent highlights include Goddess (Berkeley Rep) and Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical (A.C.T.). TV/Film work includes High Maintenance (HBO) and her award-winning short film Steve. Her second short film, Blackberry Winter, wrapped production in April. Amber co-founded Broadway Advocacy Coalition and Black Women on Broadway, earning a Tony Award in 2021 for her BAC work. Listen to “An Evening with Amber Iman” on Audible! @amberiman_ amberiman.com

DYLAN BAKER (Actor) Feature film credits include “Happiness” (IFP Gotham Award, IFP West Independent Spirit Award nomination), “Dream Scenario”, “Shockingly Evil and Vile”; “Miss Sloane”, “Selma”, “Anchorman 2”, “Franny”, “The Humbling”, “23 Blast” (directorial debut), “Revolutionary Road”, “Requiem for a Dream”, and most recently “Laroy, Texas”. Baker’s television credits include “Hunters”, “Inside Man”, “Homeland”, BBC’s “Little Women”, “Damages”, “The Americans”, “The Good Wife” (three Emmy Awards nominations), “The Good Fight”, “Ugly Betty”, and “Burn Notice”. Broadway credits include La Bête (Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations), Eastern Standard (Theater World Award), Mauritius, November, The Audience, The Front Page, and God of Carnage. He appeared Off-Broadway in Not About Heroes (Obie Award), Sea of Tranquility, Homebody/ Kabul, Medea at BAM, and Corruption.

ERIC BERRYMAN (Actor) is a Baltimore born, Brooklyn based actor who is involved in work he believes his great-grandmother would dig. On stage he was last seen Off-Broadway in Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me (Wooster Group). On screen, “Atlanta” (FX) portraying “short lived Disney CEO” Thomas Washington. Other Select Theatrical Credits: The B-Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons” A Record Album Interpretation (Wooster Group-Drama Desk Nomination); Pulitzer Prize winner Primary Trust (Audelco Award), Toni Stone (Roundabout); Detroit Red (ArtsEmerson-Elliot Norton Award); Private (Mosaic Theater); Scene Partners (Vineyard Theater), Moby Dick, A Musical Reckoning (A.R.T.); Steel Hammer (SITI COMPANY). Recent Film/TV credits: “Godfather of Harlem” (Epix/MGM+), “Ramy” (HULU), “Bonding,” “Marriage Story” (NETFLIX); “Evil” (PARAMOUNT+); “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, “Empathy Inc” (AMAZON); “Motherless Brooklyn.” Training: Carnegie Mellon University.