Leila Ghaznavi is a playwright of American-Iranian descent and a masters graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, currently residing in New York City. Her background is unusually multicultural and greatly influences her work: her father immigrated to the US from Iran at 19, his only possessions fifty dollars and a prayer rug; her mother is a Daughter of the American Revolution and a proud relative of Stonewall Jackson. Her parents' improbable marriage facsimiled an ideal American family; however, the differences in their cultural perspectives tore their marriage apart and isolated her from both sides of her family. Over time this dual alienation has transformed into a dual belonging that she has claimed as her own - an ability to understand and represent both Iranian and American culture.
Ms. Ghaznavi believes that art cannot be limited to one acting or storytelling method, and that the process of synthesizing artistic traditions is important in the creation of new methods of artistic expression. Moreover, she is committed to the belief that artists must challenge social conventions of what is sacred and taboo,
Art must dare to say what is forbidden, love the undesirable, speak for those who have no voice, mourn those who have been forgotten, challenge what is sacred and dance in the clouds to reveal undiscovered planes of imagination.
You can find out more about her work at www.panteaproductions.com.
I met Leila at the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater when we were both in grad school. She is a tremendously skilled actor, playwright, puppeteer and poet who has received accolades at the Edinburgh Fringe as well as Henson Foundation grants! Circo de Nada was lucky to have her do some puppetry coaching in the workshop production of Henry Four in New York in 2015, and we’re lucky again, that this pandemic has given us a chance to bring her sense of play into Circo’s world once more. — Nick