Brent Askari

Brent Askari

Brent Askari is a Persian-American writer and actor. He is the winner of the 2019 NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theater for his play The Refugees. Brent's other plays include American Underground (Runner-up winner Bonnie and Terry Burman New Play Award, produced at Barrington Stage Company 2019), Hard Cell (PlayPenn Conference 2017, produced at Geva Theatre Center in 2019), White Party (Semi-finalist for...
Brent Askari is a Persian-American writer and actor. He is the winner of the 2019 NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theater for his play The Refugees. Brent's other plays include American Underground (Runner-up winner Bonnie and Terry Burman New Play Award, produced at Barrington Stage Company 2019), Hard Cell (PlayPenn Conference 2017, produced at Geva Theatre Center in 2019), White Party (Semi-finalist for O’Neill Conference, Finalist Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Finalist Ashland New Plays Festival), Digby’s Home (Semi-finalist O’Neill Conference, produced at Mad Horse Theatre); Cocktails and Travails (Winner of Neil Simon Festival’s National New Play Contest and produced at The Theater Project); Bending Reeds (Semi-Finalist Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Blank Stage Living Room Series); Dirty Deeds Downeast (Finalist, B Street Theater New Comedies Festival). In addition, Brent has had plays produced at or developed by Ensemble Studio Theatre LA, Vital Theatre, The Boston Theatre Marathon, New American Theatre, The Drilling Company, Swarthmore College, Eastern Connecticut State University, and the College of Southern Nevada. Brent has also been a finalist for the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville’s Heideman Award and the Reva Shiner Comedy Award. He was part of HBO’s New Writers Project and has written screenplays for several companies including Paramount Pictures, Marvel Films, MTV, and Reveille Entertainment. He is an ensemble member of Mad Horse Theatre Company and an affiliate artist of the NNPN.

Plays

  • White Party by Brent Askari
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: satire, Politics + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, political, satire
    Keyword: satire, Politics, confused white people, Surreal, Farce, comedy, cultural and racial divides, middle eastern playwright, American/Middle East Personal Politics
    John and Laura Baron throw their annual White Party -- however, when none of their guests arrive, they grow confused and angry. Feeling like victims and wondering why this is happening to them, John and Laura harbor suspicions toward Mary, the African-American cook; Nando, the Hispanic bartender; and Hank, a Middle Eastern man who shows up even though they didn’t invite him.
  • American Underground by Brent Askari
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, horror + 3 more
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    Keyword: Middle East, Dystopia + 6 more
    Genre: drama, horror, mystery/thriller, political, science fiction
    Keyword: Middle East, Dystopia, Arab, Politics, thriller, espionage, American/Middle East Personal Politics, middle eastern playwright
    An interracial couple enjoys a visit from their college-aged son when a young Muslim woman arrives at their back door looking for safe passage via a new Underground Railroad.
  • Hard Cell by Brent Askari
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: Middle East, Islamophobia + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, farce, political, satire
    Keyword: Middle East, Islamophobia, Farce, comedy, racial prejudice, Arab, racial profiling, Persian, American/Middle East Personal Politics
    Hard Cell is a comedy concerning Nick Abtahi, an Iranian-American professor whose car breaks down during a cross-country road trip. When a tough local thug falsely identifies the mild-mannered Nick as a terrorist -- and threatens his life -- Nick feels he has no choice but to pose as a bomb-wielding terrorist merely to stay alive. As the situation spirals out of control, Nick uses his attackers' own...
    Hard Cell is a comedy concerning Nick Abtahi, an Iranian-American professor whose car breaks down during a cross-country road trip. When a tough local thug falsely identifies the mild-mannered Nick as a terrorist -- and threatens his life -- Nick feels he has no choice but to pose as a bomb-wielding terrorist merely to stay alive. As the situation spirals out of control, Nick uses his attackers' own Islamophobic stereotypes and fears against them, manipulating the situation in order to survive a modern American nightmare.
  • Exiled Kings Of Persia by Brent Askari
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: middle eastern playwright, Middle East + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: middle eastern playwright, Middle East, Iranian-American, Persian culture, Iranian, 1970s, Texas, Politics
    EXILED KINGS OF PERSIA takes place in Texas in the late 1970’s. Ferydun is a recent college graduate who dreams of opening his own night club back home in Tehran. He tries to recruit his friend, Mehdi, to be his business partner; they fly up to New York to check out Studio 54 as research. Ferydun’s dreams end up shattering because of the advent of the Iranian Revolution. When Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran...
    EXILED KINGS OF PERSIA takes place in Texas in the late 1970’s. Ferydun is a recent college graduate who dreams of opening his own night club back home in Tehran. He tries to recruit his friend, Mehdi, to be his business partner; they fly up to New York to check out Studio 54 as research. Ferydun’s dreams end up shattering because of the advent of the Iranian Revolution. When Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran, Ferydun’s final illusion shatters and he realizes that he won’t be returning home for the foreseeable future.
  • Bending Reeds by Brent Askari
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: family, Persian culture + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: family, Persian culture, Persian-American actor, Iranian-American, Middle Eastern Americans, middle eastern playwright
    BENDING REEDS concerns Ali Farzan, a Persian screenwriter who comes home to Boston to attend an early screening of his first produced movie. While visiting his family, Ali tries to acquire coins commemorating the Shah’s regime that his late grandfather left for Ali in his will – however, when Ali’s mother learns that his movie features Middle Eastern stereotypes, arguments ensue that expose decades-old family...
    BENDING REEDS concerns Ali Farzan, a Persian screenwriter who comes home to Boston to attend an early screening of his first produced movie. While visiting his family, Ali tries to acquire coins commemorating the Shah’s regime that his late grandfather left for Ali in his will – however, when Ali’s mother learns that his movie features Middle Eastern stereotypes, arguments ensue that expose decades-old family secrets involving key moments in Modern Iranian history… and cause Ali to confront his own identity as a Persian-American.
  • Digby's Home by Brent Askari
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Maine, new england + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: Maine, new england, comedian, family, awkward encounters, modern comedy of manners, Stand-up comic
    Digby’s Home concerns Digby Preston, a prop comic living in Los Angeles, who returns to his small New England town after his first national television appearance. He arrives home hoping that, after his newfound brush with fame, he will finally receive the respect and admiration that he’s felt he’s always deserved – from his family, his ex-girlfriend, and the kids who pushed him around in high school.
    He doesn’t.
  • Cocktails and Travails by Brent Askari
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, farce
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    Keyword: Farce, cocktails + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, farce
    Keyword: Farce, cocktails, family, party, broad comedy, comedy of errors, slapstick, physical comedy, hilarious
    Greg has arranged a nice, quiet, intimate cocktail party with his wife, Emily, and his stuffy colleague, Professor Stilton. A perfect evening could mean Greg achieves tenure at the college. But when Professor Stilton arrives, Emily and the hors d’oeuvres are missing, Greg’s mother-in-law insists on crashing the party, and Greg’s deadbeat brother is convinced he can somehow help. And what on earth is in the...
    Greg has arranged a nice, quiet, intimate cocktail party with his wife, Emily, and his stuffy colleague, Professor Stilton. A perfect evening could mean Greg achieves tenure at the college. But when Professor Stilton arrives, Emily and the hors d’oeuvres are missing, Greg’s mother-in-law insists on crashing the party, and Greg’s deadbeat brother is convinced he can somehow help. And what on earth is in the punch? Things couldn’t get any worse. Or could they?

    WINNER of the Neil Simon Festival National New Play Contest in 2015. FINALIST for the Reva Shiner Comedy Award and the Mountain Playhouse International Comedy Competition.
  • The Unwelcome Guest by Brent Askari
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: mystery/thriller, political + 1 more
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    Keyword: thriller, Politics + 4 more
    Genre: mystery/thriller, political, tragedy
    Keyword: thriller, Politics, economic disparity, class and economic inequality, America's middle class, Long Island

    When a mysterious stranger in a designer suit comes into waitress Jill’s Long Island dive bar one night, he invites her back to his Southampton mansion for a drink and a midnight swim. Jill ends up taking the intriguing stranger up on his offer, only to discover the next morning that he is not the owner of the impressive home at all – but the owner’s gardener – a man named Tim.
    Tim and Jill...

    When a mysterious stranger in a designer suit comes into waitress Jill’s Long Island dive bar one night, he invites her back to his Southampton mansion for a drink and a midnight swim. Jill ends up taking the intriguing stranger up on his offer, only to discover the next morning that he is not the owner of the impressive home at all – but the owner’s gardener – a man named Tim.
    Tim and Jill decide to extend their stay, secretly squatting in the home while the owner is off on business. They pretend they actually live in the mansion, role-playing at being wealthy one-percenters. When Jill accidentally breaks a vase, a decision is made that perhaps the best way to cover it up...is to pretend a robbery occurred. The line between pretend robbery and actual robbery soon blurs – and an additional complication arises when the owner, Lawrence, arrives home early.