Marjan Neshat ’98
Marjan Neshat ’98 appears in the fall 2022 world premiere of David Cale’s Sandra. She stars in this one-woman thriller at the Vineyard Theatre.
She recently received critical acclaim for her roles in three Off-Broadway plays. All were by playwrights of Middle Eastern descent.
The first was Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury at Playwrights Horizons, and the latter were English and Wish You Were Here by Sanaz Toossi at Atlantic Theater Company and Playwrights Horizons, respectively.
Neshat won the Sam Norkin Drama Desk Award 2022 for her portrayals of two different roles in one season of theater—for Aafiya in Selling Kabul and Marjan in English.
The Iranian-born actress almost gave up acting. But after years of putting in the work, perseverance paid off with roles that allowed the artist to showcase her breadth and depth.
“Neshat — whom [playwright] Toossi called ‘the best actor I’ve ever worked with’ and ‘a gift to the new-play world‘— said she has spent much of the past two decades being told that she was “not quite dark enough” or “not light enough” to be cast in the substantial roles she sought.”
Prior credits include the 2008 Off-Broadway production of “The Seagull” with Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming.
Her onscreen work included mainly supporting roles in films like the 2014 RoboCop remake and TV shows including New Amsterdam and Quantico.
“I think she’s a very Chekhovian actor,” the playwright Sanaz Toossi said of Marjan Neshat. “She’s so interested in the tiny ways we can destroy each other.”
Listen to a podcast with Neshat and playwright Sanaz Toosi on wnyc.org.