Reza Abdoh

by Daniel Mufson (Editor)

"In ancient cultures, they didn*t practice theory in their dances; they wanted to arrive at a state of trance, and I think that's an appropriate approach for the to create a work that is entrancing."―Reza Abdoh Incorporating interviews, critical essays, reviews, and the complete text of the play The Hip-Hop Waltz of Eurydice , Reza Abdoh is a comprehensive introduction to this influential and controversial theater artist. By the time he died of AIDS in the spring of 1995 at age 32, Reza Abdoh had written, assembled, and directed well over a dozen works for the stage. In this first complete account of his career, Abdoh emerges as an internationally acclaimed artist who was influenced by a wide range of cultures and sources. Yet he is also distinctly a visionary who drew heavily on popular culture to expose sexual, racial, and media obsessions in American society. Despite this influence, Abdoh's works are not typical of American theater, according to theater critic Daniel Mufson, because they vehemently reject sentimentality and happy endings. Abdoh was born in Iran, raised in England, and lived and worked in New York and Los Angeles. He was the recipient of a CalArts/Alpert Theater award in 1995 and a posthumous "Bessie," the Choreographer and Creator Award for Sustained Achievement. Several of his plays toured extensively in Europe. Aside from directing his own plays, Abdoh worked in other genres and media, ranging from a staging of Verdi's Simon Boccanegre to the making of a feature-length film, The Blind Owl. "The aesthetic shock of encountering Abdoh's turbulent work sent me reeling back to relive the shock of discovering the radical new art of the 60's, which changed my life."―Richard Foreman "Abdoh filled his works with tension born of moral and formal contradictions; tension born of tone oscillating wildly from frenzy to calm; tension born of the negotiation between poetic and profane, traditional and modern, normal and abnormal... One of the surprising aspects of Abdoh's work was that it was able to render wretchedness shocking to a society that ordinarily considers itself numbed to depiction of its own dejectedness."―Daniel Mufson, from the Introduction

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 1999

Reviews

[Jeff Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Iranian-American playwright and director Reza Abdoh died young from AIDS, but still managed to create a lasting body of work -- one that's cast a long shadow over NYC downtown theater for almost two decades. Mufson's book is a terrific resource, collecting and contextualizing various reviews and essays about Abdoh's transgressive and challenging plays like "Tight Right White," "Quotations from a Dead City," and "The Law of Remains." Best of all are the interviews with Reza which burn brightly with his intelligence, compassion, and brilliant explanations of his extreme aesthetic.

[anya · Rating 4 out of 5]

For context: I only read "The Hip Hop Waltz of Eurydice"
Abdoh's writing is so fantastical and has this magical surrealism element to it. It's as if a surrealist painting came to life. Something about the play that I read felt hallucinatory and dreamlike, or maybe nightmare-like depending on the scene. I Absolutely would love to buy this book and read the rest of his body of work.

[Neil P · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaged collection of reviews, texts and pictures giving those who've never seen Dar A Luz's work an overview and insight into the nature of the work. I've only watched videos myself before and this book confronted the ideologies and the angerinfused within Abdoh's writing.