ABOUT
Leyla Modirzadeh is an Iranian American performer, visual artist, and educator. She has acted in theatres across the country including Wisdom Bridge Theatre, (Chicago), A Contemporary Theatre, The Group Theatre, (Seattle), The Kennedy Center, (DC), Golden Thread Theatre (SF), Speakeasy Stage (Boston), New York Theatre Workshop, Noor Theatre, and The Clarke Theatre at Lincoln Center (NYC). Her original solo show Lubbock or Leave It! performed at various venues around New York City including the Plus One Solo Festival, Dixon Place, and The Here Space. Her second original solo show "Together Tea" performed at San Francisco State, UC Irvine, and the Hammer Theatre in San Jose, CA.
Her most recent acting projects include playing Roya in Speakeasy Stage's production of the Pulitzer prize-winning play "English" in Boston, and playing 12 different roles in the premier of Griswold at The Bridge Theatre in Catskill, NY. Leyla and her other two cast-mates were nominated for Outstanding Ensemble by the Berkshire Critics Association.
Leyla collaborated and toured with Obie Award winning theatre artist Ping Chong over the last 30 years on projects as performer, co-writer, and director. With him, she created multiple documentary theatre projects nationally and internationally known as the Undesirable Elements series. She also created documentary works at Lincoln Center Institute’s Clark Theatre in collaboration with Ping Chong & Co. Last year, Leyla moderated a panel on 30 years of the Undesirable Elements project at The New School in New York City. She has also directed plays at the Powerhouse Theatre in Oxford, San Jose City College, and San Jose State University.
She founded Two Little Heads Productions, a film and video production company in New York City. Her animated and live action films have been screened at national festivals including Potlikker Film Festival, MS: “Hot Dog-opolis: the Story of Greeks in Birmingham” (funded by Southern Foodways Alliance and the Greenhouse Initiative), Anthology Film Archive, NYC, The Williamsburg Historical Society, NYC, The Pioneer Theatre, NYC, Portland Cultural Festival, OR, Berkeley Alternative Arts Festival, CA, P.S. 122, NYC, Galapagos Ocularis, NYC and The Big Apple Film Festival.
Her art has been exhibited at Schafler Gallery Retrospective, NYC, Toy Theatre Exhibits, Great Small Works, NYC, Art in General, NYC, and in an animated segment for the film “The Pink House.” Her artwork has been commissioned by collectors in Italy, Canada and the US. Artist residencies include The Vermont Studio Center and Wildacres Artist Residency. Her most recent publication is a book of illustrations and haikus called “Everyday Oddities: An Illustrated Year.” Her theatre writings include a contributing chapter about documentary theatre in the book Arts Education for Social Justice: A Way Out of No Way published by Routledge Books.
She received her BA in Humanities from UC Berkeley, MFA in Acting from University of Washington, MFA in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, and trained in improvisation and comedy at Second City in Chicago. She most recently taught acting as an assistant professor of performance at SUNY New Paltz. Previous teaching includes teaching acting at UC Berkeley, ACT in San Francisco (American Conservatory Theatre) and at various colleges including San Jose City College, Baruch College, Texas Tech University, and University of Mississippi.
Her most recent acting projects include playing Roya in Speakeasy Stage's production of the Pulitzer prize-winning play "English" in Boston, and playing 12 different roles in the premier of Griswold at The Bridge Theatre in Catskill, NY. Leyla and her other two cast-mates were nominated for Outstanding Ensemble by the Berkshire Critics Association.
Leyla collaborated and toured with Obie Award winning theatre artist Ping Chong over the last 30 years on projects as performer, co-writer, and director. With him, she created multiple documentary theatre projects nationally and internationally known as the Undesirable Elements series. She also created documentary works at Lincoln Center Institute’s Clark Theatre in collaboration with Ping Chong & Co. Last year, Leyla moderated a panel on 30 years of the Undesirable Elements project at The New School in New York City. She has also directed plays at the Powerhouse Theatre in Oxford, San Jose City College, and San Jose State University.
She founded Two Little Heads Productions, a film and video production company in New York City. Her animated and live action films have been screened at national festivals including Potlikker Film Festival, MS: “Hot Dog-opolis: the Story of Greeks in Birmingham” (funded by Southern Foodways Alliance and the Greenhouse Initiative), Anthology Film Archive, NYC, The Williamsburg Historical Society, NYC, The Pioneer Theatre, NYC, Portland Cultural Festival, OR, Berkeley Alternative Arts Festival, CA, P.S. 122, NYC, Galapagos Ocularis, NYC and The Big Apple Film Festival.
Her art has been exhibited at Schafler Gallery Retrospective, NYC, Toy Theatre Exhibits, Great Small Works, NYC, Art in General, NYC, and in an animated segment for the film “The Pink House.” Her artwork has been commissioned by collectors in Italy, Canada and the US. Artist residencies include The Vermont Studio Center and Wildacres Artist Residency. Her most recent publication is a book of illustrations and haikus called “Everyday Oddities: An Illustrated Year.” Her theatre writings include a contributing chapter about documentary theatre in the book Arts Education for Social Justice: A Way Out of No Way published by Routledge Books.
She received her BA in Humanities from UC Berkeley, MFA in Acting from University of Washington, MFA in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, and trained in improvisation and comedy at Second City in Chicago. She most recently taught acting as an assistant professor of performance at SUNY New Paltz. Previous teaching includes teaching acting at UC Berkeley, ACT in San Francisco (American Conservatory Theatre) and at various colleges including San Jose City College, Baruch College, Texas Tech University, and University of Mississippi.