Roya in English, Cincinnati Playhouse, OH (directed by Kimberly Senior)
It was a wonderful experience being able to revisit the character of Roya two years later in an entirely different production, this time at the Cincinnati Playhouse. It was a sold out run and two articles were written about our production in Actors Equity News..
             - Behind the Curtain, Cincinnati by Katrina "Kat" Reynold
      (with Sanam Laila Hashemi as Elham)
           Photos by Mikki Schaffner
Lia+ in Griswold, Bridge Street Theatre, NY (directed by M.Burke Walker)
The play Griswold, written by Angela Davis, premiered in August 2024 at the Bridge Theatre in Catskill New York, directed by M. Burke Walker. I played 12 different roles to help tell the history of reproductive rights in the US. My two cast mates, Andre Brown and Margo Whitcomb and I formed the three person ensemble and we were nominated for "Outstanding Ensemble" award by the Berkshire Critics Association.
"Whitcomb is supported by two actors playing many roles each and playing all of them to perfection. Leyla  Modirzadeh makes each of her various roles unique and distinctive and when she returns to one of them we recognize the person she is playing instantly. Her voice, her posture, her movements are devoted to one character, then to another. It is beautiful work."
- J. Peter Bergman, Berkshire Edge
Roya in English, Speakeasy Stage, Boston  (directed by Memory Mirashrafi)
After the New York premier at the Roundabout, we were the second production of English ever staged. After we opened, English won the Pulitzer Prize for 2023. (photos by Niles Scott Studios)
(with Lily Gilan James)
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"The oldest student in the class is the elegant Roya (Leyla Modirzadeh). Roya wants to learn English so she can communicate better with her grandchild in Canada when she moves there to live with her son and his family. Modirzadeh beautifully captures Roya's pain when she realizes that 'when' might actually be an 'if' - and also the resurgence of Roya's confidence and pride in her Iranian identity. Along with Elham, it is Roya who embodies the challenge underlying 'English': How to find the words without losing yourself." Don Aucoin, Boston Globe

"The marvelous Leyla Modirzadeh's Roya...movingly explores cultural identity and the price of learning 'English'." Jacquinn Sinclair, WBUR 
 (with Josephine Moshiri Elwood)
(with Zaven Ovian)
Nasruddin in Nasruddin, Golden Thread Theatre, SF (directed by Sarah Al-Kassab)
In the spring of 2022, I played the title character in Golden Thread Theatre's touring children's play called "Nasrudin's Magnificent Journey to Samarkand." Golden Thread, located in San Francisco, is the first American theatre company devoted to plays about the Middle East. Please click here for more performance photos by Amal Bisharat
Dromio of Syracuse, Pinch, Aegeon, Comedy of Errors, Livermore, CA 
(directed by Dominique Lozano)
In the summer of 2022, I played one of the Dromio twins, Pinch, and old Aegeon in a six person production of Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare in the Vineyard, directed by Domenique Lozano and set in modern day El Paso, Texas. For photos by Gregg Le Blanc please click here