Deniz Khateri

Husks from Iran
December 3 – 6, 2026

[Program tbd]

Runtime: 50-60 minutes

The story of an immigrant artist from Iran who struggles with language; words don’t come to her, and they begin to bend and distort

Feeling incomplete in her second language, she starts looking for ways through art to bridge the gap between Farsi and English. Her search for answers leads her to explore the lives of a couple of exiled Iranian poets, each navigating similar struggles. The English translations of their poems come to life in a shadow world inhabited by shadow puppets inspired by Persian calligraphy, where language is transformed into image, movement, and memory.

Playwright,Director & Puppet designer: Deniz Khateri

Composer & sound designer: Bahar Royaee

Performers: Hayley Spivey, Siobhan Carroll, Megan Paldino

The artists

Deniz Khateri
denizkhateri.com

Born and raised in Tehran, Deniz Khateri is a New York–based multidisciplinary artist working in theater, experimental music-theater, contemporary opera, and animation. Her work explores memory, grief, immigration, and home. She is a PEN America Dream Out Loud selected playwright with additional residencies at the Orchard project, Theaterlab, University Settlement, New Perspectives Theatre, and the Center at West Park.
Deniz has performed extensively in Tehran, and Boston, with some off-off-broadway acting credits in New York. She received the Al-Bustan Award for her solo show A Bach’eh who wanted to become Bach, the UNIMA-USA Nancy Staub Award for excellence in writing for puppetry, and grants supporting her projects from NYFA, NYSCA, and the Jim Henson Foundation. Her writing has been published in American Theatre magazine, Puppetry International, and by Brill. Her Oscar-qualified animated documentary series Diasporan explores immigrant life and has screened internationally. She holds an MA from Hunter College, where she teaches as an adjunct lecturer.

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La Mama is a world-renowned New York cultural institution dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre.