Shayan

How did PiE-funded staff and classes have an influence on your life?:

The combined Theater-English Dramatic Lit/Shakespeare in Performance classes in junior and senior year of high school were transformative. In particular, the combination of text analysis and performance projects on the same texts allowed me to become more than just an actor — I became a theater maker. Before theater class in junior/senior year of high school, I was on the path to become an actor, and nothing more. The independent analysis and entrepreneurial skills those classes taught me, though, have allowed me to start my own theater company in New York, where I operate as artistic director and director and producer on most projects.