NOWADAYS THEATRE is a Toronto-based not-for-profit company founded in 2016. It is a highly acclaimed theatre company with over a decade of background in Iran with its Farsi name: ‘In-Rooz-Ha’, which means: ‘Nowadays’.

Founders

NOWADAYS THEATRE is a Toronto-based not-for-profit company founded by Aida Keykhaii and Mohammad Yaghoubi in 2016.

Board Members

Board Members of NOWADAYS THEARE are as follows:

Mohammad Yaghoubi, Aida Keykhaii, Hamid Dehghan, Nazanin Malekan, Ali Mostolizadeh, Mahsa Ershadifar

Board Members

Honorary Members

Who worked with us

Aida Keykhaii

Founder, Actress, Director, Producer, Theatre Instructor

Aida Keykhaii is a Canadian-Iranian Dora Award nominee actor and director, producer, theatre instructor with over a decade’s experience in the Industry. She holds an M.A. in Theatre Directing and a B.A. in Acting from the University of Tehran. She is the co-founder of NOWADAYS THEATRE, the 2018-19 Company in Residency at Canadian Stage, where she made her Canadian acting debut in ‘The Only Possible Way’. During the Pandemic in 2021, Aida directed the English premiere of ‘From The Basement To The Roof’ on Zoom and had a main role in the project. Then she performed in the English premier of ‘Mother’ at the Toronto Fringe Festival 2021. Aida received excellent feedback from audiences and critics for her performances in the English premiere of "Winter of 88" at the Next Stage Theatre Festival 2020 and "Heart of a Dog" at the Next Stage Theatre Festival 2022. Her most recent stage appearance was in "Earworm," presented by Nowadays Theatre in association with Crow’s Theatre in February 2024. For her outstanding performance in "Earworm," Aida was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance by an Individual.
Select Theatre and Film Credits: ‘What we do in the Shadows’ (F.X.), ‘Coroner’ (CBC), ‘Children of Fire’, ’Harbour House‘, ‘Persimmon’, ‘Heart of a Dog’, ’Children of Fire’, ’Drought and Lies’, ‘Heart of a Dog’, ‘Mother’, ‘From The Basement To The Roof’, ‘Winter of 88’, ‘The Only Possible Way’, ‘Swim Team’, ‘Proof’, ‘Dinner with Friends’, ‘Sleeping in an Empty Cup’, ‘The Pillowman’, ‘Iceland’ and ‘we are All fine’.
Select Awards and Honours: The Iran Festival of University Theatre for Outstanding acting, Olive; The International Iran Festival of University Theatre award for Outstanding directing, Goodbye; Honourable Mention from Canadian Stage in Direction and the NOW’s annual list of the "Best of the Fest" for Outstanding Production, Ensemble, and Direction, Swim Team.

Mohammad Yaghoubi

Founder, Playwright, Director, Screenwriter, Theatre instructor

Born and raised in Iran, Mohammad Yaghoubi is an award-winning playwright, director, screenwriter, and theatre instructor.
With over a decade’s experience in theatre, Mohammad moved to Canada in 2015 and co-founded NOWADAYS THEATRE company in 2016.
His plays have been translated into six languages and produced in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Kurdistan, Russia, Sweden, The Czech Republic, Turkey, and the USA.
Recent Credits: Persimmon (360 video), Heart of a Dog‘ (Online at the Next Stage Theatre Festival, 2022), and ’Winter of 88’ (Next Stage Theatre Festival, 2020, Factory Theatre MainSpace).
Selected Awards: The Promising Pen Prize from Cahoots Theatre for his play ‘Persimmon’, 2021; First place winner of the Iranian Playwrights Society and third place winner of the New Play Contest in Toronto‘s Fringe Festival - 2016 for Outstanding Writing - A Moment of Silence; and Tehran Theatre Festival Award for Outstanding Direction and Writing - ’Winter of 88’.

Hamid Dehghan

Website Coordinator and Marketing Consultant

Hamid is a Civil Engineer and freelancer developer holding masters degree from Tehran university. He runs Nowadays theater website and consulting the Nowadays team in marketing.

Board Members

Nazanin Malekan

Translator and Coordinator

Nazanin Malekan is a graduate of English Translation from Iran, with some acting background in Farsi and French. She moved to Canada in 2005 and got involved with the NAGs – Nomads Acting Group - between 2006 and 2011, where she acted in minor roles and helped with the props, stage management and play productions. She attended Aida Keykhaii’s acting workshop in 2016 and was cast in ‘Dance of Torn Papers’ as the workshop’s final acting project in Toronto. She joined NOWADAYS THEATRE shortly after and collaborated with the company in areas such as script translations, grant applications and other admin-related tasks. Nazanin Joined Mohammad Yaghoubi’s acting workshops between 2017 and 2018 and was cast in ‘Angles in Iran’ as the workshop’s final acting project in Toronto and Waterloo. She is a utility corporate planner from 9 to 5, and an art and theater lover the rest of the day.
Recent credits (as translator) include: ‘Winter of 88’ (a play by Mohammad Yaghoubi), ‘Dance of Torn Papers’ (a play by Mohammad Yaghoubi), and ‘Moon in the Water’ (a play by Mohammad Yaghoubi).

Ali Mostolizadeh

Actor, Photographer and Video grapher

Ali Mostolizadeh is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Waterloo. Ali’s interest in film has directed him to the applications of documentary films into his research. Ali’s first film “7 Menaras” got accepted in Kerman’s International Tourism Film Festival in Iran when he was 18. Since then, as a film-maker, he has involved in making the films representing findings of his academic works through reinforcing stories of non-dominant subjects. Some of Ali’s films screened and acclaimed in the academic conferences of his field. His recent work as an actor was ‘Angels in Iran’ directed by Mohammad Yaghoubi in Toronto, George Ignatieff Theatre in June 2018.

Mahsa Ershadifar

Actor, Assistant Director and Stage Manager

Mahsa Ershadifar is a bilingual (English and Farsi) performer, assistant director and stage manager. She has worked on several projects with Nowadays Theatre including productions of Dance of Torn Paper (DanceMakers Studio) and The Only Possible Way (Canadian Stage Company in Residency Program) as an actor and assistant director. Her most recent acting role was as Katy, in the English remount of Swim Team, directed by Aida Keykhaii and presented by NOWADAYS THEATRE at Theatre Center.

Honorary Members

Amir Esmi

Graphic Designer

Amir Esmi is the logo designer of NOWADAYS THEATRE company. He is an established artist and a professional graphic designer with over two decades of experience in the theatre industry of Iran. He created the NOWADAYS THEATRE’s loge in 2016.
He is also the poster designer of two Farsi productions presented by NOWADAYS THEATRE in Canada (Pillowman co-directed by Mohammad Yaghoubi and Aida Keykhaii, and Dance of Torn Papers directed by Aida Keykhaii) as well as most theatre projects produced by NOWADAYS THEATRE in Iran under the Farsi name of the company (InRooz‘ha). His collaboration as a graphic Designer with NOWADAYS THEATRE in Iran include: ’Red and the others‘, ’Geraniums‘, ’Machismo‘, ’Drought and Lies‘, ‘The Only Possible Way’, ’Writing in the Dark‘, ‘Goodbye’, ‘A Moment of Silence’, ’Winter of 88‘, and ’Proof’.

Marjan Moosavi

Research

Marjan Moosavi is an Iranian-Canadian PhD candidate and instructor at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies. Her professional work is rounded out with dramaturgy, dramatic translation, lecturing at various conferences, and sessional work as an instructor of Persian at York University. She has articles on Iranian dramaturgy and diasporic theatre published inThe Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy, TDR (The Drama Review), New Theatre Quarterly, and Critical Stages. She is the Regional Managing Editor of the Iran section for TheTheatreTimes.com. Since January, she has been the 2018 Graduate Fellow at the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies at the University of Toronto, where she is researching Middle Eastern diasporic theatre and performance in Toronto. Her collaboration with Nowadays Theatre Company started three years ago and continues to present. She worked as the assistant director and researcher for the team of ‘A Moment of Silence’ performed in 2016 SummerWorks festival, Toronto and is thrilled to be working on the company’s upcoming projects.

Who worked with us

Ali	Alavi	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers	The Only Possible Way
Ali	Ghorbanian	Performer	Pillowman
Ali	Mostolizadeh	Performer, photographer and Video grapher	Angels in Iran	Dance of Torn Papers	The Only Possible Way	Winter of 88
Amir	Esmi	Graphic Designer	NOWADAYS THEATRE’s Logo	Dance of Torn Papers	Pillowman
Amir	Pouyan Tavakoli	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Amir	Zavosh	Performer	The Only Possible Way	Winter of 88
Annie	Yao	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Armon	Ghaeinizadeh	Performer and Stage Manager	Dance of Torn Papers	The Only Possible Way
Art	Babayants	Assistant Director and Performer	A Moment of Silence
Aylin	Salahshoor	Performer	Angels in Iran	Dance of Torn Papers	Swim Team
Azadeh	Chavooshi	Performer	The Only Possible Way
Bahareh	Ahmadi	Photographer	A Moment of Silence	Sleeping in an Empty Cup
Banafsheh	Taherian	Performer	Sleeping in an Empty Cup	The Only Possible Way	Swim Team
Behrang	Baghaee	Composer	Proof	Pillowman	Winter of 88
Chin	Palipane	Lighting Designer	Dance of Torn Papers
David	DeGrow	Lighting Designer	A Moment of Silence	Winter of 88
Elnaz	Ghasemi	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Faraz	Farsijani	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers	The Only Possible Way
Farid	Hosseini	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers	The Only Possible Way
Farzad	Nazarimoghadam	Performer	Angels in Iran	Dance of Torn Papers
Golshad	Moradi	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Hamidreza	Dehghan	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Hanieh	Borghei	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Jaber	Ramezani	Playwright	Swim Team
Jada	Rifkin	Performer	A Moment of Silence
Jonathan	Shaboo	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers	Winter of 88
Kiarash	Salimian	Performer and Set Builder	Dance of Torn Papers	A Moment of Silence
Kourosh	Babaei	Musician	The Only Possible Way
Ladan	Niknam	Stage Designer	Dance of Torn Papers
Lara	Arabian	Performer	A Moment of Silence
Laura	Lakatosh	Stage Manager	The Only Possible Way	Swim Team
Mahmoud	Ramezani	Performer	Proof and The Monsters	Proof	The Monster
Mahsa	Ershadifar	Performer and Assistant Director	Dance of Torn Papers	The Only Possible Way	Winter of 88
Mahta	Molatalb	Dance of Torn Papers	Dance of Torn Papers
Maryam	Pandi	Performer	The Only Possible Way
Matt	Jones	Dramaturge	A Moment of Silence
Maxime	Robin	Performer	A Moment of Silence
Melanie	Pyne	Performer	A Moment of Silence
Melody	Yousefian	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Mina	Ketabian	Make-up Artist	A Moment of Silence	Sleeping in an Empty Cup	Proof	The Monsters	Winter of 88
Mohammad	Khalaj Masoumi	Performer	Pillowman
Mohsen	Ahmadi	Performer	The Only Possible Way
Molood	Golab	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Mona	Ketabian	Performer and assistnat director	Proof	Sleeping in an Empty Cup	A Moment of Silence
Mona	Motaghed	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Nancy	Boake	Lighting Designer	Swim Team
Natasha	Greenblatt	Dramaturge	The Only Possible Way
Navaz	Karimian Pour	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Nazanin	Malekan	Performer and Translator	Dance of Torn Papers	Angles in Iran	The Only Possible Way	Winter of 88
Negin	Javadi	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Nicholas	Koy Santillo	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Nima	Molajafar	Performer	The Only Possible Way
Padideh	AhrarNejad	Musician	The Only Possible Way
Parmida	Kakavand	Performer	A Moment of Silence	Winter of 88
Parmis	Tabibi	Performer	Angels in Iran
Parsa	Hassanzadeh	Performer	The Only Possible Way
Parya	Tahsini	Performer	Swim Team
Paul	Van Dyck	Performer	A Moment of Silence
Pedram	Khavarzamini	Musician	A Moment of Silence
Pegah	Karimi	Performer	The Only Possible Way
Pooneh	Bolourchi	Performer	The Only Possible Way
Pooyeh	Jalalipour	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Pouria	Rohani Fard	Performer	Pillowman
Raika	pajhooh	Performer	The Only Possible Way
Reza	Rahimi	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Rouvan	Silogix	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Sadaf	Aghvelian	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Saeed	Hasanlou	Stage Designer	A Moment of Silence
Saman	Farzaneh	Poster and Programme Designer	Dance of Torn Papers	The Only Possible Way	Winter of 88
Saman	Javand	Performer	Angels in Iran
Sanaz	Haghverdi	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Sanaz	Vahdat	Performer	Angels in Iran	The Only Possible Way
Sara	Imanzadeh	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Sara	Salahi	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Sarah	Marchand	Performer and Assistant Director	A Moment of Silence	Dance of Torn Papers	Swim Team	Winter of 88
Sarah	Saberi	Performer	Swim Team
Sasan	Qahreman	Performer	Proof
Setareh	Delzendeh	Costume Designer	A Moment of Silence
Siavash	Shaban Pour	Performer	Pillowman	The Monsters	Sleeping in an Empty Cup
Soroush	Tahvilzadeh	Videographe	Proof
Stephenie	Radu	Co-Tranlator	Swim Team
Steve	Vargo	Stage manager	A Moment of Silence
Taras	Lavren	Videographer	Swim Team
Tina	Bararian	Performer	Swim Team	Dance of Torn Papers
Whitney	Hewitt	Stage Manager	Winter of 88
Yasha	Khozoui	Performer	The Monsters
Yasser	Qorashi	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers	The Only Possible Way
Yousef	Kashefifar	Performer	Dance of Torn Papers
Zahra	Javaheri	Translator	Pillowman
Zohreh	Javaheri	Translator	Iceland