# Mostafa Abdollahi

Mostafa Abdollahi (1955 – (2015-05-21)May 21, 2015) was a seminal Iranian stage and film actor, theater director, voice artist and theater instructor. He was widely recognized as an outstanding actor and the many productions that he directed provided him with a reputation as one of the leading theater directors in Iran. In 1979, he was admitted to the dramatic arts faculty of Tehran to start his education in the directing and acting program.
Abdollahi established Koocheh (meaning alley in English) theater group in his birthplace in 1970. During his 46 years of activity, he staged numerous plays both as an actor and as a director. He also acted in many movies, TV theaters, Radio dramas, and TV series.
His artistic activities include acting and directing in 62 theater productions, directing several TV theaters and short films, directing and voice acting in more than 500 radio plays, and playing in famous TV series like Heroes Never Die, Lighter Than Darkness, and Zero Degree Turn. Abdollahi is also the recipient of many awards for various artistic activities.

## Biography

Born in 1955 in the city of Borujerd, Abdollahi passed his childhood and teenage years in his birthplace. He established Koocheh theater group in 1970. Koocheh theater, which was the first scientific and organized theater in Borujerd, announced its existence by performing the Farmer of Chicago by Mark Twain. Activity of Koocheh theater group in borujerd lasted until 1979. During 9 years, the members of Koocheh theater group performed 17 plays from famous Iranian and western playwrights such as Bahram Beyzai, Athol Fugard, William Shakespeare, Gholam-Hossein Sa'edi, and Augusta, Lady Gregory.
After starting his studies at the Dramatic Arts Faculty of Tehran, Abdollahi was selected to play a small role in a play titled Enemies written by Maxim Gorky and directed by maestro Rokneddin Khosravi. Within the rehearsal sessions, his virtuosity and endeavor caused Khosravi to choose him for Zakarov role, which is one of the leading roles in Enemies. This play, however, was not performed because of the so-called cultural revolution and its sequences in Iran. Iranian cultural revolution caused universities to be closed, therefore Abdollahi voluntarily went to Kerman province to help earthquake-stricken people and collaborated in rebuilding damaged towns. Because of universities reopening in Iran by the end of the cultural revolution, he came back to Tehran and prepared Sizwe Banzi is dead as the graduation thesis of his classmate Majid Beheshti. His brilliant performance attracted Hamid Samandarian's and Ghotbeddin Sadeghi's attentions who were two outstanding directors in Iran.
Abdollahi was one of the first artists invited to join Honar theater group which was established by Ghotbeddin Sadeghi. He collaborated with Honar theater group as the director and actor in more than 25 plays. During 90's, the acting duo Mostafa Abdollahi and Michael Shahrestani was very famous and admirable in Iranian theater.
Many people know Abdollahi for his playing the role of an Iranian hero named Arsalan in the Heroes Never Die TV series. Abdollahi started his acting in Iran television since 1986. He also participated in several movies such as Living with the presence of a wall, Eye witness, and Mah-banoo. Moreover, Abdollahi had many successful experiences in acting and directing dramas for Iran national radio and television. By and large, he was recognized as a prominent artist in Iran and as Ghotbeddin Sadeghi said: "He never staged dull and useless plays, which are far from the culture of his homeland and he had faith in what he did on stage".
Having a critical approach towards the domestic affairs in Iran, Mostafa Abdollahi profoundly tried to introduce salient western playwrights to the Iranian society. For Instance, he was the first Iranian producer who directed a play by Pavel Kohout titled War on the third floor. Abdollahi also introduced famous Russian writer Nikolai Erdman to Iranian audience by staging The mandate. After performing Accidental death of an anarchist, a play written by Dari Fo, Koocheh theater group founded by Abdollahi was recognized the best theater group in Iran in 2013. While having his last play, The lower depths written by Maxim Gorky, on the stage of the main hall of the Tehran City Theater Complex, he died in Tehran on 21 May 2015 after 14 years of suffering from blood cancer.
During 46 years of artistic activity, Abdollahi received numerous awards from various festivals and was paid tributes by his colleague and also Iranian universities.

## Works

Theater works :
| Title | Director | Abdollahi's Profession(s) | Place | Year |
| The farmer of Chicago | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director | Cities of Lorestan Province | 1970 |
| He was not a stranger | Naser Hosseinpor | Actor | Cities of Lorestan Province | 1971 |
| The master and brokers | Naser Hosseinpor | Actor | Cities of Lorestan Province | 1972 |
| The haunt | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan Province | 1973 |
| The golden viper | Mostafa Abdollahi | Actor | Cities of Lorestan Province | 1973 |
| Ya'qūb-i Layth-i Saffārī | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan Province | 1974 |
| Capital A, small a | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces | 1974 |
| Journey | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan Province | 1975 |
| White horse | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces | 1975 |
| Bastards' dream | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan Province | 1976 |
| The Rising of the Moon | Abdolreza Bayatuni | Actor | Cities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces | 1977 |
| A donkey with a load of salt | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces | 1977 |
| Eye for an eye | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces | 1978 |
| Siavosh on the wind | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces | 1978 |
| My death doesn't need an elegy | Reza Arab pour | Actor | Cities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces | 1979 |
| Tarkhoon | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces | 1979 |
| The banquet | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Khoozestan Province | 1980 |
| Sizwe Banzi is dead | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Cities of Lorestan Province | 1980 |
| Sizwe Banzi is dead | Majid Beheshti | Actor | Tehran | 1986 |
| The inspector general | Majid Beheshti | Actor | Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 1987 |
| Ivanov | Mohammad Por Hassan | Actor | Roudaki Hall | 1987 |
| Medea | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 1988 |
| Room No.13 | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Molavi Hall | 1989 |
| Escorial | Hamid Reza Afshar | Actor | Molavi Hall | 1990 |
| Tragedy of Siavosh | Sadegh Hatefi | Actor | Paris, London, Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Ftankfurt | 1990 |
| Adam's story | Hossein Farokhi | Actor | Roudaki Hall- Tehran | 1991 |
| Eqlima | Mahmood Azizi | Actor | Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 1991 |
| The Last Esfandiyar | Sadegh Hatefi | Actor | Théâtre de Paris- Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 1992 |
| Romance with bare feet | Sadegh Hatefi | Actor | Paris Art hall | 1992 |
| With night till morning | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director | Molavi Hall- Tehran | 1992 |
| No poem can describe your loneliness | Dariush Rezvani | Actor | Performance Hall- Tehran | 1993 |
| Epic of recluse | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Tajikistan Turkmenistan | 1993 |
| ُُThe boar tooth | Sadegh Hatefi | Actor | Sangelaj Theater | 1993 |
| The wise man and the crazy tiger | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | World Festival of Puppet Theaters-Charleville-mézières Bahman Cultural Center- Tehran | 1993 |
| Bahram Chobin | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 1994 |
| Kaboodan & Esfandyar | Hamid Reza Afshar | Actor | Molavi Hall- Tehran | 1995 |
| Rostam's Seven Labours | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Sa'dabad Complex- Tehran Tomb of Ferdowsi- Tus | 1995 |
| The Hairy Ape | Akbar Zanjanpour | Actor | Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 1997 |
| Women of Sabra, Men of Shatila | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Roudaki Hall- Tehran | 1998 |
| Crime and Punishment | Michael Shahrestani | Actor | Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 1998 |
| Arash | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 1999 |
| Calligraphy of Love | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2000 |
| Seven lost tribes | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2001 |
| The luminous garden | Hadi Marzban | Actor | Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2001 |
| Poor Bitos | Hamid Mozaffari | Actor | Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2002 |
| Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting Role | Hadi Marzban | Actor | Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2002 |
| East of kiss | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director | Hall no.2- City Theater of Tehran | 2004 |
| Finale of Writing | Mohammad Asadi | Actor | Theater house- Tehran | 2005 |
| 3 scenes | Abbas Shadravan | Actor | Hall no.2- City Theater of Tehran | 2006 |
| Scarlet nightmare | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director | Qashqai Hall- City Theater of Tehran | 2006 |
| War on the third floor | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director | Qashqai Hall- City Theater of Tehran | 2007 |
| Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Shahin Alizadeh | Actor | University of Tehran | 2008 |
| Memoirs of Zariran | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2008 |
| From behind the gelsses | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Sangelaj Theater | 2009 |
| Shekar Pareh's Garden | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2009 |
| Tragedy of Siavosh | Siavosh Tahmoreth | Actor | Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2010 |
| Dozd-Ab | Hadi Marzban | Actor | Roudaki Hall- Tehran Iranshahr Theater- Tehran | 2011 |
| The mandate | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director | Azadi Tower Hall- Tehran | 2012 |
| If you had not gone | Ghotbeddin Sadeghi | Actor | Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2012 |
| A plethora of nobody | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director & actor | Azadi Tower Hall- Tehran | 2012 |
| Accidental death of an anarchist | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director | Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2013 |
| The Lower Depths | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director | Iranshahr Theater- Tehran Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran | 2015 |
TV Series :
| Title | Director | Year |
| Ogkor begher | Majid Beheshti | 1986 |
| Roots in the Soil | Majid Beheshti | 1987 |
| A window to the garden | Hossein Marvi | 1990 |
| In a dilemma | Majid Beheshti | 1994 |
| The seventh leader | Reza Shalchi | 1995 |
| Woven of grief | Majid Beheshti | 1996 |
| Heroes Never die | Hassan Fathi | 1997 |
| Day time show | Sadegh Hatefi | 1998 |
| Lighter than darkness | Hassan Fathi | 1999 |
| Smell of soil | Ali Biabani | 2000 |
| Damoon alley | Abbas Ranjbar | 2001 |
| The ash & the wind | Jahanbakhsh Lak | 2002 |
| Zero degree turn | Hassan Fathi | 2006 |
| Sar gashteh | M.H. Haqiqi | 2010 |
| The Enigma of the Shah | Mohamad Reza Varzi | 2014 |
Films :
| Title | Director | Year |
| The Bottleneck | Ali Naqilou | 1988 |
| The Earthquack | Majid Beheshti | 1989 |
| Ebrahim's life | | 1991 |
| Eye witness | Jahanbakhsh Lak | 2000 |
| The silent star | M. Shah Mohamadi | 2001 |
| Mah Banoo | Majid Beheshti | 2001 |
| Disturbed conscience | Manoochehr Hadi | 2008 |
| Unarmed | Manoochehr Hadi | 2009 |
| Living with the presence of a wall | Michael Shahrestani | 2013 |
| Bi Godar | Jahanbakhsh Lak | 2014 |
Television Theater :
| Title | Director | Abdollahi's profession | Year |
| Tale-e-Eshgh | Korosh Narimani | Actor | 1990 |
| Historical tableau | Mostafa Abdollahi | Director | 1996 |
| The Last Role | Siamak Safari | Actor | 2005 |
| The party of predators | Rashid Behnam | Actor | 2006 |

## Awards and honors

Awards & Honors :
| Award | Place | Year |
| Special Order of Tehran City Theater | Tehran | 2015 |
| Ordibehest-e-Theatre Iran Order | Tehran | 2014 |
| Honored for 50 years of artistic activity | K. N. Toosi University of Technology- Tehran | 2014 |
| Best Iran's Theater Group | Kermanshah | 2013 |
| Best Actor from the 7th Razavi International Theater Festival | Tehran | 2011 |
| Best actor from the 28th Fajr International Theater Festival | Tehran | 2010 |
| Best actor from the 5th Monologue festival of IRIB Dramatic Art Center | Tehran | 2009 |
| Special award from World Theater day Celebration | Tehran | 2009 |
| Lifetime achievement for artistic activities by The Society of Iranian Calligraphists | Tehran | 2008 |
| Best Director from the 2nd Ashorai Theater Festival | Tehran | 2006 |
| Awarded in the 5th Radio Drama Festival of IRIB | Ziba Kener | 2004 |
| Best actor from the 22nd Fajr International Theater Festival | Tehran | 2004 |
| Honored for years of endeavor and endurance for promoting Iran's art and culture by Iran minister of cultural affairs Ahmad Masjed-Jamei | Tehran | 2002 |
| Best Actor From 12th Fajr International Theater Festival | Tehran | 1994 |

## Gallery

* Playing paddy in The Hairy Ape, Main Hall of the City Theater of Tehran, 1997
* Mostafa Abdollahi at Radio Drama, Tehran
* Rehearsal session of Shekar Pareh's Garden with Qotbeddin Sadeghi and Sa'adi Afshar