Mostafa Abdollahi (1955 – ) 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 the 1990'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 worksTitleDirectorAbdollahi's Profession(s)PlaceYearThe farmer of ChicagoMostafa AbdollahiDirectorCities of Lorestan Province1970He was not a strangerNaser HosseinporActorCities of Lorestan Province1971The master and brokersNaser HosseinporActorCities of Lorestan Province1972The hauntMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan Province1973The golden viperMostafa AbdollahiActorCities of Lorestan Province1973Ya'qūb-i Layth-i SaffārīMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan Province1974Capital A, small aMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces1974JourneyMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan Province1975White horseMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces1975Bastards' dreamMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan Province1976The Rising of the MoonAbdolreza BayatuniActorCities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces1977A donkey with a load of salt Mostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces1977Eye for an eyeMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces1978Siavosh on the windMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces1978My death doesn't need an elegyReza Arab pourActorCities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces1979TarkhoonMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan & Hamedan Provinces1979The banquetMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Khoozestan Province1980Sizwe Banzi is dead Mostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorCities of Lorestan Province1980Sizwe Banzi is dead Majid BeheshtiActorTehran1986The inspector generalMajid BeheshtiActorMain Hall-City Theater of Tehran1987IvanovMohammad Por HassanActorRoudaki Hall1987MedeaGhotbeddin SadeghiActorCheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran1988Room No.13Mostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorMolavi Hall1989Escorial Hamid Reza AfsharActorMolavi Hall1990Tragedy of SiavoshSadegh HatefiActorParis, London, Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Ftankfurt1990Adam's storyHossein FarokhiActorRoudaki Hall- Tehran1991EqlimaMahmood AziziActorMain Hall-City Theater of Tehran1991The Last EsfandiyarSadegh HatefiActorThéâtre de Paris-
Cheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran1992Romance with bare feetSadegh HatefiActorParis Art hall1992With night till morningMostafa AbdollahiDirectorMolavi Hall- Tehran1992No poem can describe your lonelinessDariush RezvaniActorPerformance Hall- Tehran1993Epic of recluseMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorTajikistan Turkmenistan1993ُُThe boar toothSadegh HatefiActorSangelaj Theater1993The wise man and the crazy tigerGhotbeddin SadeghiActorWorld Festival of Puppet Theaters-Charleville-mézières
Bahman Cultural Center- Tehran1993Bahram ChobinGhotbeddin SadeghiActorMain Hall-City Theater of Tehran1994Kaboodan & EsfandyarHamid Reza AfsharActorMolavi Hall- Tehran1995Rostam's Seven LaboursGhotbeddin SadeghiActorSa'dabad Complex- Tehran
Tomb of Ferdowsi- Tus1995The Hairy ApeAkbar ZanjanpourActorMain Hall-City Theater of Tehran1997Women of Sabra, Men of ShatilaGhotbeddin SadeghiActorRoudaki Hall- Tehran1998Crime and PunishmentMichael ShahrestaniActorMain Hall-City Theater of Tehran1998ArashGhotbeddin SadeghiActorCheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran1999Calligraphy of LoveGhotbeddin SadeghiActorCheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran2000Seven lost tribesGhotbeddin SadeghiActorCheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran2001The luminous gardenHadi MarzbanActorMain Hall-City Theater of Tehran2001Poor BitosHamid MozaffariActorMain Hall-City Theater of Tehran2002Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting RoleHadi MarzbanActorMain Hall-City Theater of Tehran2002East of kissMostafa AbdollahiDirectorHall no.2- City Theater of Tehran2004Finale of WritingMohammad AsadiActorTheater house- Tehran20053 scenesAbbas ShadravanActorHall no.2- City Theater of Tehran2006Scarlet nightmareMostafa AbdollahiDirectorQashqai Hall- City Theater of Tehran2006War on the third floorMostafa AbdollahiDirectorQashqai Hall- City Theater of Tehran2007Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Shahin AlizadehActorUniversity of Tehran2008Memoirs of ZariranGhotbeddin SadeghiActorCheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran2008From behind the gelssesMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorSangelaj Theater2009Shekar Pareh's GardenGhotbeddin SadeghiActorMain Hall-City Theater of Tehran2009Tragedy of SiavoshSiavosh TahmorethActorCheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran2010Dozd-AbHadi MarzbanActorRoudaki Hall- Tehran
Iranshahr Theater- Tehran2011The mandateMostafa AbdollahiDirectorAzadi Tower Hall- Tehran2012If you had not goneGhotbeddin SadeghiActorCheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran2012A plethora of nobodyMostafa AbdollahiDirector & actorAzadi Tower Hall- Tehran2012Accidental death of an anarchistMostafa AbdollahiDirectorCheharsoo Hall-City Theater of Tehran2013The Lower DepthsMostafa AbdollahiDirectorIranshahr Theater- Tehran
Main Hall-City Theater of Tehran2015 +TV SeriesTitleDirectorYearOgkor begherMajid Beheshti1986Roots in the SoilMajid Beheshti1987A window to the gardenHossein Marvi1990In a dilemmaMajid Beheshti1994The seventh leaderReza Shalchi1995Woven of griefMajid Beheshti1996Heroes Never dieHassan Fathi1997Day time showSadegh Hatefi1998Lighter than darknessHassan Fathi1999Smell of soilAli Biabani2000Damoon alleyAbbas Ranjbar2001The ash & the windJahanbakhsh Lak2002Zero degree turnHassan Fathi2006Sar gashtehM.H. Haqiqi2010The Enigma of the ShahMohamad Reza Varzi2014 +FilmsTitleDirectorYearThe BottleneckAli Naqilou1988The EarthquackMajid Beheshti1989Ebrahim's life1991Eye witnessJahanbakhsh Lak2000The silent starM. Shah Mohamadi2001Mah BanooMajid Beheshti2001Disturbed conscienceManoochehr Hadi2008UnarmedManoochehr Hadi2009Living with the presence of a wallMichael Shahrestani2013Bi GodarJahanbakhsh Lak2014 +Television TheaterTitleDirectorAbdollahi's professionYearTale-e-EshghKorosh NarimaniActor1990Historical tableauMostafa AbdollahiDirector1996The Last RoleSiamak SafariActor2005The party of predatorsRashid BehnamActor2006
Awards and honors +Awards & HonorsAwardPlaceYearSpecial Order of Tehran City Theater Tehran2015Ordibehest-e-Theatre Iran OrderTehran2014Honored for 50 years of artistic activityK. N. Toosi University of Technology- Tehran2014Best Iran's Theater GroupKermanshah2013Best Actor from the 7th Razavi International Theater FestivalTehran2011Best actor from the 28th Fajr International Theater FestivalTehran2010Best actor from the 5th Monologue festival of IRIB Dramatic Art Center Tehran2009Special award from World Theater day CelebrationTehran2009Lifetime achievement for artistic activities by The Society of Iranian CalligraphistsTehran2008Best Director from the 2nd Ashorai Theater FestivalTehran2006Awarded in the 5th Radio Drama Festival of IRIBZiba Kener2004Best actor from the 22nd Fajr International Theater FestivalTehran2004Honored for years of endeavor and endurance for promoting Iran's art and culture by Iran minister of cultural affairs Ahmad Masjed-JameiTehran2002Best Actor From 12th Fajr International Theater FestivalTehran1994
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