Arad Dabiri's PRESSURE! to Have US Premiere at ExPats Theatre

ExPats Theatre will present the live stage production of Pressure!, the debut play by emerging Austrian-Iranian writer Arad Dabiri. Translated and directed by Karin Rosnizeck. PRESSURE! opens Saturday, March 14th at 7:30 pm and runs through April 5th at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, Lab II, 1333 H St NE, Washington, D.C. The production is supported by the Austrian Embassy, Washington. D.C.

Playwright Arad Dabiri will be present at opening night and participate in a post-show talkback on Sunday, March 15th following the 2:30 matinee.

Pressure! is set in present-day Vienna, Austria. After one shady deal too many, the young son of an Iranian immigrant family is arrested while awaiting his trial. The views of his siblings, Hassan and Shirin, on the arrest couldn't be more different: for Shirin, it's the long-overdue consequence of his resistance to integration. Hassan—along with his friends Omar, Murat, and Freddie—sees it as a case of racial profiling and the arbitrary violence of a system that never gave them a chance. Attempting to convert this pressure into political energy, the young men organize a protest against racism and right-wing populism, where things spiral out of control.

Pressure! raises burning questions of identity politics, origin, personal responsibility and collective guilt. Winner of the Heidelberger Stückemarkt Festival 2024, where the festival jury called the play “topical, profound, and highly relevant” praising the author's ability to “illuminate the complex dynamics of our society, starting with racism and classism, while reflecting on both the individual and structural challenges of our time.”

Dabiri's highly innovative text combines pulsing, rap-like rhythms with lyrical monologues, poetic wordplay, and bone-dry precision. Presenting multiple voices and contrasting views, Pressure! plays with audience projections and prejudices, opening new spaces for debate.

The Playwright: Arad Dabiri is an Austrian-Iranian writer who studied Comparative Literature at the University of Vienna. DRUCK! (PRESSURE!) is Dabiri's debut play earning him the Author's Award at the Heidelberger Stückemarkt and title of “Newcomer Author of the Year” from the German theatre magazine Theater Heute. The play premiered last year at State Theatre Mannheim, Germany followed by a production at State theatre, Nuernberg, Germany. His first novel, Drama (2023), won the Austrian Book Prize for Best Debut and was nominated for the Franz Tumler Literature Prize. Dabiri recently published his second novel, Gloria, which offers an ironic exploration of the arts scene in Vienna and received widespread critical acclaim.

The cast includes Sacha Marvin as Murat, Max Jackson* as Freddie, Alie Karambash as Hassan, Elijah Williams as Omar, and Ege Yalcinbas as Shirin. Max Jackson is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association.