Andy Warhol in Iran

Written by Brent Askari. Directed by Sarah May. Studio Theater. October 3, 2025 to November 2, 2025. Presented in arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide.

Andy Warhol, having become a portrait painter of the rich and famous, travels to Tehran when commissioned to take polaroids of the Shah’s wife. Warhol meets a young revolutionary who throws his plans into chaos and opens the pop icon’s eyes. This fictionalized portrait on this famous visit leaves the audience asking, “who was the artist and who was the revolutionary?”

“Andy Warhol in Iran will resonate for anyone who cares about history. Or the present. Or the future.” The Chicago Sun-Times

Season Tickets and Flex Passes for the 2025-2026 Professional Theater Season range in price from $136 to $384 and are available for purchase now for renewing subscribers at 216-521-2540. Season tickets and flex passes go on sale to new subscribers on June 2, 2025. Tickets to individual shows will go on sale to the public on July 1, 2025, at 216-521-2540 and Beckcenter.org.

Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Preview performances are 7:30 p.m. the Thursday before opening night, with general admission seating for just $15. Smart Seats are available for each performance at just $15 per person. For more information on the 2025-2026 Professional Theater Season please visit beckcenter.org.

AUDITIONS:
Beck Center will hold auditions on Monday, July 14 & Tuesday, July 15, from 6:00-8:00 pm for the timely and touching new play ANDY WARHOL IN IRAN by Persian-American playwright Brent Askari, which will open the 2025-2026 season in the Studio Theater, running October 3 thru November 2, 2025. Rehearsals will begin on or about September 2, 2025.  

This two-character play is set in 1976 when  Andy Warhol actually traveled to Tehran to paint portraits of the Shah and his wife. In the play Warhol encounters a young Iranian revolutionary who has been sent to kidnap the famed artist, hoping to gain support for his group's mission: to overthrow the Shah.  As they wait for a getaway car to arrive, the two exchange tales of life and death, art and poetry, family and culture, and discover that two people from different worlds may share a surprising bond.

 Beck Center is seeking an actor of SWANA (South West Asian and North African) ethnicity, ages 18 to 30's,  to play Farhad, a passionate young Iranian activist who abandoned his college studies in America to return home after his father was arrested for opposing the Shah.

 Actors interested in this role are asked to call Beck Center at 216-521-2540 to make an appointment. You may contact director Sarah May directly at 216-410-1781 if you need to arrange an alternate time. Actors will be asked to read from the script and perform a short monologue, or prepare to tell a life-changing personal story. 

Please Note: The role of Andy Warhol has been cast.