P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans

Share

Shadi Ghaheri, 2016

MFA, Yale University

Shadi Ghaheri is an immigrant from Iran

Fellowship awarded to support work towards an MFA in Theater at Yale University

Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Shadi both loved her cosmopolitan home and felt stifled by the constant expectations placed on her as a woman. Shadi was immersed in the arts from a young age. She played piano professionally and trained as a ballerina for nearly a decade. While attending Shahid Beheshti University, where she founded the theater club and was the first woman to direct campus theater, Shadi became a pioneer for women in the arts.

In 2011, Shadi moved to California with the dream of becoming a theater director. She started acting, assistant directing and directing at Saddleback College, Long Beach Playhouse and Hollywood Fringe where she worked with Robert Prior and Bill McGuire. While accumulating accolades and diving into the Western canon, Shadi was fearlessly learning to act and direct in English and supporting herself with part-time jobs on the side of her schoolwork.

Today, Shadi is in her first year of the Yale School of Drama’s MFA program in theater directing, which is the most selective program of its kind in the United States. She is currently studying the works of Anton Chekhov and Shakespeare. Shadi is known for her ability to reframe a story or a stage so that audiences can see new perspectives emerge.

As a theater director, Shadi wants to tell the untold stories of women in pain and captivity. She believes that more powerful roles and positions for women in theater can help transform the way that women see themselves and understand their identities in the United States and across the world.

Education
  • BA Business Administration | Shahid Beheshti University 2011
  • MFA Theater | Yale University
Related Articles
09.12.16

2016-2017 Edition: The New American

The New American features stories about Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows making an impact across sectors and across the country. Read about immigrants and children of immigrants and how they are giving back to the United States.

Read More
04.18.16

Slideshow: The 2016 Fellows With Our Full Page Ad In The New York Times

We asked all of the 2016 Fellows to take a photo with the New York Times full-page ad announcing the new class of Fellows. We encouraged them to take photos in an imortant place or at their university, and we also told them to have fun with it. Here...

Read More
04.12.16

Announcing the Paul & Daisy Soros Class of 2016

We're delighted to announce The Paul & Daisy Soros Class of 2016. The 30 new Fellows are all immigrants or the children of immigrants. They will each receive up to $90,000 in funding for the graduate program of their choice. In addition, each new...

Read More
04.11.16

By the Numbers: Infographics Exploring the 2016 Fellow Class

Dream Mentors. Immigration Status. Religion. Favorite Cities, Sports and Apps. Find out what the 2016 Fellows had to say!

Read More
transform="translate(188.000000, 15.000000)"