Tara Ahmadinejad

Tara Ahmadinejad is an Assistant Professor of Directing and an Obie Award-winning NYC-based director, theater-maker, and co-founding member of the theater collective Piehole. Her boundary-pushing work spans live theater, digital installations, and cross-disciplinary collaborations across galleries, virtual spaces, and traditional stages.

Her creative research focuses on:

• Experimental directing methodologies
• Digital and immersive performance
• Virtual and augmented reality integration
• New play development
• Contemporary opera
• Interdisciplinary collaboration between theater and technology

Award highlights include the prestigious Obie Award, NYC Women’s Fund grant, Drama League Award nomination for 'Disclaimer,' Emmy Finalist recognition for the VR experience 'The Under Presents,' and a Sundance award for the AR app 'Tendar.'

She has taught directing and devised theater at Columbia University, Barnard College, and Harvard University, while maintaining active artistic roles as a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect and New Georges Affiliated Artist. Her pandemic-era digital collaborations with institutions like Japan Society and Oregon Shakespeare Festival demonstrate her commitment to evolving theatrical forms. As Resident Futurist at Pig Iron Theater Company, she explores emerging performance technologies and future theater practices.