Maryam Hashempour

Maryam Hashempour (she/her, b. 1998) is an emerging Iranian playwright and theatre-maker working across the artistic landscapes of Tehran and London. In her works, she meets the poetics of cities and excavates personal histories. Her interests lie in performances without performers, bodiless performers, and contagious performances that bypass immobility and inaccessibility. Maryam holds a degree in Dramatic Literature from Tehran University, where she developed a practice deeply rooted in Iran's experimental and informal theatre scene. Since 2023, she has been expanding her practice in Sweden and Denmark, completing an MA in Performing Arts as Critical Practice at Lund University. Maryam is also a member of CyberShakespeare, a diaspora-based performance collective operating primarily in digital spaces. Utilizing the technological fluency honed under Iran's censorship, CyberShakespeare creates accessible performances for spect-actors and develops practices that challenge censorship and the silencing of marginalized voices. She is currently conducting artistic research at Queen Mary University of London, investigating the aesthetics and methodologies of Iranian theatre-makers working on global stages.