Operation Saffron
Written By Monna Sabouri
DIRECTED BY SB TENNEnT
Saturday February 28 at 2:00pm at Art-NY, 520 8th Avenue, Leynse Studio
An Iranian American woman is trying to live quietly in Queens, NY with American surveillance, survive her cousin’s cozy ties to the Iranian regime, and still somehow maintain belief that both countries will one day have no corruption. It's a comedy!
Cast:
Olivia Khoshatefeh*
Mershad Torabi
Ari Derambakhsh*
Sina Pooresmaeil*
Rawya El Chab
Gregory Jafari Vanacker - Stage Directions
*Equity Member appearing with permission of Actors’ Equity Association without benefit of an Equity contract in this Off-Off Broadway production.
Monna Sabouri is a playwright and actor based in New York City. Her writing blends political satire with dark comedy, centering SWANA voices and morally complicated characters navigating power and faith. Today she is showcasing Operation Saffron, a play that explores surveillance and corruption with humor and bite. Her acting credits include: Madam Secretary, FBI, The Blacklist and The Night Agent.
SB Tennent is a first-generation Iranian-American interdisciplinary artist and director of new plays, musicals, and classics. Her work has been described as “visually arresting” (ONE Magazine) and “unapologetically experimental” (Time Out NY). Her practice spans live performance, film, pop-political collage, and experiential installation, all united by a focus on alternative structures that balance the personal and political. Her work's been developed at Onassis ONX Studio, Mercury Store, Prague Film & Theater Center, The Bushwick Starr, New York Theatre Workshop, BRIC, Ars Nova, 3LD Art & Technology Center, Mabou Mines, The Red House Center for Culture Debate in Bulgaria, Goldex Poldex Gallery in Poland, Ikincikat Theatre in Turkey, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, and others. She is an alumna of The Drama League Stage Directing Fellowship, the NYTW 2050 Fellowship, New Georges Audrey Residency, and the Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship. She is a recipient of NYSCA’s Support for Artists grant and a two-time finalist for the Barbara Whitman Award. Proud Faculty member at Playwrights Horizons Theater School, New York University.
Olivia Khoshatefeh is a New York–based filmmaker and actor. She appeared for five seasons on NBC’s New Amsterdam and has also been seen on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Inventing Anna, Elsbeth, Dickinson, Mr. Robot, Blindspot and more. She is a producer and the founder of Zaytoon Pictures (launching 2026) where she develops character-driven film and television projects. Olivia is currently packaging her debut feature What R You?.
Mershad Torabi is an Iranian-Canadian actor based in New York City, recognized for his performances across film, television, and theater. In 2024, Mershad played Farhad in the acclaimed TV mini-series The Penguin, a spin-off from the Batman universe. Additionally, he appeared as Bijan in Season 2 of The Night Agent. He also played Mohammed in the 2024 film Step Back, Doors Closing, a poignant love story set in Washington, D.C. The film was featured at the Dances With Films festival.
Ari Derambakhsh is an actress based in NYC and LA. Off-Broadway: The Bookstore (59E59 Theaters). Regional: Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Guthrie Theater), Pride & Prejudice (Cleveland Play House), English (The Old Globe, Berkeley Repertory), The Bookstore (NJ Repertory). She has appeared in readings and festivals at The Kennedy Center, Shakespeare’s Globe, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Amphibian Stage, Crossroads Theatre, Fault Line, Playwrights Realm, and Rattlestick. On screen, Ari makes her feature film debut in 109 Billion Followers (starring JK Simmons) and her TV debut opposite Jessica Chastain in The Savant on AppleTV+. She voices Blue Sapphire in the English release of the children’s animated series “Rainbow Bubblegem”. Training: BFA, Rutgers University; Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London.@arideram (IG), website: arideram.com
Sina Pooresmaeil Theater: Macbeth (Red Bull Theater), Awake and Sing (Sea Dog Theater), Iraq, But Funny (Lookingglass Theatre Company), When the Rain Stops Falling (Lenfest Center for the Arts). TV credits: High Maintenance. Developed work at NYTW, Irish Rep, Clubbed Thumb, Arena Stage, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Wrote and acted in short films, Auto Plus and Inkshop. Represented by Framework Entertainment. MFA Acting Columbia University. Love to G.
Rawya El Chab is a Lebanese actor and theater maker based in Brooklyn. She has performed extensively in experimental and ensemble-driven theater, appearing at The Brick Theater, La MaMa Experimental Club, Target Margin Theater, and the Exponential Festival. Recent stage credits include Crossing the Water, Lula & the Pearl of the Bekaa, Banality of Evil, The Gambler, One Night, and Electric Feelings Maybe. Internationally, she has toured Europe and Latin America and collaborated on immersive work at Mousonturm in Frankfurt. Her film credits include Shadowtime (Venice VR Competition), Salam, Sous les bombes, and In the Battle Field (Quinzaine, Canne 2004).
Gregory Jafari Vanacker - Casting Professional with Bass/Valle Casting and The Casting Collaborative. Playwright/Lyricist/Librettist: The “B!tchelorette” (2025 Opera America IDEA Grant recipient), NOPLACE (Goodspeed/Johnny Mercer Grove, Eugene O’Neill NMTC semifinalist), The Book of You (Durango Arts Center), The Price of Saffron (EMU commission), Sugar Skull (Rhythm of the Arts, 8th year touring nationally!), Driftwood (National Opera Center), Tales from Greece and the “Middle East” Presents: The Tale of the Wonder Horse, Thurgood Grows Up (Sugar Hill Museum of Art Storytelling). Writes musicals with Joel Esher and operas with Alex Wakim. Queer, gender-fluid, MENA, BROWN, deeply committed to increasing positive representation for historically excluded voices.