Afsaneh Aayani S
By Evan Wildstein
o rarely do we find artists who are stellar craftspeople and stellar humans, those who really glow when they talk about their art. They light up with good, old- fashioned pride and excitement. Such is the case with Afsaneh Aayani, one of those talented people you’ve
never heard of. Since landing in Texas in 2013, Aayani has designed puppetry,
Two Mile Hollow, Rogue Productions. Photo: Afsaneh Aayani
scenery, costumes, and more for 4th Wall, 14 Pews, A.D. Players, Classical Theatre Company, Houston Grand Opera, Main Street Theater, Rec Room, Rice University, Stageworks Theatre, The- atre Under the Stars, and University of Houston. With exuberance and covered in smiles, she brings me into her world one afternoon over cake at a cafe bakery in Houston. She philosophizes about myriad things like collaboration, seeing more art than she creates, and her mission to be original. She wants her art to be “like a signature,” the kind of art where you know who made it before looking at the program. Exploring images from her recent productions, I think that her signature might be plates and spoons, because many of her designs had cutlery items strewn about. We fast-forward several weeks to her home studio, complete with husband and Loki, their Labrador-Beagle. We head to the second-floor space and plant ourselves in chairs after travers- ing a messy-but-not-too-messy spread of materials, scaled-down show design models, and puppet parts on which she was working for Hand to God at Rice University. The puppets were colorful, Muppet-ish, and incredibly well crafted. Aayani tells me she has always worked in proper studio spaces, not in her home, so being a slightly messy artist could be a problem. But she keeps her upstairs studio confined, and sprinkles her creativity around the house. Downstairs in the kitchen, I notice doz- ens of loud-yet-artful cabinet and drawer handles, a detail her nonartist husband seems to really appreciate. Aayani’s creative output encompasses scenic design, to voice acting, to puppetry, though puppetry hits closest to home. “Seeing the work of Peter Schumann sparked my interest,” she notes. Schumann is founder of Vermont’s Bread and Pup- pet Theater. “He opened my eyes to what was possible.” Like Schumann, Aayani is a transplant to America. After
A Good Collaboration Is Something You Miss:
Photo: Michael Mayor
leaving Iran (Tehran) she made a quick stop in Oregon. “I lived in Portland for one year, but I wanted bigger opportunities, more sun, and a more diverse city. My friends told me I would really enjoy Texas.”
Puppetry isn’t Aayani’s full-time gig, but she would like it to be. Beyond the small puppets in her study, I had the chance to see her absolutely gigantic yet nimble Goliath puppet in A.D. Players’ David, the Best Slinger in the West. Also in her mix are Bunraku- style puppets. Her puppet version of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape has played in Iran and Poland. Aayani has also taught puppet making at University of Houston and, before COVID-19, was set to lead a workshop this spring at United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), which named her sole recipient of its coveted Scene Design Award. She has even pitched the idea of a puppet parade to the Houston Mayor’s Office. Along her journey to create art with a distinctive signature, one important original piece will be Aayani’s: Innominate. As she tells it, the semiautobiographical piece “ties together the story of how people around the world live through, and are forever changed by, experiencing war in their home countries.” Aayani has considered Innominate for some time, though as an Iranian living in 2020 America, there was no time like the present. “It is an experience, thankfully, that many don’t understand, but it’s a necessary story to tell to connect with people who have lived through it, which is especially common among immigrants.” Having received support from Houston Arts Alliance, Innominate was set to premiere this spring at University of Houston, though it will be delayed until performances are again safe. Ever modest, never once does Aayani use the words “I” or “me” when talking about her art, her home, or even Loki. Rather, it’s about partnership and working together, always and in all ways. “People,” she says, “are the boon of my creativity, and that’s why I chose theater. A good collaboration is something you miss.”
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