DIYAN ZORA
Writer / Director
ABOUT
Diyan is currently directing English by Sanaz Toossi at the RSC and Kiln Theatre. English won the Pulitzer prize for drama in 2022. Tickets and more information here.
Later in 2024, Diyan will direct Roots by Arnold Wesker at the Almeida Theatre. Roots will run in rep with Look Back in Anger as part of the Almeida's Angry and Young season. Tickets here.
As the winner of the 2021 Genesis Future Directors Award, Diyan directed Klippies by Jessica Sian at the Young Vic Theatre. She recently directed Tom Fool by Franz Xaver Kroetz at the Orange Tree Theatre. Diyan is also a playwright, and was a member of the Bush Theatre's 2022 Emerging Writer's Group.
Diyan was associate director on Alexander Zeldin's plays Love and Faith, Hope and Charity, as well as associate director to Sam Mendes on The Ferryman.
Iraqi born and Birmingham raised, Diyan currently resides in London. She initiated and runs the newly formed Royal Court writers group in Iraq.
SELECTED WORK
TOM FOOL
By Franz Xaver Kroetz
Orange Tree Theatre, 2022
★★★★ The Guardian
★★★★ The Times
★★★★ The Stage
★★★★ Financial Times
★★★★ Arts Desk
★★★★ Broadway World
★★★★ Everything Theatre
★★★★★ London Living
What quiet, splintering performances....Equal parts bleak and funny, Diyan Zora has staged a tender portrayal of a finely drawn family struggling to weigh up what their love is worth.
The Guardian
A powerful scene in which the parents painstakingly tidy the wreckage of their living room after a violent outburst contains not a word of dialogue but feels breathlessly intense all the same.
The Stage
The Orange Tree Theatre celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Long established as a centre for excellence, this production is no exception.
Everything Theatre
Read full text of reviews here
KLIPPIES
By Jessica Sian
Young Vic Theatre, 2021
As winner of the Genesis Future Director's Award
(This production was not reviewed)
MOM, HOW DID YOU MEET THE BEATLES?
By Adrienne Kennedy and Adam P. Kennedy
Chichester Festival theatre (Minerva), 2023
★★★★ The Guardian
★★★★★ Theatre South East
Rakie Ayola’s performance is truly breathtaking. I cannot recommend this production highly enough. A rapturous standing ovation, overwhelmingly deserved.
★★★★ Chichester Observer
One of the finest performances the Minerva has seen for a long, long time. Diyan Zora’s direction and Ayola’s instinct ensure that what might have been static never is for a moment.
CONSENT
By Nina Raine,
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, 2023
SELECTED ASSOCIATE / ASSISTANT WORK
CONTACT
Diyan is represented by Clare Vidal-Hall Management
She can also be contacted directly at diyan.a.zora@gmail.com