We are currently on a creative break from reading. But working on new dates and projects for you. Watch this space for news.
May 2022
1001 Nights Reading
At the beginning of each night's adventure… discover Joanna and Saman, enveloped in the soft glow of candlelight, smells of spiced tea and incense. They tell an enticing tale of a beautiful princess, who recounts "it hath reached me, O auspicious King..." Lean back and listen to the stories of “1001 Nights”, interpreted by Joanna Godwin-Seidl & Saman Giraud. Let them take you on a journey to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, China and all the other exotic places filled with romance, love, passion and crime. Let them help you to forget the here and now for a while, dance with belly-dancers, ride camels with the caravans and fight the 40 bandits. It starts with “1001 Nights" and nobody knows where the journey will end …
...Performances from the heart….
vienna theatre project’s entertainment unplugged! Enjoy this beautiful time with us, filled with the romance and skullduggery of a bygone era and then sometimes other stories, plays, poetry and music from another living-room. We will invite special guests now and then for other, special readings. The readings are in English.
Donations gladly welcome!
Kamyab Sadeghi
LIVE MUSIC at special locations and an album for the project. We are delighted to announce the music for 1001 Nights is being composed especially by Kamyab Sadeghi, see below for links to his music on Youtube.
These readings started as part of the "Readings in Isolation" series created for and during the pandemic in 2020. No one could go out so they read from their living-rooms and continue to do so, apart from those special evenings. Joanna and Saman will now be reading the whole book, to keep their global friends entertained now and beyond this time. They estimate the readings will be finished in 2025.
SPONSOR US. Click on the "donate links" we are very grateful for all your support, or contact us and tell us how you would like to help. We are looking for locations, film crews, sound technicians, flights, hotels. office@viennatheatreproject.at or Tel.: +43 (0) 69912127679
(c) Michael Dürr
Saman Giraud
Saman Giraud is an International award winning actress having won the ‘Best Actress Award’ for her performance in her first short film "M4-My Many Married Men", at the Delhi Shorts International Film Festival 2016. Her portrayal of Valerie in "M4" also won her the ‘Honorable Jury Mention’ at the Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival 2016 and the Awardeo Award.
Giraud was born in Vienna, Austria to Iranian parents and grew up trilingual. She started acting at age 13 at the Studio Moliere in Vienna where she got the male leading role in “Die schlimmen Buben in der Schule” by Johann Nestroy under the direction of Susanne Pollak.
She moved to New York in 2007 to attend the acclaimed Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute where she studied under the direction of the late Irma Sandrey and Robert Ellerman. Saman Giraud remained in New York for 7 years to work on several US-independent films, such as “Jasmine” by director Sean Davis and “Hamartia” directed by Loredana Gasparotto and various art projects and music videos. However, an accident in 2009 rendered her unable to work as an actress for nearly two years, but her passion for acting and her love of the arts lead her to write “M4 - My Many Married Men” which proved to be a prominent creative comeback to the screen. The film was picked by the Hollywood Entertainment Magazine "The Wrap" as one of "12 crowdfunded projects shooting for success".
In 2017, Giraud starred as the leading actress Zarina in the EU-Premiere of Ayad Akhtar´s ´The Who and The What´ under the direction of Joanna Godwin-Seidl at the acclaimed Theater Drachengasse. Due to its success, the play had a second run. In 2018, Giraud debuted at Vienna´s English Theatre in Florian Zeller´s ´The Lie´ directed by Sean Aita and in David Schalko´s TV-Series ´M- eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder´, an ORF/RTL production currently on TVnow.
(c) Andrea Peller
Joanna Godwin-Seidl
The actress and director studied theatre in the United Kingdom. She has been running VIENNA THEATRE PROJECT since 2006. THE LAST FIVE YEARS was her solo musical debut at the Theater Drachengasse.
German language theatre credits include directing MÄDCHEN MIT DEN SCHWEFELHÖLZERN (Ronacher Theater), HAUTNAH (Patrick Marber) for Theaterverein Vision (OFF Theater) and MORD IM MUSIKANTENBEISL (Asst. director - Theater Drachengasse). Recently acclaimed musicals include ORDINARY DAYS and TICK TICK..BOOM!
She has a solid repertoire, often choosing plays with social & political content: PLENTY (VIS Theatre), DIRT (Theater am Petersplatz) and THE MEETING (Black History Month/Theater am Petersplatz) to name a few. In 2014 she directed the hit play TOPDOG/UNDERDOG, was pleased to receive rave reviews for her musical TITLE OF SHOW and starred in Sarah Kane’s 4.48 PSYCHOSIS.
As an actor, she has starred in a number of shows from Ayckbourn to Coward and Shakespeare, in theatres such as Vienna’s English Theatre, the Kammeroper and Schönbrunner Schlosstheater.
In 2015-2016 she directed the critically acclaimed shows DISGRACED, MARRY ME A LITTLE and THE INVISIBLE HAND. All her latest productions, including THE WHO & THE WHAT ( 2017, Theater Drachengasse) and BUILDING THE WALL were nominated "Tip of the Week" in the national press. Recent directorial premieres include CROSSING JERUSALEM, THE FLICK and RED by John Logan (2019). THE MOUNTAINTOP by Katori Hall (2020) Joanna directed her first opera THE BARBER OF SEVILLE in 2018.
On film Joanna starred in "When I Die", director A.K. Rhee Cauldron Films, "The Bad Date" director P. Moran, FFAB amongst others.
