Torange Yeghiazarian is the Founding Artistic Director of Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company focused on the Middle East where she launched such visionary programs as ReOrient Festival and Forum, New Threads staged reading series, Fairytale Players youth outreach program, and What do the Women Say? showcasing the work of Middle Eastern women artists, and timely initiatives such as Islam 101 to create dynamic new work celebrating Islamic art and philosophy, and Project Alo? international collaboration. In her capacity as artistic director, Torange co-authored the seminal papers, “Middle Eastern Theatre Artists’ Bill of Rights” and “Dear Producers,” and helped launch the Middle East North African Theater Makers Alliance (MENATMA), the first national organization advocating for the MENA theater community. A playwright, director, and translator, Torange translated a number of contemporary plays from Iran including A Moment of Silence by Mohammad Yaghoubi (winner of Best Play at Toronto Fringe) and The Language of Wild Berries by Naghmeh Samini. Her translation and stage adaptation of Nizami’s “Leyla & Majnun” is published on Gleeditions.com. She has been published in The Drama Review, American Theatre Magazine, Amerasia Journal, and contributed to Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures and Cambridge World Encyclopedia of Stage Actors. Torange received a Gerbode-Hewlett Playwright Commission Award for Isfahan Blues, a co-production with African American Shakespeare Company, and a commission from the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California to write and direct The Fifth String: Ziryab’s Passage to Cordoba. Her short play, Call Me Mehdi, is included in Salaam. Peace: An Anthology of Middle Eastern-American Drama, TCG, 2009. Torange has been recognized by Theatre Bay Area and is one of Theatre Communication Group’s Legacy Leaders of Color. Born in Iran and of Armenian heritage, Torange holds a Master’s degree in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University.