Maia Directors
For organizations and artists engaging with stories from the Middle East and beyond
WHO WE ARE
Maia Directors is Evren Odcikin, Megan Sandberg-Zakian, and Pirronne Yousefzadeh. As artists of Middle Eastern descent and leaders in the American theatre, we have decades of collective experience in theatremaking, thought leadership, and advocacy.
Maia Directors was founded in 2017 by Evren, Megan, Pirronne, along with Egyptian-American director and writer Kareem Fahmy. Initially offering casting and cultural consultation services, Maia Directors also pursued advocacy on behalf of MENASA writers and designers, and co-produced the launch of the Middle Eastern Writers’ Lab at the Lark in 2019. More recently, we have discontinued casting and cultural consultancy services to focus on larger-scale artistic and engagement projects.
PRINCIPALS
Evren Odcikin
Born and raised in Turkey, Evren (he/him) is a theater director, writer, and arts administrator. He serves as the Associate Artistic Director and Director of Artistic Programming at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a founding steering committee member for the MENA Theatre Maker Alliance, and a resident artist with Golden Thread Productions. As an immigrant, queer artist of Muslim background, he brings a multifaceted and layered approach to his work, especially as it relates to Middle Eastern narratives.
Megan Sandberg-Zakian
The daughter of an Armenian molecular biologist and a Jewish playwright, Megan (she/her) is a theater director, author, and meaning-maker. Across all facets of her work, she is invested in holding spaces that can accommodate multiple complex truths and allow buried narratives to emerge. She is the co-founder of the creative leadership consultancy Humanstudio, an Associate at BIPOC-led search firm ALJP Consulting, and a theater director focusing on the development of diverse new plays for the stage and the ear. Her book, There Must Be Happy Endings: On a Theatre of Optimism and Honesty, is available from The 3rd Thing Press.
Pirronne Yousefzadeh
Pirronne (she/her) is an Iranian-American director, writer, and educator, and was recently appointed as the next Producing Artistic Director at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. She formerly served as Geva Theatre Center’s Associate Artistic Director and Director of Engagement, where she conceived of and spearheaded numerous programs. Both in New York and regionally, she directs and devises new work that centers people of the global majority. She is a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop, member of the Drama League Directors Council, and member of Ensemble Studio Theatre.