Reza Behjat is an Obie Award-winning lighting designer based in New York City. He began his career in Iran, collaborating with the country's most prominent theater artists before transitioning to the United States.
Reza’s work has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at leading regional theaters across the country, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Atlantic Theater Company, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, Steppenwolf, Guthrie Theater, Berkeley Rep, Seattle Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and many more.
While his primary practice is theatrical design, Reza’s storytelling is deeply rooted in his background as a director. This dual perspective allows him to look beyond the visual, bringing a sharp sensitivity to dramaturgy and directorial vision. Dedicated to the development of new work and devised theater, Reza continues to balance his passion for directing with his prolific career as a collaborative designer.
Reza won an Obie Award in the design category for his work on two productions of ENGLISH and WISH YOU WERE HERE in 2023. In addition, alongside the cast and the creative team of ENGLISH, he received a Special Citation from the Obie Award. Additionally, he is the recipient of the prestigious Knight of Illumination award for Nina Simone: Four Women in 2019. He was also nominated for the Drama Desk, Henry Hewes Design Awards, and Jeff Awards, among others.
Visual Storytelling
I constantly ask myself what is the biggest motivation that inspires me to continue working as an artist. I ask myself what has made me choose theater over other things? Or what passionates me to spend long hours walking in the street and taking pictures of strangers? No doubt the answer is changing and evolving as I get older, as I gain more experiences, and as I get to know more people in my life. But… people… humans… I think this is the answer.
As an artist, I’m inclined to practice visual storytelling as my way to create art, and in those visual stories that i tell (sometimes with collaborators and sometimes by myself), humans are the primary subjects of the artworks. No matter I’m designing for a theatrical production or doing street photography, what keeps me going is telling the story of a human that the audience would see on stage or in a frame.
In addition, what I appreciate a lot about theater is that it establishes a relationship between the members of a production team who are coming from incredibly diverse cultural and personal backgrounds. We talk a lot, we meet a lot, we bring a lot of different opinions to the table, but finally, we make one decision. I think what brings everyone to a middle ground, to a strong idea that everyone feels confident about it, is trust. I do theater because I like building trust with other collaborators to tell a story. I love to trust and to be trusted.
From a dark theater in downtown Tehran to a tight alley with beautiful graffiti in New York City, what ignites my creativity is being able to connect with people. To be able to tell the story of humans to another group of humans.
As Bruce Davidson beautifully says: “I’m just a humanist.”