John Farmanesh-Bocca AKA – John F. Strong
Mr. Farmanesh-Bocca has spent a 30 year career in the theatre. He is a
multi-award winning theatre director/choreographer and the Founding
Artistic Director of both Not Man Apart – Physical Theatre Ensemble
(2005-2015) and Shakespeare Santa Monica (2003–2014). Now
serving as Emeritus Director of the award-winning Not Man Apart
Ensemble, which under Mr. Farmanesh-Bocca’s watch was named by
Backstage Magazine in 2014 as one of the 13 most innovative physical
theatre companies in the world.
A Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation and Drama Critics Circle award
nominated artist, Mr. Farmanesh-Bocca’s award winning and award
nominated adaptations and works include Pericles Redux (European
and U.S. Premieres), Wish I Had A Sylvia Plath (Co-conceived, World
Premiere, Edinburgh Fringe First Award Winner), Titus
Redux, As/Is, Hercules Furens, Tempest Redux (A total of 13
Nominations and 3 Stage Raw Awards), Ajax in Iraq (Los Angeles
Premiere Production), Lysistrata Unbound (World Premiere
Production).
Mr. Farmanesh-Bocca’s plays have been seen at UK venues such as The
Burton/Taylor Theatre in Oxford England, The Oxford Playhouse,
Theatre Royal, Bath England, Belfast Cathedral Quarter Festival and
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In the USA; The Kirk Douglas Theatre,
The Getty Villa Theatre Lab, The Odyssey Theatre, Pacific Repertory
Theatre and The Sunset Center in Central California, The Miles
Playhouse, The Hollywood Fringe, The Annenberg Beach House,
Performing Arts Center Baton Rouge Louisiana (BRCC), CSULB, NYU
and Juilliard.
As an actor John has had turns in such television series as Shameless,
American Horror Story, The Brave and Criminal Minds: Beyond
Borders. Mr. Farmanesh-Bocca’s first endeavor in film-making, a
narrative short film drama called I DID NOT FORGET YOU, which he
both wrote and directed, garnered 14 nominations and 7 awards from
various national and international film festivals, including the People’s
Choice Award at The Hollywood Independent Film Festival.
Awarded an American Theatre Wing Scholarship, John trained at NYU’s
Tisch School of the Arts in Acting (‘94) before serving as a Directing
Fellow at the Julliard School - Drama Division (2003-2005).