Afsaneh Aayani’s masks and set design had been a significant aspect of The Massive Swim‘s success.
In Houston artist Afsaneh Aayani’s whimsical world, even the 12 animals of the Lunar Yr cycle (extra popularly known as the “Chinese language zodiac”) can’t escape a little bit chaos. The plot of The Massive Swim, a whimsical one-act opera created in collaboration with Houston Grand Opera and Asia Society Texas, entails the animals’ pleasant river race being beset by rain, churning the waters and swelling the depths. It’s a terrifying expertise, one requiring intensive collaboration between the likes of intelligent Rabbit, fame-hungry Ox, happy-go-lucky Canine, and the remainder of the colourful forged, who band collectively by way of the facility of friendship—and with greater than a little bit little bit of track and dance alongside the best way.
Aayani channeled her ardour for scenic design, puppetry, voiceover, mask-making, and different pursuits into the dynamic efficiency, which gained audiences over after its debut in 2024. Due to the play’s comparatively quick size, English-language lyrics, gorgeous garden-inspired set design, and the performers’ colourful animal masks, many have hailed Massive Swim as a requisite introduction to opera for each children and adults. Every of the six opera singers performs two totally different animals, carrying simply altered costumes and detailed headpieces with alternating faces on both facet that they flip relying on the function. Even from the again of the gang, Aayani’s work stands out with daring palettes and simply identifiable masks carrying impartial expressions that may change primarily based on lighting and the actors’ positioning. Her abilities may not be literal magic—to label them so would impugn all of the devotion and sweat fairness that goes into crafting such advanced masterpieces—however they actually give that impression. That’s exactly why Aayani’s turn out to be such a sought-after expertise in Houston and past, with a group that has rallied behind her.
“I don’t have a household right here, and the theater group is my household, from the most important theaters to the smallest ones. Everyone welcomed me with open arms, and all people is at all times so variety, so beneficiant, so understanding,” Aayani says. “I’ve gone by way of ups and downs throughout all these years, with immigration, with life modifications and all the pieces, and I at all times felt supported.”
Born and raised in Iran, the artist first discovered the fundamentals of drawing and design in highschool. She majored in puppetry on the College of Tehran and later traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia to carry out and direct puppet reveals at festivals in international locations similar to Poland, China, and Sri Lanka. Whereas again house in Tehran, she carried out voiceover work for what she estimates to be “1000’s of episodes” of tv, in addition to producing, directing, and performing in puppet reveals particularly for an grownup viewers. One in every of Aayani’s first post-collegiate skilled performances was an adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s play Krapp’s Final Tape (she served as each director and designer for this Theatre of the Absurd manufacturing, which options an aged man consuming a banana whereas reliving his previous by way of recorded audio journals).
Searching for to develop her already promising profession even additional, Aayani moved from her former base in Portland to Houston, the place she accomplished her grasp’s diploma in scenic design on the College of Houston in 2020. The transfer provided her an opportunity to interrupt some new floor within the metropolis’s performing arts scene. With no puppet theater firms within the metropolis, Aayani tried to create her personal factor, and labored on productions at Alley Theatre, Catastrophic Theatre, Foremost Road Theater, and Discovery Inexperienced, amongst others. Her work has earned her grants from the Metropolis of Houston, which she used to conceive, direct, and produce the family-friendly puppet present The Moonlit Princess at Rec Room Arts in 2022. Primarily based on the Persian fairy story, the play follows Mah Pishooni, an orphan lady who embarks on an journey underneath the steering of a yellow cow. Alongside the best way, she encounters ghouls, frogs, and hags, all of the whereas studying invaluable classes about kindness and staying true to your self regardless of important setbacks.
Aayani’s authentic puppet present, The Moonlit Princess, pulled inspiration from Iranian folklore. Particularly, the story of Mah Pishooni.
“We have now lots of folklore and fairy tales in my tradition, and I wished to do this for the longest time. After which it simply occurred, the place all the pieces fell into place for me to have the ability to inform that story at one of the best time with one of the best crew I may ever ask for,” Aayani says.
Aayani additionally directed The Swan Painter, which debuted in Could 2025. Held at Downtown’s Discovery Inexperienced, the efficiency strayed from Aayani’s puppetry, fusing dwell music, lighting design, and dance to convey the journey of a painter as he doggedly pursues the idea of true magnificence. She initially envisioned the Japanese-inspired story for indoors, however when the prospect to make use of the park’s lake because the backdrop introduced itself, she knew she needed to take it.
Right now, Aayani says she spends 60 % of her time in Houston, and the opposite 40 % touring to work on varied theater initiatives across the nation in locations like Arkansas, North Carolina, and New York. At the same time as her profession expands throughout the nation, Aayani says her coronary heart stays rooted in Houston. It’s the place she constructed a group, carved area for her distinctive type of storytelling, and located the liberty to merge Iranian folklore and puppetry with large-scale scenic design on her personal phrases.
“I’ve been capable of maintain this sort of residing as a freelancer [in Houston], which I don’t know if I might be capable of do in different cities…I believe the principle factor for me is a way of group, that if I’ve a query, if I’m completely satisfied, if I’m unhappy, if I want one thing, if I want steering or an opinion, I’ve a giant group behind me,” Aayani says. “… That’s one thing really to be thankful for.”
Meow Wolf is certainly one of her most not too long ago unveiled undertakings. After contemplating a whole lot of pitches, the immersive exhibition area selected Aayani as certainly one of 35 Houston artists to showcase their imaginative and prescient. Utilizing the supplied immediate, “sound and sound waves,” Aayani interpreted and designed as she dreamed. A partnership with long-time collaborator and composer Hessam Dianpour yielded a soothing room crammed with blue lights, that includes a pomegranate tree at its middle and hidden compartments containing figures of girls with their hair down, creating music.
Afsaneh Aayani’s Meow Wolf room pay homage to the ladies of her native Iran.
“I created one thing as my tribute to the ladies of my nation,” Aayani says, noting that, in Iran, it’s unlawful for girls to carry out or sing solo in public. Right here, although, this calm, hopeful, and “women-centric” room provides a second of reflection, respite, and chance. “It’s telling a narrative,” she says. And the subsequent act is already underway.
Aayani is slated to direct Nameless at College of Houston in October and can function the scenic designer of the Alley’s manufacturing of English in February 2026. Though Aayani travels the nation to share her items with wider audiences, she at all times makes her method again to Houston, the place the local people continues to set her up for development and success. “I nonetheless am telling the tales I need to inform, doing the work I need to do,” Aayani says.
