The Gate Theatre Reveals Three New Commissions To Run Alongside Sanaz Toossi's WISH YOU WERE HERE

Following the Gate recent announcement of the UK premiere Wish You Were Here by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Sanaz Toossi, the theatre announced that it has commissioned three writers to each write a short play to be performed alongside the production.

Wish You Were Here will open at Theatro Technis @ 26 Crowndale on Thursday 24 October to Saturday 23 November and these new commissions will run on Friday 8, 15 and 22 November following the performance.

Sepy Baghaei (who is directing Wish You Were Here) will direct new work by Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi, Afsaneh Gray and Melina Namdar.  Each writer has been commissioned to write a 5–10-minute playlet responding to the theatre’s mission statement of telling stories beyond borders. 

The Gate has a long tradition of looking outwards and central to this is its much-admired reputation for giving space to new voices with an international perspective.  With this commitment the theatre continues to celebrate brilliance, originality and spirit and the multiplicity of identity amongst its artists and its audience.

At a time when the world and our own nation grows increasingly insular, the Gate continues its artistic purpose of fostering communication and understanding across borders, across languages, across cultures.  

These commissions offer a unique opportunity to see new work by three British Iranian writers performed by cast members of the all-female cast of Wish You Were Here.  The playlets will be performed over three consecutive Friday’s following the performance of Wish You Were Here.  Casting for the production will be announced shortly.

Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi is a British-Iranian writer from West Yorkshire. Her first full length play ‘Allah In the Walls’ was developed on the Catalyst Programme at the North Wall Arts Centre and went on to be shortlisted for the 2022 Bruntwood Prize. In Summer 2021, she developed the play ‘The Magic of Wild Heather’ which was written for The National Theatre’s Public Acts and performed at Cast Theatre in Doncaster. She has participated in the BBC’s Northern Voices Scheme, Sheffield Theatre’s Bank Cohort, and the Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group. Over the past year, she has been part of the Warner Writers Exchange Scheme for which she wrote her first TV series ‘Joon’. Her latest play ‘The End’ has been written for the Bush Theatre’s Young Company and will be staged in August. 

Afsaneh Gray is a playwright and screenwriter. Her original drama The Other Woman landed on Audible in December.  Afsaneh was one of three selected writers for the development phase of the Independent Film Trust's Elevate Writers Room. Her original TV comedy Lulu The Extremist was selected for development from a pitch to a treatment and then a script through the UKTV Comedy 50:50 scheme.

She was recently on attachment at The National Theatre Studio and she is currently under commission to write a NT Connections play. Her play Give a Man a Bible was longlisted for the inaugural Paines Plough Women's Prize for Playwriting and shortlisted for the Theatre Uncut Political Playwriting Prize. 

In 2018 Afsaneh won The Brian Way Award. Following a national call out for treatments on the theme of ‘Treaty’ to mark the Treaty of Versailles centenary, her play The Border was commissioned by Theatre Centre and toured schools and venues in 2019.

Melina Namdar is a British Iranian writer and director. In 2022, she received the prestigious National Theatre/Peter Shaffer Commission with Tamasha Theatre. Melina's productions have garnered critical acclaim, earning her nominations for the Asian Media Awards, Black British Theatre Awards, Offies, and more. With a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, her projects resonate with authenticity, empathy, and depth, sparking vital conversations and placing underrepresented stories at the forefront of the artistic landscape. Notable directing credits include the highly acclaimed Vitamin D (Soho Theatre), All the Happy Things (Theatre503), and Passion Fruit (New Diorama). She has also served as Assistant/Associate Director on productions such as Arabian Nights (Bristol Old Vic), Baghdaddy (Royal Court), Orfeus: A House Music Opera (Young Vic), and Ctrl Alt Delete (Lyric Hammersmith). In addition to her directorial achievements, Melina's writing talents have been recognised with a long-listing for the BBC Script Room 2021 and The Women’s Prize for Playwriting. In 2024, she earned a place on the prestigious London Library Emerging Writers Programme

 

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