Rana Esfandiary

Rana Esfandiary is an Associate Professor of design & technology at the University of Kansas. Her recent University Theatre credits include directing Harold Pinter’s Ashes to Ashes (2018) and designs for Indecent (2024), Sweat (2024), Love and Information (2023), Everybody (2022), Airness (2021), The Wolves (2019), Sycorax (2019), and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2018). 

Professionally, she has recently served as scenic designer for Dutchman (KC MeltingPot Theatre), What the Constitution Means to Me (KCRep), and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill (KCRep).

Rana completed her PhD and her MFA in scenography at the University of Kansas. Her research areas are Race and Performance studies, Ritual and Religious Studies, and Scenography. Rana’s book, At the Threshold: Contemporary Theatre, Art, and Music of Iran, was published in 2023.