ExPats Theatre

a small theatre grappling with big ideas

 

 

After one shady deal too many, Hassan and Shirin’s brother is waiting in his cell for sentencing. For Shirin, successful and with a university degree, it is the long-overdue consequence of her brother’s lifestyle without any desire on his part to “integrate.” For Hassan and his friends Omar, Murat, and Freddie, it is the arbitrary violence of an unfair system that never gave them a chance. Trying to convert the pressures into political energy, they organize a demonstration against racial profiling when thugs show up and things take an unexpected turn. With fast-paced dialogue, playwright Arad Dabiri raises troubling questions about national identity, family guilt, personal responsibility, and individual freedom.

 

Doug Poms, Broadway World, says “you would be hard-pressed

to find a play in DC that is more topical than PRESSURE!”.

 

“Kudos to Karin Rosnizeck for her English translation

that captures the incendiary spirit, as well as for her tight direction.”

 

Read review at https://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-dc/article/Review-PRESSURE-at-ExPats-Theatre-20260316

 

 

Em Skow, DC Theater Arts, calls PRESSURE! “a powerful punch in the stomach”. 

 

Austrian-Iranian playwright Arad Dabiri “rips through the messy edges of identity and belonging, family and responsibility”.

 

“At a time in our country when the voices of hate and fear, and the pain of injustice and oppression, feel amplified to the point of breaking, this show is an important reminder that the best remedy for hard times is action, and that multiple conflicting things can be true at the same time.”

 

Read review at https://dctheaterarts.org/2026/03/17/expats-theatres-riveting-pressure-is-a-powerful-punch-in-the-stomach/

 

Nathan Pugh, City Paper,

“PRESSURE!’s U.S. Premiere Burns With Political Questions”

Read review at  https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/782377/pressures-u-s-premiere-burns-with-political-questions/

 

Anne Valentino, Maryland Theatre Guide

Read review at https://mdtheatreguide.com/2026/04/theatre-review-pressure-presented-by-expats-theatre-at-atlas-performing-arts-center/

 

“The cast members’ explosive performances match the energy and rawness of Dabiri’s sharp script…. it is their personal realizations and revelations that make this show a wholly satisfying one,”

 

Performers 

From left to right:

(top) Sacha Marvin, Max Jackson*,

 (bottom) Alie Karambash, Elijah Williams, Ege Yalcinbas

*member of Actors’ Equity Association

 

Creative Team

Director, Karin Rosnizeck

Stage Manager, Danielle Hatcher

Production Manager, Laura Schlachtmeyer

Set/Projections Designer, Tennessee Dixon

Costume Designer, Donna Breslin

Lights, Ian Claar

Sound Designer, Nardia Strowbridge

Live Guitar:  Max Jackson

Movement and Fight Director, Laura Artesi

 

PRESSURE! was created in collaboration with Wiener Wortstätten Drama Lab.

 

Arad Dabiri is an Austrian-Iranian writer who studied comparative literature at the University of Vienna. His first novel Drama (2023) won the Austrian Book Prize for Best Debut and was nominated for the Franz Tumler Literature Prize. His first play Druck! (Pressure!) which premiered at State Theatre Mannheim, Germany in 2025, earning him the Author’s Award at the Heidelberger Stückemarkt and the title of “Newcomer Author of the Year” from the German Theatre Magazine Theater Heute. Dabiri’s latest novel, Gloria!, offers an ironic exploration of the burgeoning arts scene in Vienna. Expats Theatre is proud to present the U.S. premiere of Pressure!, translated by Karin Rosnizeck.

Expats Theatre Founder Karin Rosnizeck is a theatre artist who has performed in and directed numerous shows around D.C. Before coming to the US, she worked for more than a decade in transatlantic relations and cross-cultural dialogue. She holds an M.A. in American/English and French Literature from the University of Stuttgart in Germany. She was an Artist in Residence at the Kennedy Center Reach in 2023.

Support Us!

ExPats Theatre is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Your contributions are deductible to the full extent of the law. Contributions can be made via Zelle, Venmo, or check, or you can click below to donate using PayPal or major credit cards: 

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