John Farmanesh-Bocca has spent a 30-year career in the theatre. He is a multi-award winning theatre director and the Founding Artistic Director of both Not Man Apart – Physical Theatre Ensemble (2005-2015) and Shakespeare Santa Monica (2003–2014).

Mr. Farmanesh-Bocca now serves as Emeritus Director of the award-winning Not Man Apart Ensemble, which under his watch was named by Backstage Magazine in 2014 as one of the 13 most innovative physical theatre companies in the world.

An LA 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 filmmaking, 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).