Art
Hassan Abdulrazzak is of Iraqi origin, born in Prague and living in London. He holds a PhD in molecular biology and has worked at Harvard and Imperial College.
His plays include The Special Relationship (Soho Theatre, 2020), And Here I Am (Arcola Theatre, 2017 and UK tour; Europe, Middle East and Africa tour, 2018-2019), Love, Bombs and Apples (Arcola Theatre, 2016 and UK tour; Golden Thread, San Francisco, 2018 followed by a second UK tour; Kennedy Centre, Washington DC, 2019), The Prophet (Gate theatre, 2012) and Baghdad Wedding (Soho Theatre, London 2007; BBC Radio 3, 2008; Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney 2009; Akvarious productions, Delhi & Mumbai 2010).
His contribution to anthologies include A Country to Call Home (Unbound, 2018), Don't Panic, I'm Islamic (Saqi Books, 2017), Iraq+100: Stories from a century after the invasion (Comma Press, 2016) and A Country of Refuge (Unbound, 2016).
Hassan has worked with the Freedom Theatre and Collective Ma’louba. He has translated numerous Arabic plays to English by playwrights such as Jawad Al-Assadi, Hanane Hajjali, Mudar Alhaggi, Abdullah Alkafri and Wael Qadour.
Select reviews
The Special Relationship
“Urgent drama” The Sunday Times ****
And Here I Am
”Irreverently funny....charming and compelling” The Stage ****
Love Bombs and Apples
”Witty and insightful" The Scotsman ****
The Prophet
“Visceral, verbally dexterous, edgy, exciting, darkly humorous and downright riveting” What’s On Stage *****
Baghdad Wedding
“Hassan Abdulrazzak’s astonishing play tells how human lives are shaped by political crisis” Michael Billington (The Guardian). Billington chose it as his favourite play of the year.
"The Prime Minister and his cabinet should take a brief course in political illumination. They should go to see Baghdad Wedding. Hot theatre" Evening Standard****
His plays include The Special Relationship (Soho Theatre, 2020), And Here I Am (Arcola Theatre, 2017 and UK tour; Europe, Middle East and Africa tour, 2018-2019), Love, Bombs and Apples (Arcola Theatre, 2016 and UK tour; Golden Thread, San Francisco, 2018 followed by a second UK tour; Kennedy Centre, Washington DC, 2019), The Prophet (Gate theatre, 2012) and Baghdad Wedding (Soho Theatre, London 2007; BBC Radio 3, 2008; Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney 2009; Akvarious productions, Delhi & Mumbai 2010).
His contribution to anthologies include A Country to Call Home (Unbound, 2018), Don't Panic, I'm Islamic (Saqi Books, 2017), Iraq+100: Stories from a century after the invasion (Comma Press, 2016) and A Country of Refuge (Unbound, 2016).
Hassan has worked with the Freedom Theatre and Collective Ma’louba. He has translated numerous Arabic plays to English by playwrights such as Jawad Al-Assadi, Hanane Hajjali, Mudar Alhaggi, Abdullah Alkafri and Wael Qadour.
Select reviews
The Special Relationship
“Urgent drama” The Sunday Times ****
And Here I Am
”Irreverently funny....charming and compelling” The Stage ****
Love Bombs and Apples
”Witty and insightful" The Scotsman ****
The Prophet
“Visceral, verbally dexterous, edgy, exciting, darkly humorous and downright riveting” What’s On Stage *****
Baghdad Wedding
“Hassan Abdulrazzak’s astonishing play tells how human lives are shaped by political crisis” Michael Billington (The Guardian). Billington chose it as his favourite play of the year.
"The Prime Minister and his cabinet should take a brief course in political illumination. They should go to see Baghdad Wedding. Hot theatre" Evening Standard****
Awards
George Devine, Meyer Whitworth, Pearson and the Arab British Centre Award for Culture. Love,Bombs and Apples won the Bay Theatre Area Award for Outstanding Production. Hassan is a Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow. Winner of the Unsolicited Scripts Short Film Grant 2022.
Represented by
Emily Hayward-Whitlock at The Artists Partnership Ltd.
George Devine, Meyer Whitworth, Pearson and the Arab British Centre Award for Culture. Love,Bombs and Apples won the Bay Theatre Area Award for Outstanding Production. Hassan is a Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow. Winner of the Unsolicited Scripts Short Film Grant 2022.
Represented by
Emily Hayward-Whitlock at The Artists Partnership Ltd.
Science
Hassan received his PhD (on Muscular Dystrophy) in 1999 from University College London. His first post-doc was with Prof. Steve Marston at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College studying mutations in troponin leading to Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy. After that he worked briefly at Harvard University in the lab of Prof. Amin Arnaout, studying unusual DNA structures in the promoter of an integrin gene. He returned to Imperial College to work with Dr. Clare Huxley on Mammalian Artificial Chromosomes. From 2006 until 2013, he worked on stem cell research at the Royal Veterinary College and Imperial College. Since 2021, he has been working with Dr. Pilar Ruiz Lozano on heart regeneration. He often comments on breaking science stories for the Arabic department of the BBC (TV & Radio).
Background image by Xavier Pick
