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Sohrab Haghverdi, Benjamin Rosenthal, and Mason Rosenthal hope to bring their extraordinary show FORIEGNER to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
But we need your help!
FORIEGNER is a dizzying theatrical solo that simultaneously explains—and refuses to explain—Sohrab Haghverdi's experience as an Iranian asylum seeker in the United States. It’s a paradoxical, autobiographical, anti-identity, anti-comedy clown show inspired by Andy Kaufman’s hijinks and Sufi mystic Rumi's call to kill yourself.
“An inventive and often outrageous piece of clowning about art, immigration, and identity which makes the border tangible in maybe the most disgusting possible way. Unconventional. Undismissable. Unforgettable.” — Plays Unpleasant
FORIEGNER is co-created by Sohrab Haghverdi and the Rosenthal brothers. The show is performed by Sohrab, who was born and raised in Iran, and has been seeking asylum in America since 2013. The three of us started our work on FORIEGNER (first called Sohrab is Bumbling Foriegner) in the summer of 2024. The show premiered in Cannonball 2024 with the support of the Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture Award for SWANA Artists. In 2025, it received an encore performance at Philadelphia's FringeArts. This June, before our August Edinburgh run, we will tour the show to the Denver Fringe Festival with support of the Ed Tyler Touring Fund.
The Opportunity
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest performing arts festival in the world. Each August, Edinburgh, Scotland becomes a hub for artists, presenters, producers, and audiences from across the globe. For independent artists like us, it can be a pivotal moment, offering a chance to form international connections, attract touring opportunities, and extend the life of a piece far beyond its premiere.
FOREIGNER has been invited to perform at Summerhall, one of the Fringe’s most respected venues, known for presenting ambitious, avant-garde work. A performance slot at Summerhall is a significant artistic endorsement and a major opportunity for visibility. FORIEGNER will have a whopping 24 PERFORMANCES in Edinburgh throughout the month of August.
Why Your Support Matters
Edinburgh Fringe is an extraordinary opportunity, but also an expensive one. Independent artists self-fund most of the costs, including:
- Fees for our designers
- Production materials
- Venue fees
- Travel
- Lodging for the month
- Marketing and publicity
Even with careful budgeting, the costs add up quickly, and the tour itself is not necessarily a money-making venture. Instead, our hope is to establish connections for future opportunities that could eventually allow us to be paid for all the blood, sweat, tears—and yes, pee—we’ve put into this work of art.
Why This Matters
FOREIGNER couldn’t be more timely. With ICE’s cruel deportations, a global rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, and war in Iran, the pressure to declare who we are and what we stand for feels unbearable. Our show is grounded in Sohrab’s experience as an Iranian asylee, but rejects tidy categories of good foreigner vs. bad foreigner, American vs. Iranian, victim vs. survivor, profane vs. divine. Instead, it opens a space beyond them. Like a powerful psychedelic trip or a profound meditation, FOREIGNER is alternately hilarious, terrifying, hopeful, sad, and beautiful. FOREIGNER in Edinburgh is a chance to encounter audiences from around the world. Our goal is to blow minds.
How to Help
Donate to our GoFundMe and spread the word!
Contributions will directly support travel, production, and artist costs for the Edinburgh run.
With immense gratitude,
Sohrab Haghverdi, Benjamin Rosenthal, and Mason Rosenthal