Biography

Writer/Director/Actor John Farzad Strong A.K.A. John Farmanesh-Bocca, the immigrant son of an Iranian General, is a multi-award winning American theatre and film director, who is known both here and abroad for his many modern adaptations of ancient works. Mr. Farmanesh-Bocca's visually compelling and visceral theatre plays have been seen both here and Europe.

Mr. Strong / 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).

Awarded an American Theatre Wing Scholarship, John trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts ('94) before serving as a Directing Fellow at the Juilliard School, Drama Division (2003-2005). He now serves as Emeritus Director of the award-winning Not Man Apart - Physical Theatre 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. Mr. Farmanesh-Bocca was very recently named by Broadway World Magazine; as Los Angeles 'Theatre Director of the Decade.'

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. Strong/Farmanesh-Bocca's first endeavors in filmmaking, a narrative short film drama called "I Did Not Forget You", which he both wrote and directed, and the second he wrote, #3 Normandy Lane, which was directed by his wife Brenda Strong, have collectively played as official selections at 36 National and International Film Festivals and have collectively won 16 Best Short Film Awards and Audience Awards, garnering another 22 Nominations between the two films.

In addition, to his writing and directing, John served as on-set Acting Coach for both Season 3 & 4 of the Paramount Television and Netflix Original Series 13 Reasons Why, where he also choreographed 2 episodes.

Mr. Strong/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.

In 2020 he took his new married last name of Strong, and added his birth middle name Farzad. He has been married to actress Brenda Strong (Desperate Housewives, Starship Troopers, Seinfeld) since 2015.