Evren Odcikin is a theatre director, writer, and producer. He is a founder of Maia Directors, a consulting group for artists and organizations engaging with Middle Eastern stories and beyond, and has served as director of new plays and marketing at Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, where he is currently a resident artist. He was a communications consultant for KQED’s Campaign 21, a multi-year, $135 million fundraising initiative, and has held high-level marketing and communications positions at American Conservatory Theater and Magic Theatre. As a director, he has worked all over the country, developing and directing plays at NYTW, Geva, Portland Center Stage, Berkeley Rep, South Coast Rep, the Lark, Kennedy Center, InterAct (Philadelphia), Magic Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre, Crowded Fire, and TheatreFirst, amongst many others. He is currently under commission with Leila Buck to create 1001 Nights (A Retelling) at Cal Shakes, which he will also direct. He was named a “Theatre Worker You Should Know” by American Theatre magazine in 2016 and an Emerging Theatre Leader by Theatre Communications Group for their 2012 Leadership Bootcamp. He has received a 2015 National Director’s Fellowship from the O’Neill, NNPN, the Kennedy Center, and SDCF and a 2013 TITAN Award from Theatre Bay Area. He was born and raised in Turkey, and is a graduate of Princeton University. Odcikin.com