Azar Kazemi’s production of Sanaz Toossi’s play Wish You Were Here opened at Remy Bumppo Theatre in Chicago in September 2025. When the United States attacked Iran in February 2026, Kazemi was in rehearsal for another of Toossi’s plays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning English, at Indiana Repertory Theatre. Kazemi was the first Iranian-American director to have fully staged both of Toossi’s published plays, which focus on Iranian characters. With that unique perspective in mind, SDC Journal spoke with Kazemi about the experience of directing Toossi’s work in a time of war. This column has been edited and condensed from that conversation.