An experienced trial attorney, Jay Paul Deratany has led the Deratany Firm in Chicago, Illinois, since 1993. Outside of his legal career, Jay Paul Deratany stands out as an accomplished playwright. His play, Haram Iran, was performed by the Soho Theatre in London.Located in the heart of London’s famous Soho district, the Soho Theatre has been producing plays since the 1970s. Over the past four decades, the theatre company has expanded to include touring performances around the world and on television. Soho Theatre also conducts a range of workshops and other programs for young people.In its efforts to promote theater to the next generation, Soho hosts the Soho Theatre Young Company, a series of courses and workshops for individuals ages 11 and up. Led by theater professionals, the courses covers topics such as sketch comedy, cabaret, and playwriting. Soho also extends its work with youth into the community via a school workshop program. Through this initiative, Soho Theatre professionals craft tailored workshops and lessons for aspiring theater students in local schools. Theater members are also available for panel discussions, career talks, and Q&A sessions.
A Chicago attorney, Jay Paul Deratany has a background in the performing arts that includes executive producing the independent comedy, Saugatuck Cures. Also a playwright, Jay Paul Deratany authored Haram Iran, a 2010 play that a Huffington Post article described as "provocative and ultimately haunting.”Haram Iran narrates the real-life experiences of a pair teens, Ayaz Marhouni and Mahmoud Asgari, who were sentenced to death in Iran in 2005 based on accusations that they had engaged in a homosexual encounter. Given that the LGBT community has achieved progress in parts of the world, this story brings into sharp focus its plight in regions of the world, such as post-revolutionary Iran, where fundamentalist ideals and Sharia law reign supreme. The play features a pair of close friends, Mahmoud and Fareed, who are ambitious to make the Iranian National Football Team. Mahmoud starts a friendship with an intellectual classmate, Ayaz, and it ultimately develops into a deeply affectionate relationship. One day, Fareed catches them in a situation that is both incriminating and innocuous. Then his father, a prosecutor, gets involved. The play was produced on the New York stage in 2017 at the Emerging Artists Theatre.
