Sometimes, plays, like people, take a while to grow on you. Such is my experience with Sanaz Toossi’s English, which I first saw in its world premiere at the Atlantic Theatre Company nearly three years ago. At the time, I found the play stubbornly undramatic and narratively inert, even while thinking highly of the performances. Seeing it again on the occasion of its Broadway premiere by the Roundabout Theatre Company, I found it much more thematically complex and moving. (And I swear the fact that the play won the Pulitzer Prize in the meantime had nothing to do with it.)
Set in Karaj, Iran, in 2008, the play depicts the efforts of four Iranian adults — three women and one man, ranging in age from 18 to 54 — to study for the TOEFL, or Test of English as a Foreign Language, under the tutelage of their instructor, Marjan (Marjan Neshat), who spent several years living in England. As they go through their various exercises, which include throwing a ball to each other while shouting out English words for things that you find in a kitchen, we gradually learn small details about their lives, motivations, and feelings about learning a new language.
[Read Roma Torre’s ★★★★☆ review here.]
Eventually, several plot strands emerge, including a mild flirtation between Marjan and a significantly younger male student, Omid (Hadi Tabbal), who already seems to speak English surprisingly well, which is fueled by their mutual love for American romantic comedies like Moonstruck. It’s revealed that another student, Elham (Tala Ashe), is desperate to pass the test, after failing it several times, so she can attend another university. And a much older student, Roya (Pooya Mogseni), needs to learn English so her son will let her live with him and his family in Canada.
The young Iranian-American playwright deftly explores how language affects our identities. She’s crafted an ingenious method for delineating when the characters are speaking English or their native Farsi, although with one brief exception all we hear is English. With the former, their delivery is heavily accented and halting; for the latter, the accents disappear and they speak smoothly. In the final scene, two characters speak to each other in their native tongue. We don’t understand what they’re saying, but their ease and joy in communication tells us everything we need to know.
The production’s intermissionless 105 minutes still suffers from longueurs, with director Knud Adams letting the pacing drag unnecessarily. Marsha Ginsberg’s set design is another problem, with its revolving classroom featuring pillars that result in occasional obstructed views. And the (uncredited) piano-heavy music accompanying scene changes proves a bit oppressive.
But the play, featuring the same cast as the Atlantic production, somehow feels deeper, richer, and even funnier in this larger-scaled incarnation. The performances also seem more assured, with Tabbal charming as the male student harboring secrets and Neshat affecting as the teacher who finds herself questioning her values. And the play’s themes, including cultural identity and immigration, are even more relevant in light of recent political events. With its Broadway transfer, English seems to have found a universal language.
English opened January 23, 2025, at the Todd Haimes Theatre and runs through March 2. Tickets and information: roundabouttheatre.org
