Now is your chance to see the 2023 Pulitzer Prize winner for drama -
English by Iranian American playwright Sanaz Toossi. The Guthrie/Goodman co-pro played at the Chicago theater in May, and has now transferred to the Guthrie for a month or so. I didn't know it was a Pulitzer Prize winner when I saw it, but I wasn't surprised to learn it. It's such a beautiful play, that's about language but also so much more - identity, migration, finding your voice. And it's as funny as it is poignant and heart-breaking. The five characters - four students and their teacher in an English language class in Iran - are so specific and relatable and human, it's a pleasure to spend 93 minutes with them. Don't miss your chance to see this gem at the Guthrie Theater,
now through August 18.
The play takes place over the course of a six-week English language class, five strangers thrown together with a common goal of learning English. They all have different reasons for doing so. Roya (Sahar Bibiyan) wants to be able to talk to her granddaughter when she goes to live with her son in Canada, determined student Elham (Nikki Massoud) is applying to medical school in Australia, 18-year-old Goli (Shadee Vossoughi) isn't sure what she'll do with her TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) certificate, and Omid (Pej Vahdat) already speaks English so well some of the other students question his place in the class. The teacher Marjan (Roxanna Hope Radja) only speaks English in class (like my high school German teacher only spoke German to us from day one), and insists that her students do the same, keeping a tally of when they break the rule and speak in their native Farsi. She lived in Manchester for nine years with her husband, and adores all things English, including the movies she shows during office hours (Notting Hill, the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice, did I mention it was 2009?). As the class progresses, the students and their teacher get to know each other better, and get into some intense discussions about language, culture, and identity.
 |
| photo by Liz Lauren |
The play is quite ingenius in its use of language, and the way it differentiates languages. When the characters are speaking their native tongue in the world of the play, we hear them speak in easy, natural, unaccented English. When the characters are meant to be speaking English, they speak it hesitantly with an accent. Between the writing, direction (by Hamid Dehghani), and the acting (with help from dialect coach Vaneh Assadourian and vocal coach Keely Wolter), it's quite easy to know when they're speaking what, and it really shows the difference in expression and comfortability when you're speaking your first language versus one you're learning. The characters talk about how they feel like a different person when speaking a different language, they see and hear themselves differently, others see them differently, and they aren't always fully able to express themselves in their non-native tongue. And we actually do witness their English improve over the course of the play as they continue in their lessons.
 |
| photo by Liz Lauren |
The entire play takes place in one room, making it easy to stage. The set looks like a typical classroom with white board and desks, moved around in different formations, which makes the storytelling feel dynamic despite never leaving the room. Outside the large windows we see the cityscape of Karaj, and sometimes get a glimpse into apartments across the alley. The blinds hanging over the windows are opened or closed to reveal the changing outdoor light, from which we can almost feel the heat at times. Characters are dressed in casual chic clothing, with slight changes of jackets, accessories, or head scarves to mark the passage of time. The sound design includes radio broadcasts, the music students play in class, and the movies shown on the TV, with the sound morphing from the classroom and into the theater and back. (Scenic design by Courtney O'Neill, lighting design by Jason Lynch, costume design by Shahhrzad Mazaheri, sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman.)
Language is so much more than the words we speak. It represents our culture, our home, our family, our sense of self. Most of us who grew up speaking English in America can't imagine learning a second language to be able to succeed in the world, and dream of leaving home, only to miss it when we do. And just how did English become a universal language of the world? There's a great article in the program, but it basically comes down to colonialism, economics, and technology. This play explores all of these ideas and so much more, reaching our hearts as well as our brains, through five very specific, relatable, and endearing humans.
