Friday, August 9, 2024

Theatre Review: English

 The Play: English by Sanaz Toossi

The Company: Melbourne Theatre Company

The Theatre: The Southbank Theatre

Until 29 August

Stars: 4.5


Five people meet in an English class in Tehran. Four students and their teacher. The students are there to prepare for their English language test that will allow them to work, study and live abroad. What an easy premise - not so fast. 


This is a little cracker of a play. Okay, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2023 should be a tip off, but for the hour and a half in the auditorium, this had me wrapped around its little finger. 

As I said before, this is a play, set in a classroom where the teacher, Mahjan (Salme Geransar) insists that her students speak English instead of Farsi during their lessons. Each of the students has a different reason for being there. Elham (Maia Abbas) is trying to pass the test so she can come to university in Melbourne. Goli (Delaram Ahmadi) is looking for work abroad. Roya (Marjan Mesbahi) wants to go live with her son in Canada. Omid (Osamah Sami) is looking to return to America. 

What follows is an amazing play about language and identity, which is as funny as it is poignant. One of big themes of the play is finding who you are when you speak another language. Elham was particularly vociferous about how she only felt herself when she was speaking Farsi.  As a polyglot, this completely resonated with me as I know the fear, and the joy of speaking another language. I am completely different when I speak French, and this play got that feeling just right.

Also given a light touch, but an ever-present feeling was the undertone of the politics of the Middle East. The questions of staying or leaving were very present, but not forced. 

There's so much to love about this play. The cast of Australian-Middle Eastern actors gave a real feeling of authenticity to the play. They were all fabulous - nobody let the side down and they all shone. 

Tasnim Hussain's direction is fun and assured. The spats, the exercises and the relationships ring true. In the 90 minutes of the play nothing dragged. She's done a great job. 

Another thing I loved about this play is when the characters were speaking English, they spoke in heavily accented tones - Omid, took on an American persona, which when speaking in English. When they were allegedly speaking in Farsi, they spoke in broad Australian accents. I found this to be a great touch. 

This was a magic hour and a half. Well worth the price of a ticket, and the play has extended its run until 29 August. This is a fun and thought-provoking offering. 

Today's song:



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