Review of English on Broadway

If you’re new here and stumbled upon this website through the mythical powers of the Internet, or should I say Google, welcome! My name is Ashley, and I am a former film critic, a dedicated reader, and someone who has worked in nonprofit theater for several years now. I started this blog because I found I wasn’t entirely remembering everything I experienced, read, and saw in the world.

Even when I was working professionally as a critic, I was spending a lot of time exclusively watching and consuming work from BIPOC creators. It’s the focus of this blog as well, and it’s why I decided to split and freelance instead of working in industry. We always need a spotlight on this kind of work.

I first heard of English when it was at the Atlantic Theatre Company. My boss at that time saw the production and told me to go see it, especially because I am an Iranian American writer myself. I unfortunately missed this production at the Atlantic, but got lucky when the Signature Theater in Washington D.C., closer to where I live, picked it up.

So I saw the play in DC, then bought copies of English and Wish You Were Here when I was up at the Drama Bookshop in NYC. I read both of the plays after that, and came to love Toossi’s work. Then she won the Pulitzer Prize and English was set to transfer to the Todd Haimes Theater through Roundabout.

I knew when it transferred I wanted to see it again with the original cast, and so I managed to snag some rear mezzanine tickets for my mother and me. We were in row E, seats 105 and 106, which was a decent view. I would not select seats all the way on the far end of the right aisle because of the nature of the set, nor the right box seats. You’re going to miss some scenes because of the angles.

Anyways, I’ve said enough in the introduction! Let’s get into the review.

In a TOEFL class in Karaj, Iran, the students and teacher grapple with identity and what it means to lose and gain a language.

This play takes place inside (and directly outside) a TOEFL classroom in Karaj, Iran. The year is 2008 and the class is taught by Marjan, who lived in England for nine years but came back to Iran. As we see throughout the play, she struggles with identity and thinks that her English self is better, which becomes a point of conflict with other characters.

There are four students in her advanced TOEFL class. There’s Elham, who has been accepted into a medical school in Australia but has failed the TOEFL exam four times. She’s excellent at reading and writing English, but her conversation skills are terrible. It also doesn’t help that she pisses off her fellow classmates with her remarks, which leads to tension. Elham directly states she thinks she hates English too, which doesn’t help.

Goli is 18 and thinks the world is in front of her. Her reasons for learning English is because she thinks it’s less stifling than Farsi, although she has no concrete reason she needs to use the language for.

Roya is a mother, but her son is in Canada. He married a Canadian and lives there, but he doesn’t communicate with her really, becoming a source of anguish for her, and she is taking the English courses because she believes her son wants her to live with him in Canada with her granddaughter Claire. Roya is a stubborn voice of reason when it comes to certain aspects of language learning, especially when it comes to changing one’s self to fit in with a new environment.

Our final classmate is Omid. He claims he wants to be in the class because he has a green card interview in Dubai soon, but as the other classmates point out, his English is better than Marjan’s. He’s the most grey character in terms of development for some people, but I find that I liked his character arc and he fits within the story well.

Throughout the play, these characters interact and engage with their reasons to learn English, and a lack of understanding it. A lot of this play is about identity, and the fact it’s presented without an intermission allows these themes to flow naturally. As time passes and the set rotates, the conflict is driven by inner conflict and what it means to belong in these spaces, as well as what we sacrifice to leave behind our native language.

The little Farsi dialogue is something I enjoyed about this play the first time as well. The last scene is an untranslated Farsi conversation between Elham and Marjan, and they’re talking about what it means to lose an accent and a self in a nutshell. I really like this rug being pulled from an English-speaking audience, as they’ve come to expect the English scenes with an Iranian accent, and perfect English when the dialogue is in “Farsi” for the characters.

I saw the previous production at the Signature Theatre in Washington, as I mentioned before, two years prior. I noticed some distinct changes to the script had happened with the Broadway. There is a bit more strong language/cursing to play up the humor elements of the play, and the song that Goli plays for her show and tell is different. We’re also missing the rain falling in the background, but the set here is a rotating rectangular cube.

My mother, who also saw the DC version, remarked that she noticed the differences too and that it was more funny. I think adding in the humor helped the play in the end, as it can be such a heavy, devastating topic that the characters are dancing around delicately. We don’t even get into the political situation of Iran really, minus some mentions here and there about visa troubles and green card interviews being discriminatory, but we don’t need that to set up this plot.

Overall Thoughts

The premise of English is a simple, but poignant one. My mother said she wanted to cry at certain parts of the play, and I can see why. It’s reminiscing on sacrifice, language, and identity—something I as an Iranian American could deeply understand. The world of this play is the reality so many of us experienced and/or grew up within.

I’ve been impressed with both casts I’ve seen in this play, but this cast knocks it out of the park. The actresses playing Elham and Goli were the most striking to me, but everyone in this production does such a great job. Their work is highlighted by the simple rotating set, and the light design adds a more nuanced take to the passing of time and their emotions.

I say if you have the time, money, and bandwidth, go see this show. There’s a good reason this has won so many accolades; it’s a gorgeously written show, and it’s definitely a must see for me.

If you’re under 30, definitely go check out Roundabout’s Hiptix program. I’ve used it before for $30 tickets in the orchestra, and there might be some left by the time you see this (if the show is still going on).

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