Hear “English” in a New Way at ArtsWest

 

Almost full cast of English at Artswest (John McLellan)

English
ArtsWest and Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble
Through April 28, 2024
 
In a classroom in Karaj, Iran, in the year 2008, four students are learning English in hopes of passing the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), a test that might open the door to them for many opportunities, including visas to the United States. This quickly moving, non-stop play, directed by Naghmeh Samini, unfolds their stories and their challenges and even their emotional responses to learning the language itself.
 
Omid (Emon Elboudwarej) turns out to already have an American visa, and partly grew up in the U.S. speaking Americanized English. He is close to being able to gain a green card. When the classmates find out, they are both jealous and outraged, feeling like he shouldn’t even be in class with them if he can speak so well. But he has his reasons.
 
Goli (Newsha Farahani) loves learning languages. At 18, she’s not sure how she’ll put English to use, but is sure it will come in handy. Roya (Janet Hayatshahi) has a born-in-America granddaughter and her son is pushing her to speak only English to his child. She feels like she has no choice, but wishes she could let her granddaughter hear the poetry and history of her son’s native tongue.
 
Elham (Sherren Khatibloo) urgently has to pass the TOEFL in order to get to her dream school in Australia to go to medical school. Yet, Elham has the most resentment against speaking the language and a sarcastic manner as a challenging student. And Marjan (Vahista Vatadari), their teacher, demands that everyone in this advance class speak "English Only."
 
Playwright Sanaz Toossi uses a device to show that they are speaking both English and Farsi during class time. When they speak English, they have heavily accented voices, difficulty in pronouncing “w” and are slow. When they speak Farsi, even when the teacher doesn’t like it, they speak quickly in everyday American English.
 
The students play games and present show-and-tells. They are amusing in their attempts to tell stories to each other in this strange language. But their efforts are serious and the consequences of failing are daunting.
 
But the exploration of the play is in the emotional response to belonging, community, and language as connection. Characters have had experiences abroad and found themselves feeling like outcasts, even if they were able to speak English. In order to feel like they belong, should they even consider staying in Iran and giving up these other dreams? The push pull of these considerations creates the connections audiences feel with the characters.
 
The play won both the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, also 2023 Obie Award for Best New American Play. We’re fortunate to be able to see it here, and to continue the efforts of Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble to partner with other companies to present their efforts.
 
On a bare set with many school chairs (by Parmida Ziaei) with subtle lighting (Chih-Hung Shao) and sound (Andi Villegas), the blackboard gets projections (Nabilah Ahmed) of what the teacher is writing as she mimes broad strokes of the chalk. Scenes are short and to the point. Sometimes, it’s almost too fast to understand all the dialogue, but the intent is clear.
 
This is an opportunity to take yourself out of the U.S. and absorb a culture we have little exposure to. It’s easy to identify with these strivers, whose context for the American dream is so similar to ours, but they may have to give up a lot in exchange.
 
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