This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
“What is a common saying in your language? What does it mean to you?” These questions are posed on a lobby display while the crowd gathers at the Alliance Theatre for Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “English.”
The play tells the story of four Iranians who are enrolled in an English language course as they grapple with how different forms of self-expression impact identity. What parts of themselves do they have to give up in order to speak a language that the rest of the world has deemed mandatory?
Toossi’s script handles these questions deftly, using a shabby classroom as a container for this exploration of linguistic identity. Each character has a distinctly different relationship to the English language, the most contentious of which is Elham’s (Sade Namei). A graduate student hoping to study gastroenterology in Australia, Elham is taking the class out of necessity, despite her stubborn preference for Farsi. Her resistance to English puts her at odds with Marjan (Pooya Mohseni), the class instructor who is enamored with the language.
The conflict between Elham and Marjan forms the dramatic and emotional crux of the play. Elham insists that she cannot express herself in English the way she can in Farsi. The words are just words to her, without deeper meaning. And when she stumbles over English words, she worries that she sounds like an idiot. Marjan loves the way English feels in her mouth but privately struggles with feeling like neither language captures the fullness of who she is.
Credit: Greg Mooney
Credit: Greg Mooney
Elham and Marjan sit at opposite ends of the spectrum, with the other characters filling the space in between with their own varying relationships to language and culture. These contrasting ideas about what it means to assimilate into a new language raise the question: Where does the line between education and assimilation lie?
All of this thematic depth is carried by a talented cast of actors, anchored by a commanding yet vulnerable performance by Mohseni as Marjan. Namei also finds some compelling layers in her performance as Elham. Auveen Dezgaran is an absolute sweetheart as well-meaning teenager Goli. Sayé Yabandeh’s portrayal of Roya, a mother and new grandmother who is learning English so she can live with her family in Canada, is hilarious one minute and heartbreaking the next. And Ash Kahn brings a certain charisma to Omid, the teacher’s pet whose relative ease with English makes Elham suspicious.
Each character feels specific and knowable, each defined by the tension between their relationships to their culture and their relationship to English. The multifaceted meanings that English takes on when filtered through the experiences of each character speak volumes to Toossi’s dramatic skill.
Director Shadi Ghaheri employs a number of techniques to highlight this idea. Soft spotlights are used at the end of multiple scenes to single out characters who have just made linguistic mistakes, emphasizing the shame and scrutiny non-native speakers often endure. The play also weaves some music into its sonic storytelling, further emphasizing the extent to which sounds can carry entire cultural identities.
Sound designer Bahar Royaee contributes much to the overall experience. The ambient sounds she uses to create the sonic landscape of Iran are, at times, transporting, while the use of recordings in Marjan’s class creates a fascinating dynamic between the characters and the audience. While we sit and listen to recordings of English speakers that are perfectly intelligible to us, the students onstage listen on in near-total confusion.
Providing a sense of place also seems to be the focal point for the other designers, as scenic designer Sadra Tehrani cleverly divides the stage between the interior of a low-budget classroom and the evocative trees and graffiti of urban Iran. Costume designer Afsaneh Aayani also does good work with the costumes, imbuing a certain level of personality into each ensemble.
Credit must also go to dialect coach Ana Bayat, whose extensive resume shows in the way the production uses accents to augment the story. Whenever the characters speak English, the actors deliver the lines in thick Iranian accents, while the lines meant to be in Farsi are delivered naturally, with no added inflection or dialect. This choice reflects how much more easily the characters are able to express themselves in their native tongue. However, the accents are also cleverly varied, with the characters who are more proficient in English like Omid and Marjan speaking with much lighter accents than characters like Elham and Goli.
Credit: Greg Mooney
Credit: Greg Mooney
The play surely lands differently on audience members who only speak one language. But even for them it manages to walk a deft line between educational and didactic. For those who have ever been forced, persuaded or required to converse in ways that are foreign and uncomfortable, the play gives voice to a feeling that so often goes ignored.
If you find yourself struggling to understand this concept or to connect with the play (which is unlikely), then merely turn your attention to the lobby display that I mentioned above. Pinned underneath the question are cards on which people have written idioms, exclamations and even terms of endearment from their own languages and cultures.
Many are written in foreign languages and some in different alphabets. Some are regional phrases that you have probably heard growing up and might remind you of a friend or family member. All speak to the idiosyncrasies of language and what they say about us as a culture. Look at them before walking in, and I can assure you that they will resonate once you walk out.
THEATER REVIEW
“English”
Through Sept. 17. 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays. 2:30 p.m. Saturdays- Sundays. Starting at $40. Teens, $10. Hertz Stage at Alliance Theatre,1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 404-733-4600, alliancetheatre.org.
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Luke Evans is an Atlanta-based writer, critic and dramaturg. He covers theater for ArtsATL and Broadway World Atlanta and has worked with theaters such as the Alliance, Actor’s Express, Out Front Theatre and Woodstock Arts. He’s a graduate of Oglethorpe University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and the University of Houston, where he earned his master’s.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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