Learning a second language can be the key to unlocking a new world. Alas, in “English,” Sanaz Toossi’s subtle new comedy in its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, shedding your mother tongue can also bring pangs of loss, the pain of losing part of who you really are.
Set in an Iranian test prep classroom as four students cram for the Test of English as a Second Language, this intimately observed gem muses on the link between language and identity, how we speak and how we feel.
The contemplative 100-minute piece makes you wonder when the phrase “English only” might be an act of hostility.
Toossi conjures a gentle, low-key universe as Marjan (Sahar Bibiyan), the English teacher, greets her new students in the city of Karaj, near Tehran, in 2008. Bibiyan makes you long to understand the mysterious Marjan, who returned to Iran after a decade in England, but only seems to come to life inside her classroom.
Meet Goli (a radiant Christine Mirzayan), who gushes with the unfettered enthusiasm of being 18 and full of promise. She says English is like rice. You can flavor it anyway you like.
The gray-haired Roya, (a regal turn by Sarah Nina Hayon), by contrast, exudes ambivalence. She is only learning English because her son, who lives in Canada, won’t teach her granddaughter any Farsi. Just sounding out the girl’s name, Claire, takes a herculean effort that humbles Roya and her classmates.
Meanwhile the fiery Elham (Mehry Eslaminia) is wracked with anxiety. She hates English both as a language and as a symbol of the American empire, but she has to ace this test. If she doesn’t, she can’t go to medical school in Australia.
The only man in the class, Omid (Amir Malaklou), is a natural. He even nails words like windbreaker. Only he can hear his own imperfection.
These five flirt, jostle and compete through fast-paced scenes as Toossi explores the shifting alliances of four people who must come to terms with their yearning for a life outside Iran.
The scenes are often so rich with emotional undercurrents that you don’t notice the play’s flaws, such as a romance that takes a long time to sprout but never quite blooms. Marjan’s motivations also remain unsatisfyingly schematic.
Toossi touches on themes of being a perpetual outsider, caught between two worlds, but she doesn’t dive deeply enough into the quagmire of belonging. At times the play seems too subdued to be truly memorable but it’s still deftly acted and sensitively directed by Mina Morita.
Certainly the playwright delights in a novel “lost in translation” technique. When the characters are supposed to be speaking Farsi, we hear easily flowing colloquial English, casual and fun, but when they’re struggling with their second language, we hear fits and starts of heavily-accented, broken English, awkward and slow.
It’s a clever strategy that instantly grounds us in the emotional minefield of being unable to fluently communicate your ideas. The characters are humbled by having to learn a new language as adults. It’s a constant tug-of-war that English speakers often have the luxury of sidestepping.
In the play’s finest moments, Toossi captures the slippery and political nature of language and how it shapes how we feel and how we think. There are no explosive reveals here, no suspenseful arcs. Only little fleeting moments that briefly ache and shimmer with meaning.
Contact Karen D’Souza at karenpdsouza@yahoo.com.
‘ENGLISH’
By Sanaz Toossi, directed by Mina Morita, presented in its West Coast premiere by Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Through: May 7
Where: Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley
Running time: One hour, 40 minutes, no intermission
Details: $43-$119; 510-647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Lifestyle News Click Here