Sydney Reviews

The accent is on language in English, Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize winning play being presented by Outhouse Theatre.

English is set in Karaj, Iran in 2008, the plot pivoting on a Tests Of English As A Foreign Language Exam. Known by its acronym, TOEAAFL is not a trifle, it’s an extensive six week course in a classroom where the mother tongue of Farsi is forbidden by a strict but sympathetic teacher, Marjan.

Most are mature age students, all but one, female, each with differing reasons to attend the class, the myriad goals and objectives underlying the simmering drama of each individual.

There’s a substantial suppleness and subtlety to this play and it is beautifully embraced by a superb ensemble. Nicole Chamoun as Marjan has a tough love in a velvet glove approach to her students, maternal in nurturing and steadfastly adhering to the rules of speaking English only whilst in the classroom. She has recently returned to Iran after a sojourn in England, speaks of her daughter, but not her husband.

Setareh Naghoni as Elham is the firebrand of the piece, her insubordination disrupting the general peace of proceedings, an antagonism fuelled by the frustration of having failed this test five times previously. Neveen Hanna as Roya, the eldest of the students, is pursuing this punishing course in order to join her family in Canada, a wish fervently desired, but poignantly rendered untenable. 

Minerva Khodabande as Goli, the youngest of the cohort, a bright spark unencumbered by the baggage, cultural and emotional of her senior classmates. Pedram Biazar as Omid, the only male in the class, assured, accomplished and attractive, recently returned from the United States, and harbouring a startling secret.

Set Designer Soham Apte has kept it simple but detailed, elevating a drab classroom into something visually interesting, highlighted by Lighting Designer Spencer Herd’s hues and shades, while Costume Designer Rita Naidu’s apparel is a gorgeous array of character befitting elegance.

Director Craig Baldwin, ably assisted by Sarah Nader, keeps the staging brisk and unobtrusive, and although played in English, the poetry and propriety of Persian parlance seeps through.