Playwright Sanaz Toossi & More to Star in ENGLISH at Barrington Stage Company

Barrington Stage Company has revealed the cast for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning play English, starring playwright Sanaz Toossi (Wish You Were Here) and directed by Knud Adams, who has directed productions of English at Atlantic Theater Company and Studio Theatre. Barrington Stage Company’s production begins performances Wednesday, September 27, opens Sunday, October 1, and plays through Sunday, October 15, 2023 on BSC’s Boyd-Quinson Stage (30 Union Street).
 
English will feature Narges Kalogli (Studio Theatre: English; U.C. Berkeley: Metamorphoses) as Goli, Pooya Mohseni (Atlantic Theater Company: English; feature film See You Then) as Roya, Nazanin Nour (Studio Theatre: English; Playwrights Horizons: Wish You Were Here) as Marjan, Babak Tafti (“Succession;” Playwrights Horizons: Selling Kabul) as Omid and playwright Sanaz Toossi as Elham, marking her first acting role in English.
 
“Everyone who touches this play becomes family, and I can't wait to explore these characters further with Pooya from the life-changing NYC premiere, Nazanin and Narges from our record-breaking D.C. production, Babak who helped develop the play originally, and Sanaz herself, my friend and inspiration,” added director Knud Adams. “From Zoom readings to the Atlantic mainstage, from The Obies to The Pulitzer, English is a story that has moved and inspired thousands, and I'm honored to share it again at Barrington Stage Company this fall.”
 
Four students meet regularly in an Iran classroom to prepare to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) proficiency exam. Despite their shared native language, they have to learn to communicate and connect in a classroom with only one rule: English Only!
 
Toossi’s acclaimed play premiered February 5, 2022 Off-Broadway at the Linda Gross Theatre in a co-production between Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company, winning the 2022 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play and the 2022 Obie Award for Best New American Play, in addition to the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Toossi is a recipient of the 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award.
 
Rehearsals have begun for the final production of the St. Germain Stage season at Barrington Stage Company, a revival of Faith Healer (August 1-27) by Brian Friel (Dancing at Lughnasa, Translations). The production is directed by BSC Founding Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and stars BSC Associate Artists Christopher Innvar (BSC: The Importance of Being Earnest,  Private Lives and A Doll’s House, Part 2; Broadway: To Kill a Mockingbird) as Frank Hardy, Mark H. Dold (BSC and Off-Broadway: Freud’s Last Session; BSC: Waiting for Godot, Harry Clarke; Broadway: The Inheritance) as Teddy and Gretchen Egolf (BSC: A Picasso, Much Ado About Nothing and Private Lives; feature films The Namesake, The Talented Mr. Ripley) as Grace.
 
Faith Healer will feature scenic design by Luciana Stecconi (BSC: Waiting for Godot), costume design by Jennifer Caprio (BSC: On the Town, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), lighting design by David Lander (BSC: A Little Night Music, Waiting for Godot) and sound design by Fabian Obispo (BSC: The Chinese Lady, American Underground). Renee Lutz is the Production Stage Manager.
 
The Boyd-Quinson Stage season opened with the legendary Tony Award-winning musical Cabaret, directed by BSC Artistic Director Alan Paul. It continues with Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky (July 18-August 5), directed by Candis C. Jones, followed by BSC Associate Artist and Tony Award winner William Finn’s A New Brain (August 16-September 10), produced in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival and directed by BSC Associate Artist Joe Calarco.
 
The St. Germain Stage season at Barrington Stage Company began with The Happiest Man on Earth by Mark St. Germain, based on Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku’s extraordinary 2020 memoir of the same name, published when Jaku was 100 years old, starring Kenneth Tigar and directed by Ron Lagomarsino. The St. Germain season continues with Mike Lew’s tiny father (now-July 22), a co-world premiere play produced by Chautauqua Theater Company and BSC, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel.
 
BSC casting is by McCorkle Casting (Pat McCorkle, CSA; Rebecca Weiss, CSA).
 

TICKET INFORMATION
  

For tickets to English or the BSC Season, please call the BSC Box Office at 413-236-8888 or visit www.BarringtonStageCo.org/Tickets.
 

ABOUT BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY
 

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Alan Paul and Managing Director Meredith Lynsey Schade, is an award-winning theatre located in Pittsfield, MA, in the heart of the Berkshires. Co-founded in 1995 by Julianne Boyd, BSC’s mission is to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs. Alan Paul succeeded Ms. Boyd as the company’s Artistic Director in 2022. 

BSC attracts over 60,000 patrons annually and has gained national recognition for its superior-quality productions and comprehensive educational programming, including the award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project, the Musical Theatre Conservatory, Youth Theatre, KidsAct! and other initiatives. The company has become integral to the economic revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.

BSC’s reputation for excellence began with a smash revival of Cabaret that moved to Boston in 1997 for an extended run. The theatre’s prominence grew with the world premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin (BSC 2004; Broadway 2005-2008, winner of two Tony Awards). Other notable productions include the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s American Son (BSC 2016; Broadway 2018); Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session (BSC 2009; Off-Broadway 2010-2012); Leonard Bernstein, Comden & Green’s On the Town (BSC 2013; Broadway 2014, four Tony Award nominations); Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company, starring Aaron Tveit (2017); and West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins’ centenaries (2018).

BSC develops and commissions new work with two programs: PlayWorks, which supports the creation of new plays, and the Musical Theatre Lab, which develops new musicals. Since 1995, BSC has produced 45 new works, 22 of which have moved to New York and major US regional theatres.

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