Review: ENGLISH at Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Sanaz Toossi's English, Obie Award winner for Best New American Play, makes its West Coast premiere under the direction of director Mina Morita. It's a labor of love for cast and crew and specially prescient in today's reality of forced migrations. Dealing with the paradox of identity and new languages, English starts out as a comedy before segueing into its dramatic consequences with mixed results.

Set in a prep classroom to teach English to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language, four students struggle with both the language and their individual reasons for wanting to learn English and the turmoil it entails. Iranian-American Toossi captures all to well the comic elements of the students and teacher in speaking English. Attempts at casual conversations and song lyrics like Mary Had a Litle lamb are mined for laughs and I admit I felt a tad guilty snickering at their attempts.

The casting is wonderful and you can't help but get attached to each person's story arch. The teacher Marjan (Sahar Bibiyan ) who vacillates between her love of English and her homeland; Elham (Mehry Eslaminia), a troublesome med student who longs for a return of the glory days of the Ottoman Empire; Goli (Christine Mirzayan), a cheery 18-year old; Roya (Sarah Nina Hayon), an elegant grandmother eager to bond with her estranged son; and Omid (Amir Malaklou),who speaks English by birth but has returned to Iran for love of country.

After the comic sequence ends, the play bogs down with slow pacing. There are many exits and entrances to illustrate the passing of time and to ensure the right characters are in the scene, but the play could stand to lose 15 minutes and get to the dramatic points more succinctly.

Pacing aside, there are strong points made in English, that us Americans may not fully comprehend. What are the costs and ramifications of trading one's native tongue for another? How does speaking in a foreign tongue tangle with your identity? And limit your voice?

English continues through May 7th.

Photo Credit: Alessandra Mello

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