It's not language that defines you. It's your voice. That's the message of English- the Pulitzer Prize-winning play coming to Broadway via Roundabout Theatre Company. Written by Sanaz Toossi and directed by Knud Adams, the play arrives on Broadway, after its world premiere co-production with Atlantic Theater Company. once again directs this English is about the universal foibles of language and miscommunication.
The comedy unfolds in an Iranian classroom where adult English learners practice for their proficiency exam. As they leapfrog through a linguistic playground, their wildly different dreams, frustrations, and secrets come to light. Can they overcome the limits of language to discover what they really want to say?
English won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2023, beating out finalists On Sugarland by Aleshea Harris and The Far Country by Lloyd Suh.
The company features the entire cast from the off-Broadway premiere, including Tala Ashe, Ava Lalezarzadeh, Pooya Mohseni, Marjan Neshat, and Hadi Tabbal. All are making their Broadway debuts in the production.
This critic’s advice is as simple as it was in 2022. Book a ticket right now—an exquisitely written, beautifully acted and mounted one hour and forty-five minutes of theater awaits. At this moment, with immigration—and attacks on immigrants’ rights—at the top of President Trump’s agenda, the play assumes a new, urgent precision.
English, Sanaz Toossi’s stunning Broadway debut, is a precise study of language’s significance. The 2023 Pulitzer prize winner slyly presents as a comedy about studying a foreign language, but eventually blooms into an evocation of grief and assimilation.
| 2022 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| West End |
West End |
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| West End |
West End |
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| 2025 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Company Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Tala Ashe |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Marjan Neshat |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A PLAY | Knud Adams |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Knud Adams |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Tala Ashe |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Marjan Neshat |
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