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.
The Broadway transfer of Sanaz Toossi’s “English,” which opened on Thursday at the Todd Haimes Theater, is the consummate consommé. Even more so than when it debuted Off Broadway in 2022, and won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2023, it strikes me as a work of uncommon discipline despite its big and occasionally easy laughs. Without ever releasing a tight grip on its theme — or perhaps because of that tight grip — it suggests a world of small tragedies and smaller compensations.
English premiered in 2022 at the Atlantic Theater Company and the following year Toossi won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. As now, I found the earlier iteration engaging, a wistful indie film with a magic-hour glow that suggests Terrence Malick gigging Off Broadway. Knud Adams translates his impeccable production to a Broadway venue without losing any of the original intimacy or fine-grained naturalism. The director smartly brings his superlative designers from the Atlantic: Marsha Ginsberg with her modular, deracinated classroom rotating in black void; evocative sunlight and streetlight by Reza Behjat filtering through pale amber curtains; and Enver Chakartash’s costumes—Western streetwear accented with jewel-toned scarves and accessories. Between this intensely focused and sensitive staging and his no-less powerful handling of Primary Trust, Adams must be on top of every young playwright’s vision board. Whatever dialect he’s speaking, it’s welcome on the ear. My mentor Babilla had crazier, more experimental tastes, but even he would have smiled to hear the music of his mother tongue.
| 2022 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| West End |
West End |
|
| West End |
West End |
|
| 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 |
Videos