How the Broadway play 'English' speaks to diverse audiences

The cast and creative team of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play recall how it touched various global communities during its Off-Broadway world premiere in 2022.

School is in session. Sanaz Toossi’s play English, now on Broadway, follows a teacher and four adult students in an Iranian classroom preparing for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). A winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2023, it’s a play about language, identity, and miscommunication. It’s also surprisingly relatable.

All types of people have said they felt seen by the show during its 2022 Off-Broadway world premiere, according to the five-member cast reprising their roles and making their Broadway debuts at the Todd Haimes Theatre.

It had a “universal kind of draw,” said actor Tala Ashe. She and her castmates, along with Toossi and director Knud Adams, are eager to have the same impact now.

Toossi, who’s also a Broadway rookie, was determined that English would speak to many people. “I am the daughter of two Iranian immigrants,” she said. “My parents do not speak English as a first language.

“I grew up knowing what it was like to be treated differently when you have an accent,” she continued. “I wanted to write something […] to offer a chance to empathize with that experience.”

Toossi has done that, according to her cast. They’ve discovered that diverse theatregoers have found themselves and felt personal connections to the play.

“You don't have to be an immigrant or stuck between two languages to empathize and feel moved by this story,” said Ava Lalezarzadeh, who plays the enthusiastic 18-year-old student Goli.

English resonates with “audience members from all different avenues of life,” she added. “That’s what a good story does. We all know what it's like to be on the inside and to be on the outside.”

Pooya Mohseni plays Roya, a woman mastering English to stay connected to her son and grandchild in Canada. She echoes her castmate’s appreciation for the script – and the show’s broad appeal.

“I love that different people see themselves in these characters,” Mohseni said, “whether it happens to be immigrants or people who traveled, or teachers, or the queer community, or whoever it is.

“The fact that different people can take something from it, to me, says it's good writing,” she continued.

In the role of Elham, Ashe is a young woman desperate to ace the TOEFL to get into medical school in Australia. She vividly recalled how the play roused tears of joy from an Off-Broadway audience member.

“One night when I came out, there was a girl from India sobbing,” she said. “She was like, ‘I never thought I would see my story or myself on stage.’

“Then I had people DMing me on Instagram from Hong Kong being like, ‘I feel like this story is about me, and I wish I could see it.’”

Hadi Tabbal plays Omid, a young man whose proficiency with English makes his presence in the class a bit of a puzzle. He said the responses to the play from “members of very different communities that have nothing to do with the Middle East community” have been particularly eye-opening.

The common theme of fan correspondence was “how much this play resonated with them as someone for whom English is not their mother tongue,” Tabbal said. “That was very meaningful. Suddenly you feel like you are part of something very specific that is incredibly universal.”

For Marjan Neshat, who plays the instructor (also named Marjan), the far-reaching reaction to English is inspiring and emotionally rewarding. “I am the daughter of immigrants, so I anticipated that a lot of immigrants, or children of immigrants, would feel seen by the play,” she said.

“But, actually, I think a lot of people who have been students, who have been teachers, all felt seen,” she added. “That was really heartwarming.”

Get English tickets now.

Photo credit: English off Broadway. (Photo by Ahron R. Foster)