The Wallis presents “English”

These days, when I read that a particular play has won the Pulitzer Prize, I unfairly become a bit more dubious of that work’s quality. The same applies to the Tony awards – I’ve just seen so many bad or mediocre plays that won big awards that I don’t want to get my hopes up and subsequently get disappointed again. Thankfully, Sanaz Toossi’s English, recipient of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is not one of those letdowns – it’s quite good. The version currently showing at the Wallis is the Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company production, and it’s a beauty: gently thought-provoking, funny and moving.

In 2008 Iran, Marjan (Marjan Neshat) is teaching an English language class to Farsi speakers who are preparing to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). Her students are there for different reasons. Elham (Tala Ashe) is a medical student who wants to study in Australia. Roya (Pooya Mohseni) wants to have a relationship with her English-speaking granddaughter in Canada. Omid (Babak Tafti) wants a green card, while young Goli (Ava Lalezarzadeh) thinks English will be useful to know for whatever she decides to do. Marjan requests that her students only speak English in her class, but Elham resists this, saying that speaking her own language is a crucial part of her identity.

Neshat does a terrific job portraying Marjan, a well-meaning character who is more complicated than she initially seems. Mohseni gives an affecting performance as Roya, whose plans encounter an unforeseen problem, and she is especially powerful in a scene in which she brutally puts someone in their place. Tafti is appropriately charming and easygoing as lone male Omid, and Lalezarzadeh is a breath of fresh air as the guileless Goli, particularly amusing in a scene in which she translates the meaning of Ricky Martin’s song, “She Bangs.” Finally, Ashe is fantastic as the angry and frustrated Elham, desperate to attain her goal but also unwilling to give up her sense of self.

Director Knud Adams gets superb work from his cast, but his decision to move the rotating stage slightly in between each scene seems unnecessary. Toossi’s writing is smart and humorous, as skilled at subtle references to bigger issues (Marjan remarking about her return to Iran from England, “We came back in those days”) as she is at blatant insults (Roya slamming a fellow student: “In English, you have no redeeming qualities”). Her idea to have the character’s speaking of English to be halting and uncertain but then have the Farsi dialogue be spoken as English at a natural speed is clever and effective.

Toossi’s observations of new language learners’ pain at not being able to convey meaning, and how this makes intelligent people feel stupid, are vivid and empathetic. Her deeper explorations about how languages are more than just words, how they can affect personality, reflect cultures and can partly create a sense of identity are deftly wrought through the various characters. Although the play is very impressive overall, it’s uneven in a couple of places – one major character seemingly disappears for no reason in the last quarter, and a plot twist seems shoehorned in to create some concluding drama.

That being said, English is an excellent production of a deservedly praised play, and well worth any theatergoer’s time.

English is an Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company production presented by and at The Wallis in Beverly Hills and plays through April 26, 2026. Tickets are available at https://thewallis.org/