Culture. Identity. Language.

“English Only” is the key directive in Sanaz Toossi’s compelling, humorous, intimate and touching play English, the 2023 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Set in Karaj, Iran, in 2008, the story concerns four adult students preparing for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). Each of them has a different reason for wanting to speak English, whether gearing up for a green card interview or being accepted into medical school. In the classroom, diligent teacher Marjan asks her students to abandon Farsi, their native tongue, in order for true growth to take shape. Pop culture becomes a unifying thread of discussion but naturally miscommunication becomes the norm and takes its toll. However, genuine morsels of encouragement are offered along the way to bridge the frustrating divide.

(From left to right) Aryana Asefirad (Goli), Fady Demian (Omid), Leyla Modirzadeh (Roya) and Sanam Laila Hashemi (Elham)

“English isn’t your enemy,” says Marjan, who spent nine years living in Manchester, England. “English is not to be conquered. Embrace it. You can be all the things you are in Farsi in English, too. I always liked myself better in English.”
As the students cope with the difficulties of letting go of their native tongue to learn a new language and essentially transform, English invites an intriguing conversation about identity, belonging and immigration, themes which reflect Toossi’s upbringing as an Iranian-American raised in Southern California. Her mother immigrated to the United States after the Iranian Revolution.

“I knew that I wanted to write about being bilingual,” Toossi said in a CNN interview. “I, myself, spoke Farsi in the house growing up and English outside the house as many children of immigrants do. I felt that I wanted to write about how disconnected I was from both languages and how I had witnessed my parents be judged for mixing prepositions and what not… I knew I could situate characters in a classroom who wanted different things from the language, who wanted very different reasons for immigrating.”

Neagheen Homaifar (Marjan) and Aryana Asefirad (Goli) in rehearsal

The New York Times heralded English as “A rich new play... both contemplative and comic, it nails every opportunity for big laughs as its English-learning characters struggle with accents and idioms. But the laughter provides cover for the deeper idea that their struggle is not just linguistic.”

In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Toossi has received the Lucille Lortel Award, Horton Foote Award and Obie Award. Her plays include Wish You Were Here, and she also served on the writing staff of the Amazon dramatic comedy television series A League of Their Own based on the film of the same name.

Kimberly Senior, who directs the Playhouse production, views Toossi as a unique voice in contemporary American theatre. She also regards English as a strong testament to the Pulitzer pedigree.

English director Kimberly Senior in rehearsal

"Hers is a voice we haven’t really heard before,” Senior said. “In my mind, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play reflects an American moment very powerfully so we can look back in history and say that’s what was happening at that time. English is drawing upon who we are in this world now and reflects to us the complicated relationship to what it means to be an American in the world.”