Playwright Sanaz Toossi’s English, which won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize, is very recent and very relevant. This production by Outhouse Theatre was programmed before the most recent war in Iran began. But its setting of a language class in Karaj in 2008 inevitably takes on a new dimension under current circumstances.

Outhouse Theatre Co’s English. Photo © Richard Farland

Marjan, the teacher and central role, has a strict requirement that only English be spoken in the classroom. The four students are hoping to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language, primarily to access visas and migration pathways.

Elham wants to get into research at RMIT; Roya wants to be able to speak with her grandchild when she emigrates to Canada; Omid thinks the USA might hold more opportunity for him; and teenager Goli simply wants options.

The ambivalent feelings each of them harbour towards the English language, and all that it represents, are capably held and expressed by a strong cast. Nicole Chamoun as Marjan is a performance within a performance: the teacher who occasionally lets a professional demeanour slip and reveals glimpses of her frustration or yearning. Chamoun is taut with tension; the release and impact of a single line like “I was tired” is immense.

Nicole Chamoun in Outhouse Theatre Co’s English. Photo © Richard Farland

Setareh Naghoni as Elham is a high-achieving malcontent, resentful of the classroom environment and of the restrictions and manipulations that a second language represents. Her character manifests differently when speaking either language, but with a unified essence in both. It’s a challenging role to perform, but Naghoni nails it.

Pedram Biazar is charming and mysterious as Omid, inhabiting the most advanced student in the class comfortably. Neveen Hanna as Roya and Minerva Khodabande as Goli are given slighter, more comedic roles and earn their laughs. Their angrier moments, particularly concerning Roya’s relationship with her son, are also deftly handled.

Set design by Soham Apte is unobtrusive – the entire play takes place within the classroom – as are Spencer Herd’s lighting and Rita Naidu’s costuming work. The device of portraying English language conversations as Iranian-accented, and Farsi conversations in an Australian accent, may sound confusing but is immediately intelligible. Dialect coach Linda Nicholls-Gidley has done good work in helping the actors keep the two distinct.

Setareh Naghoni, Minerva Khodabande and Nicole Chamoun in Outhouse Theatre Co’s English. Photo © Richard Farland

Many elements of the script, and the characters, could be universal – the linguistic imperialism of Anglophone culture is borderless. Farsi, and Persian culture, are not examined in detail. Other than a few references to particular restrictions of the regime in which they live, these characters could be anywhere in the world.

That makes the experiences and concepts here intelligible to anyone with a diaspora background, or an interest in the role that language plays in cognition or identity, or simply with exposure to or curiosity about other cultures. This is a play as much about the idea of home, and of belonging and individuality, as about any particular place or culture.

Director Craig Baldwin delivers an excellent production of an excellent play. It’s merit is not restricted to commentary on current events. While it’s given a new and urgent significance under the context, this run of English would be outstanding under any circumstances.

Outhouse Theatre Co.’s English plays at the Seymour Centre, Chippendale, Sydney until 2 May.