ENGLISH Previews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 12:00am

The new play English, winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for drama, kicks off Broadway’s 2025 slate tomorrow night (January 3) at the Todd Haimes Theatre before a January 23 opening. Following a 2022 world premiere at Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company, the entire cast from that production — Tala Ashe, Ava Lalezarzadeh, Pooya Mohseni, Marjan Neshat, and Hadi Tabbal — has made the transfer to the Main Stem. English is written by Sanaz Toossi and directed by Knud Adams; the Broadway run concludes on March 2.

“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?”

Who’s paying a visit to the classroom?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/3/25 at 12:52pm

$43 digital rush tickets are now available through TodayTix. 

Running time is 100 minutes and no intermission, per Roundabout 

Updated On: 1/3/25 at 12:52 PM

[suzycat]

Posted: 1/3/25 at 5:29pm

This is easily one of my favorite plays in the last few years, and this company is excellent. Not to be missed. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/3/25 at 10:47pm

Anyone go tonight?

[Art Isn’t Easy]

Posted: 1/4/25 at 10:57am

Long, LONG time lurker, first time poster here. Was at the first preview last night and it was a truly special evening - Sanaz Toosi and Knud Adams made a speech at the end with the entire cast and creative team, all of whom are making their Broadway debuts!

 
The play is in beautiful shape. Given the entire cast transferring one would expect (and hope) that the performances are in show-ready shape but every actor is giving an even deeper and richer performance than at the Atlantic. The show fits the space beautifully, it’s still laugh out loud funny, and the moment of connection at the end (which I won’t dare spoil) led to audible crying/sniffling from the entire theatre. It’s a remarkable play, maybe the finest play of the 2020’s. I cannot recommend seeing it enough.

and in case you’re worried I’m a shill for Roundabout, I was back here in the days when WizzerMarvin would supply first preview reports lol. 

Updated On: 1/4/25 at 10:57 AM

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 1/9/25 at 3:01pm

any discount codes?

[yyys]

Posted: 1/9/25 at 3:38pm

DL40

VernonGersch said: "any discount codes?"

 

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 1/11/25 at 2:07am

How would first row Mezz be for this show?   How would front row Orchestra be?  Any seating feedback welcome. 

[ardiem]

Posted: 1/11/25 at 3:56pm

I saw this last night and loved everything about it! I found it to be a beautiful slice of life piece that was excellently written and performed. The humor came very naturally. It's easy to get cheap laughs out of things lost in translation, but the writing brought something fresh to that concept without feeling crass, and threw in some fun cultural references. I even marveled at the lighting and liked the transition music (reminds me of Ravel's piano work). The final scene was exquisite.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/11/25 at 4:01pm

Yes, I thought this was a brilliant and lovely play. And I agree with you about the final scene, it was incredible. Enjoy this beautiful piece of theater, guys. 

 

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 1/15/25 at 5:45pm

Saw this the other day and it’s absolutely extraordinary. The writing is absolutely masterful—it’s like nothing happens but the world moves, and so much that is said is left unsaid. I’m always amazed by this kind of playwrighting—that someone can see the world through such sensitive eyes. Can’t believe Sanaz Toossi is only 33–she must have been barely 30 when writing this but her writing has the emotional wisdom of someone decades older. 

 

The cast is uniformly excellent but I do think Tala Ashe and Marjan Neshat stand out. I feel like performances like this are my favorites—they can make the audience laugh or cry just with a subtle breathe or move of the hand. Just deeply dropped in performances. I hope they are remembered come Tony time in spite of being “quieter” performances than are usually recognized 

Updated On: 1/15/25 at 05:45 PM

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/15/25 at 6:27pm

This is one of those rare gems that may be largely overlooked by the public and the public is worse off for it.

I was there this afternoon and it was one of the most beautiful plays I have seen in quite some time. Every performance melds together perfectly in an ensemble while each individual is able to carve out their own uniqueness within the ensemble work. I also thought it was a genius writing/directorial choice to have the cast speak perfect English that serves as a stand in for Farsi, and then use broken English when they get to the parts where they are “learning”.

Additionally, I love how it was able to so eloquently address the themes of assimilation as a precursor to success, and what they ultimately have to compromise or give up in order to gain that assimilationist skill. As English speakers, we often don’t question our privilege of being a dominant language in the world, and this play forces us to look through that lens.

Personally, I’m white, but also I’m (mostly) bilingual since my grandmother is from Puerto Rico and I spent a lot of my childhood in school studying Spanish. My grandmother came to the mainland U.S in 1952 with only a 5th grade education and spent most of her life with some level of struggle between two languages. (She’s still alive and kicking at age 89, so I think she did good for herself).

 I’m not perfect, but I’m pretty proficient for getting around predominantly Spanish countries and use it at work. The one phrase that really resonated with my experience was “When you speak another language, you always sound loud and all you can hear are the worst parts.” and that has always felt like my experience.

It won the Pulitzer Prize for a reason. Get a ticket and go learn something about yourself 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 1/15/25 at 10:50pm

I liked this quite a bit and I loved the simple yet beautiful set and lighting design. I also have to once again shoutout this theatre for its fabulously comfortable seats. It was a lovely night at the theatre.