Presented in the round at the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre under the direction of Arya Shahi, the award-winning script takes place in a language class in Karaj, Iran. Seated behind a sterile metal desk, instructor Marjan slips an “English-Only” sign from the drawer, quickly establishing the space as one intended to prepare, through six weeks of immersion, its adult students to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language exam. While Marjan and each of her four students is there for his or her own reason, this class is about more than learning for learning’s sake—it is a means to an end with life-transforming opportunities.

This reality is jarring for Elham (Tara Grammy), who has recently been accepted to medical school in Australia but needs a passing score on the exam in order to attend. Elham is passionate to the point of rudeness, her fire and competitive nature igniting class discussions and learning games. Grammy’s delivery is exquisite—you can feel her frustration and intensity, but also Elham’s moments of quiet insecurity as she fights against compartmentalizing her intellectual capacity to fit a more finite linguistic reality. The characterization is human, deep, and flawless. 

Roya (Mary Apick) likewise feels held hostage by her language acquisition. The oldest student in the class, Roya desperately wants to maintain a connection with her son, his wife, and their young child, but they’ve forbidden her from speaking with her new granddaughter in Farsi and asked her to learn English in order to relocate to the family’s home in Canada.

As long-distance communications unravel, hints of Roya’s disillusionment with the request peeks through. After all, this is a system that expects total colonization of her mother tongue. “Do you hear how much softer he is [in Farsi than he is in English]?” she asks, after playing voicemails from her son in both languages. “In English, he forgets, but in Farsi he remembers.”

Omid (Joe Joseph) belongs, to his own estimation, nowhere. Though his language skills surpass those of his classmates, Omid seeks belonging; for him, this class is about acceptance and finding like-minded people. Quietly intense, Joseph brings restraint to the role of Omid, allowing his storyline to gradually build. 

Likewise, Pooya Mohseni offers a calm reservedness as Marjan, a woman bound by the echoes of the past. While the audience believes she wants the best for her students, it is less clear what her own hopes and dreams entail.

The motivations of vibrant Goli (Ari Derambakhsh), a hardworking young student dedicated to getting each phrase right, are never clearly articulated, but it is clear that she loves learning. Derambakhsh portrays Goli with convincing innocence and naivete, a contrast to the world-weariness that peeks through in Marjan and the other characters.

To create context for audiences about how difficult it is to learn a language, playwright Toossi takes advantage of a unique conceit: The characters speak English throughout—a quick, unaccented, colloquial English to indicate comfortability in Farsi, and a halting, strongly accented version to represent their non-native English.

This choice allows audiences to experience empathy towards the challenge of learning a new language and to, in a small way, see how humbling it can be to have your ability to communicate (and the way people perceive your intelligence and efficacy) kneecapped by the limits of the language that you have access to. The experience is disconcerting and uncomfortable and, in generating that discomfort, vitally important.

Quietly elegant yet unpretentious, English peels back the layers on understanding and communication and reveals how the way we speak intersects with how we are perceived, but not necessarily who we are. It is, without a doubt, worth a trip to The Old Globe.

English runs through Feb. 25.

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Still drunk on “Sideways”

Photo by Kevin Berne

On Sunday, I attended opening night of Sideways at La Jolla Playhouse (read a Q & A with the author and UCSD alum Rex Pickett here). The play was based on the novel that became a 2004 movie starring Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden Church, and Sandra Oh.

For those who haven’t seen the movie (full disclosure: I had only seen a few clips), the story follows two old friends on a bachelor party-wine tour week from Santa Monica to Paso Robles. Miles (Patrick Breen) is a depressive, failed writer/divorcee/oenophile and Jack (Sean Allan Krill) is his TV-directing, commitmentphobe buddy (he’s the one getting married).

All four leads were outstanding (Breen, Krill, and Zoe Chao as Terra and Nadia Bowers as Maya), as well as Cynthia Mace, who plays Miles’s mother.

The fast-paced dialogue is an intoxicating mix of smart wine talk, literary references, funny one-liners, and outrageous pick-up lines.

My dad (my date for the night) said the play had more depth than the movie, and that the play was indeed superior to the film. (I’m guessing Director Emeritus Des McAnuff sprinkled some of his magic on the script.) My dad was also excited that he had been to some of the actual wineries visited by the characters.

Things took a slight left turn with a wild boar-hunting scene. I could have done without it—especially because it would have cut down the 2.5-hour run time, but other than that, Sideways was quite impressive.

A warning: If you’re a sensitive theatergoer (Mom), this play contains a lot of F-bombs, a little nudity, some loud lovemaking noises, and lines like, “This wine is tighter than my high school girlfriend.” And if you’re a teetotaler, well, the actors poured and imbibed so many glasses onstage, I practically sprinted in my 5-inch heels to the concession stand at intermission for a pinot noir.

All told, it was the best show I’ve seen at the Playhouse in the last few years. Better than Chaplin, Sleeping Beauty Wakes, Little Miss Sunshine, Glengarry Glen Ross, Hands on a Hardbody…even His Girl Friday, dare I say it. Maybe even better than the Des McAnuff-directed Jesus Christ Superstar. Sideways should go to Broadway and I hope it does.

Make sure to get tickets before the final performance on August 25.

Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse

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His Girl Friday, now at the La Jolla Playhouse, was written by Broadway stud John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation). The “romantic newsroom comedy” is an updated, adapted version of both the movie His Girl Friday and the play The Front Page—only this time it is set in 1939, on the brink of World War II.

In the press room at a Chicago courthouse, reporters wait for the hanging of a man named Earl. Meantime, ex-reporter Hildy Johnson (played brilliantly by Jenn Lyon) is back for a visit, just before her upcoming wedding. Enter her ex-husband and newspaper owner Walter Burns (Douglas Sills, another major standout), who wants her back—and working on a story about Earl, who he thinks is innocent.

The snappy dialogue, the humor, and the detailed set (designed by Robert Brill) make this three-hour play fly by. Put simply, this is one of the best shows I have seen in San Diego, not just at the Playhouse. Normally, to see this kind of theater, you have to first pay for a plane ticket to New York. So get thee to the Playhouse. I will say no more.

Review: His Girl Friday

Kevin Berne

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Despite the title, the play is quite funny. I would call it a dramedy, though, because of the plot. And I would caution that, because of some strong language and clips of hip hop music, Gen-X/Y audiences might relate better.

The play follows 26-year-old Melody (Zoe Winters) whose newlywed hubby travels often for work. [SPOILER ALERT]: He dies suddenly in a plane crash, and she is left without friends or occupation in their new home in Connecticut. Having never even been to a funeral, Melody learns to cope with the help of her widowed mother-in-law, Hope (Estabrook).

The play, written by Bekah Brunstetter and directed by Hal Brooks, makes you think about your present and past relationships. Set in the modern day, it’s very relatable, and it compels you consider what it means to love a person, to lose him/her, and also how we mourn—and move on.

I attended the show with fellow editor Kimberly Cunningham. She cried the entire time. She said, “I almost went into the ugly cry.” Ha!

There was an usher standing at the door with a Kleenex box. Kim took two tissues. It was a good night at the theater.

Review: “Little Widow” has a lot of life

Photo by Ed Krieger

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