Language as Identity

English

Think about it: our language is not only how we communicate with others, it’s also our identity. We connect through English, sharing ideas and information. We embrace and use our language to experience the world. But a language can be as much of a barrier between people, who aren’t fluent in it, as it is a pipeline for understanding others with similar skills. 

Learning English for an individual whose native language is vastly different can be frightening and extremely challenging. Mastering fluency in English for these students represents driving ambition. In Sanaz Toossi’s excellent Pulitzer Prize-winning play, four Iranian adults have enrolled in a class to prepare them to successfully pass the TOEFL, the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Mastery of English will practically guarantee the students with success with the Western World. Each of the students in Marjan’s class has his or her own particular reason for achieving fluency in English, in addition to excelling on the examination. But they also harbor a very real fear that in speaking English they are also negating and removing their Iranian identity.

Set in 2008, when Iran was experiencing a huge political change, many people were unsure of what the future would ultimately hold. Would learning English be an advantage or a liability in achieving their individual goals? Throughout this long one-act, each student, as well as the instructor, finds they’re continually weighing the joy of becoming bilingual with the fear of what learning English might really mean to their future.

Marjan used to be known as “Mary” when she lived in Manchester, England for ten years. She’s returned to her home and family in Karaj, Iran to teach English to her fellow Iranians. Played with empathy, a calm dignity and a determination to enable success in her students, Roxanna Hope Radja is excellent. Although met with some resistance from her students, Marjan strongly believes that the best way to learn the language is to become totally immersed in it. Therefore, she tries to forbid her pupils from speaking their native Farsi while in class, and even at home, which creates deep frustration and raises strong objections from some of her students. Ms. Radja, who’s been seen on Broadway in TORCH SONG, THE WOMEN and FROST/NIXON, is accomplished and believable in this leading role.

Marjan’s most challenging student is Elham, a smart, young woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind—but in Farsi. She mildly berates her teacher for not allowing the students to speak in their native language, even doling out demerits to anyone who slips and converses in Farsi. Beautifully portrayed by Nikki Massoud, Elham is highly competitive. She’s driven to finally master the TOEFL so she’s able to attend medical school in Australia. Ms. Massoud’s character is fierce, a bit snarky to the others but filled with energy and determination.

Handsome Pej Vahdat, known for his many television appearances, is currently a regular on “The Old Man,” on FX. He makes his Goodman debut as Omid, the only male student in the class. He keeps it a secret that, although his parents are Iranian, he was born in Ohio. Omid has returned to his parents’ homeland with dual citizenship. With this English class, he’s integrating back into Iranian life, while prepping for his green card interview. However, Omid feels like an outsider even though he seems to be Marjan’s favorite student. That’s because he’s charming, amiable and speaks better English than her. He’s even managed to smooth over any noticeable Farsi accent. One of the funniest of many comic moments comes when Marjan invites her student to view a video of “Notting Hill.” Omid remarks that Julia Roberts has such big teeth, so large that “she could probably chew wire!”

The oldest student in the group is Roya, a grandmother whose adult son now lives with his family in Canada. She’s eager to impress him and be able to communicate with her little granddaughter, who doesn’t understand Farsi. In her futile attempts to contact her family, Roya teaches her fellow students the significance of our individual personal memories. Played with dignity and honest compassion by Sahar Bibiyan, the actress appeared in Berkeley Rep’s West Coast Premiere of ENGLISH. This production marks Ms. Bibiyan’s debut at Chicago’ Goodman Theatre. And Goli, the youngest student in the class, is brought to life by talented Chicago actress, Shadee Vossoughi. She’s a familiar face, having appeared at the Goodman in LAYALINA, recently at Northlight in SELLING KABUL and at Writers Theatre in A DISTINCT SOCIETY. The teenager is motivated to master English to improve her choices and opportunities in the future, although what tomorrow may bring is unclear at this time.

Sensitively staged and guided by Director, playwright and actor Hamid Dehghani, Sanaz Toosi’s wonderful play vividly springs to life. In addition to drawing great performances from his cast, he’s employed smart blocking choices to keep Courtney O’Neill’s schoolroom Scenic Design from feeling static. The cast continually rearranges the desks and the dry erase board, while changing the seating chart. In this way the scene always looks a bit different and each character rotates to be closer to the audience. 

A particularly clever convention is employed for the characters’ dialogue. Whenever the actors speak in fluent American English, filled with contemporary slang and modern attitude, we understand that the characters are comfortably communicating in Farsi. But when their speech turns halting, staccato and heavily accented, that’s when the characters are making their valiant attempts at English. The result is that the characters sound as if they’re actually alternating between two languages.

 Mastering and speaking the English language fluently can be daunting, at best. Learning a new language isn’t easy for anyone because Language is, in reality, a large part of our identity. To learn any new language requires a unique mindset and a willingness to change the student’s identity. This is especially true for the four characters in this play. Remembering this, as we laugh through the students’ role playing games, their awkward show-and-tell sessions and other learning activities that Marjan uses in her teaching, we see that our Language and our Identities are intimately connected. 

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented May 20-June 16 by the by Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, Chicago. 

Tickets are available in person at the Goodman box office, by calling 312-443-3800 or by going to www.GoodmanTheatre.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.