Four of the five actors who have been cast in Sanaz Toossi’s English which will have its European première at The Other Place, Stratford before transferring to London will make their Royal Shakespeare Company debuts.
The only one returning to the company is Nadia Albina who will play Marjan. She took the role of Cassandra in Marina Carr’s adaptation of Euripides’ Hecuba, Bianca in Othello and Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice, all in 2015.
Sara Hazemi will play Goli in English. She was nominated for an Off West End Theatre award for lead performance in a play for her role as Elif in Sami Ibrahim’s A Sudden Violent Burst of Rain at the Gate Theatre in 2022.
Lanna Joffrey will play Roya. She appeared in Rachel Willson-Broyles’s translation of Jonas Hassen-Khemiri’s I Call My Brothers at the Gate Theatre in 2016. Nojan Khazai is an Oxford School of Drama graduate who will make his professional debut in the role of Omid. Serena Manteghi will play Elham.
The Pulitzer Prize-winner English features four adult classmates in Iran grappling with learning English. As they attempt to perfect their accents, pronunciation and vocabulary, they realise there is more to their lives than can ever be uttered through language.
Diyan Zora directs. The creative team includes set and costume designer Anisha Fields, lighting designer Elliot Griggs, sound designer George Dennis, movement director Maria Tarokh and casting director Lotte Hines CDG.
English will run in The Other Place, Stratford from Thursday 9 May until Saturday 1 June before transferring to the Kiln, London from Wednesday 5 until Saturday 29 June.