Four students sit in a classroom in Iran. The three women and a man are there to learn enough English to be able to pass the dreaded TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). They all have different reasons.
Along with their teacher who has returned to Iran from nine years in Manchester, they navigate the strange words, confusing grammar and foreign culture to be able to speak and read English that all believe will benefit them in some way.
This is the 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning English about to open at Alley Theatre. Written by Sanaz Toossi, the comedy explores why these students want to learn English and it’s not all because they want to leave their country in 2008.
Native speakers of English don’t understand how difficult it is to learn their language, says Evren Odcikin who is directing English at Alley Theatre. Born in Turkey, he knows this firsthand. “Because I’m an immigrant myself and have taken the TOEFL and have the personal experience about living in two languages and two cultures, both the show and my skill set aligned.
“I think for native English speakers it’s really hard to realize how hard the English language is, both in terms of grammar and vocabulary. It’s actually kind of like three languages smushed together between Frenc, German and old British and Celtic. So when you’re coming from another country it becomes a real challenge to get proficient in it.
“What the play really dives into is what it means to learn a new language especially within the context of Iran. Different people are staying and learning the language and leaving Iran and learning the language for different reasons and the kind of pressure they’re putting on themselves to be able to pass this one standardized test,” says Odcikin .
The teacher in the play is trying to teach them how to live in English, how to make a life in English whereas a lot of the students are trying to pass a test. That interesting dissonance between what they need or they believe they need and what they’re being taught is sort of the beautiful human drama and the source of a lot of comedy within the play.”
Unwilling to give too much away about the plot, Odcikin says “Within the play there are folks who are leaving to study in Australia, there are folks who have a reunion with their children who are living in Canada, they’re folks who are deciding. There are an endless set of jokes about American English, Australian English and British English and the challenges of trying to understand folks talking in any of those accents.”
The 95-minute, one-act moves quickly through different scenes, Odcikin says. “It’s a lot of short scenes that accumulate emotionally into a really beautiful ending.”
The cast includes Vaneh Assadourian as Goli, Pantea Ommi as Roya, Nima Rakhshanifar as Omid, Jaime Rezanour (Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d) as Marjanand Shadee Vossoughi as Elham.
Based out of New York, Odcikin works all over the country. For a long time he was based in San Francisco where he knew Alley Artistic Director Rob Melrose.
This is a play he’s wanted to direct for a while. “I’ve known of the play even before it was produced. It almost didn’t get produced. It took a long time for the American theater to understand the inner workings of some of this language, the trickery that Sanaz does beautifully in the play.”
He’s especially pleased to be doing this in Houston where there’s a fairly large Iranian community.
“This is the kind of play that we all dream of which is that it’s incredibly specific to its given circumstances and the culture it takes place in. In this production we’re certainly doubling down on making sure that for anyone that’s from Iran the play and the characterizations and the design feel very recognizable.
But through that specificity, it’s an incredibly universal play. It is built for American audiences to be able to step into this world. For those who have gone through an immigration experience or taking the TOEFL or are children of immigrants, they will certainly get something. But it also works incredibly beautifully on folks who might not have direct access to that experience.
“I talked to my creative team about the play as both a mirror and a bridge.” He says for those who have gone through the immigrant experience this might be the first time that’s been reflected in this level of detail. For those who don’t, it offers a chance to have an understanding of what it feels like. It won the Pulitzer for a reason.”
Performances are scheduled for February 18 through March 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 7 p.m. Sundays at Alley Theatre, 615 Texas. For more information, call 713-220-5700 or visit alleyheatre.org. $45-$93.
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.