Old Globe’s ‘English’ to tell the story of how language can change the trajectory of people’s lives

The cast of "English" at the Old Globe sit together at four school desks with a teacher standing to the right.

San Diego-born Iranian American director Arya Shahi says a script of this quality “only comes around every 10 or 20 years.’”

Jan. 28, 2024 6 AM PT

Anyone who’s tried to learn another language knows that doing so can come with little victories but a lot of frustrations. For four students in a suburban Tehran classroom studying for the Test of English as a Foreign Language, better known as the TOEFL, the learning process brings out much more, on a deeper, more personal level.

Iranian American playwright Sanaz Toossi’s “English,” winner of last year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama, explores issues of individual identity and destiny through the lens of such a language class.

Sanaz Toossi is the author of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "English," at the Old Globe.

“It’s a much bigger conversation that’s happening in this show,” said Arya Shahi, who’s directing this production of “English” in the Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre.

“It’s about why we learn other languages. It’s about how your priorities change as you grow older and about what your aspirations are when you’re a kid versus what the world does to you as you age,” he said. “I’m taken aback by what people resort to when they try to be the best version of themselves but don’t really have the resources to do so.”

Shahi, an Iranian American who was born in San Diego and is a co-founder and creative artist in the storytelling collective PigPen Theatre Co., recalled his immediate reaction to Toossi’s play. “It’s one of the few times I’ve read a script and thought, ‘Wow. This only comes around every 10 or 20 years.’”

“English” marks Shahi’s third experience working at the Old Globe.

Arya Shahi is directing the 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "English" at the Old Globe.

New York-based PigPen Theatre staged the play-with-music “The Old Man and the Old Moon” at the Globe in 2017 and the musical fairy tale “The Tale of Despereaux” there in 2019 following an earlier reading at the Globe’s Powers New Voices Festival. In both productions Shahi was part of the PigPen cast.

“I think the first time we came to the Globe, I realized it was becoming an artistic home for us on this side of the country,” said Shahi. “They really do know how to support artists that they’re excited about.”

Old Globe artistic director Barry Edelstein invited Shahi to direct “English,” which will be his first directorial effort outside of a PigPen Theatre production.

“When Barry asked me to direct it, it was another full-circle moment for me,” Shahi said. “In every step of my career there’s been a moment of growth, of definition.”

Directing “English” is one of those defining experiences for Shahi.

“I’d never read a play about Iranians,” he said. “I never thought that we’d arrive at this moment where a writer like Sanaz would deliver such a powerful and masterful script. It’s undeniably good.”

This Globe production features a scenic designer, Sadra Tehrani, who was born in Iran and an Iranian American costume designer, Afsaneh Aayani. The cast includes Mary Apick, a well-known actor in Iran.

“Mary is like a legendary Iranian actress who was a film star before the revolution,” said Shahi. “To have her in the cast is a surreal experience. I hadn’t watched her films, but when I told my parents that she was in my show, they couldn’t believe it. (Mary) was a film and TV star in that country. She said that theater was a limited part of her career but her favorite part of her career.”

While Shahi, 36, emphasizes that “English” is not a political piece — “There’s not a single line about the government of Iran in this play” — he does feel the responsibility of furthering the Iranian cultural tradition of storytelling.

“It hurts after 36 years that the only thing that makes it into the (American) national narrative about Iran is ugly,” he said. “My own version of activism and protest and attempting to correct that narrative is writing books, directing plays and facilitating our voice as a culture the best I can.”

Shahi recently published his first novel, “An Impossible Thing To Say,” a coming-of-age story about a teenager growing up in Tucson who, among other complications, for the first time meets his grandparents who have immigrated from Iran. Between his novel, which is written in verse, and “English,” a tale of learning language, Shahi is content with his role as a storyteller.

“Any way I can tell a story,” he said, “I will do it. I’m a word nerd. I love language. I couldn’t have asked for a better show to helm at the Globe.”