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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

English

From left, Narges Kalogli, Tara Grammy, Nina Ameri, Nazanin Nour, and Maboud Ebrahimzadeh in a 2023 production of English.

Until June 29
269 Kilburn High Rd, Kilburn, London NW6 7JR, United Kingdom

“English only.” Those are the formidable words that launch the drama in Sanaz Toossi’s play English. Set in Kara, Iran, in the early 2000s, it follows four adult students who are studying for the TOEFL—the Test of English as a Foreign Language. As the teacher, Marjan, leads the class through various exercises, the students slowly reveal why they want to learn the language. Over the six weeks of the course, flirtations and rivalries emerge as well. The play, which premiered in February 2022 in Manhattan, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2023. It is now onstage in London. —Jensen Davis