[title]
What's in a language?
The very concept of language—at the heart of all industries, social relationships and personal identity—has rarely been explored as humanely as it has been in English, the 100-minute Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Sanaz Toossi currently mounted at the Tood Haimes Theatre on Broadway.
Set in a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) prep class in Iran, the production follows four students and their teacher as they navigate the complexities of learning English, specifically dissecting the ability to be their true selves in the foreign tongue.
While the play borders on the comedic—and, at times, is laugh-out-loud funny—it also carries deeper, almost sad undertones. Mostly, it leads spectators to the conclusion that truly mastering a language is an incredibly wild and rare feat. One might become fluent but still struggle to truly express themselves authentically.
As the play nears its official closing in March, director Knud Adams sits down with Time Out New York to discuss the merits of the successful production. Knud reflects on the limitations of language and the brilliant theater techniques used to convey the nuances of speaking two different tongues on stage, ensuring English will be understood by everyone in the audience.
The play makes use of a very particular narrative device when indicating what language the characters are speaking. When they're talking Farsi, they are fluent English speakers. When speaking English as their second language, though, they have accents. Who came up with that technique?
Knud Adams: "That was Sanaz's device and it was there from the very first draft of the play that I read. It felt so intuitive to me that I didn't realize how profound it was going to be for the audience. We took it for granted.
At the last minute, the characters flip to speaking real Farsi—which I think is perfect. Farsi speakers in the audience have told me how meaningful it is to finally hear their mother tongue in a Broadway context and non-Farsi speaking audience member understand the momentousness of that moment."
What made you agree to direct the play? What about it mostly spoke to you?
KA: "In our first meeting, Sanaz discussed her history in developing the play and her frustration with the limited ways that the Middle East had been depicted on stage. Her aspiration for something really elevated and beautiful, her desire for something romantic and grand, [those are all things that] really spoke to me."
The set is basically a box that rotates and functions as the classroom. What was the inspiration?
KA: "I was very protective of that life-size scale after having looked at hundred of images of TOEFL classrooms, some that came from out lighting designer's personal photos because he took the TOEFL in Iran. All these classrooms have a very specific orientation and I couldn't violate that reality."
What message do you hope to get across after each performance?
KA: "I'm really bad at message. My obsession is the psychological reality of the characters and their given circumstances seen through the lens of this very filmic, aesthetically curated experience that I want to offer them through the plastics of the production. Basically, I hope they feel transported to that classroom and I hope they fall in love with the characters. It's just an exercise of empathy that theater can and should be dong."
Why do you think has English resonated so much with all types of audience members?
KA: "It's just the right play for the moment. It offers empathy. It's this fly-on-the-wall experience of sitting in a room in a country that is far from here and yet is populated by people that feel so close to us, so relatable and witty and subversive. I think it's a play that stubbornly resists moralizing and I think that sort of enigmatic quality is why it feels like a classic.
I also think it's the job of plays to provide opportunities for really good actors to do really good work. We have an amazing ensemble of actors here: it's a showcase for them."