NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Theatergoers seeing the Pulitzer Prize-winning play 鈥淓nglish鈥� at the will have a treat this fall. They'll get to see the playwright up on stage.
steps into the role she wrote as one of four Iranian students preparing for an English language exam over several weeks in a storefront school near Tehran.
鈥淚鈥檒l be the first to say I make fun of actors all the time. So then playing this role has been humbling in the best way,鈥� she says, laughing, between rehearsals. The production in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, runs from Sept. 27鈥揙ct. 15.
鈥淓nglish鈥� explores the ways in which language shapes identity, can help people feel understood or misunderstood and the push and pull of culture. It's funny, tender and sharp, all at the same time.
鈥淚鈥檝e honestly just had to forget that I wrote the play,鈥� says Toossi. 鈥淚 just can鈥檛 use my playwright brain right now. I think it would be impossible to do this play. I can鈥檛 be the writer in the room.鈥�
Toossi, an Iranian American from Orange County, California, graduated with a master鈥檚 from New York University. She was a theater kid growing up and featured in a regional production of 鈥淎 Christmas Carol鈥� playing Martha Cratchit.
鈥淓nglish鈥� 鈥� written in the wake of then-President Donald Trump鈥檚 ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries 鈥� premiered off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company in 2022. It has also played Washington, D.C.鈥檚 Studio Theatre. The latest production co-stars veterans of the play from those shows.
鈥淚 love that you have to release something you鈥檝e written into the world. I have found pleasure in ceding control of my version of the thing. I love that there鈥檚 such a mystery in what we do. And every production has taken ownership of the play,鈥� she says.
Last year, Toossi stepped into her play 鈥淲ish You Were Here鈥� for one night when an actor was stricken by COVID-19. 鈥淚 was only in two scenes, and I think I added five minutes to the runtime,鈥� she says, laughing.
鈥淚 had a blast on stage. So it鈥檚 been fun to jump back into acting with my own play with this cast and creative team, who I know very well. It feels very safe.鈥�
The play is packed with cultural references 鈥� like to Christiane Amanpour, 鈥淲henever, Wherever鈥� by Shakira, and Hugh Grant. One character admires Julia Roberts鈥� teeth, saying 鈥淭hey could rip through wire. In a good way.鈥�
鈥淭his play is not for just Iranians and not just for people who are learning a new language,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just for honestly anyone who at some point has opened their mouth, said something and it鈥檚 come out the wrong way.鈥�
Toossi will play Elham, a 28-year-old student who is spiky and anxious to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language so her provisional acceptance at an Australian medical school can become official.
鈥淚 think she鈥檚 so angered by the injustice of it all that she has to leave and that to leave she has to learn this new language and in pursuit of that new language, she sounds like an idiot,鈥� says Toossi.
鈥淚鈥檓 just really familiar with the feeling of hearing something come out of your mouth, knowing that鈥檚 not exactly what you meant and seeing the unintended consequences of what you just said reverberate throughout the room.鈥�
The script calls for the play to be performed with a running time 鈥渘o less than 90 minutes and no more than 105 minutes.鈥� That's Toossi's attempt to signal to directors the mood of the piece 鈥� not a two-hour dark drama and not a quick farce.
鈥淚t should not feel too sad, but it also shouldn鈥檛 be played as like a broad comedy,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his is not a play about sad, depressed Iranians. It鈥檚 a play about people really trying to make themselves understood and the failures are often funny.鈥�
puts her in the company of August Wilson, Edward Albee, Eugene O鈥橬eill, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Toossi says the win has relieved some pressure on her going forward.
鈥淚 take such pleasure in winning this award once. I don鈥檛 feel the need to ever win it again. So I am going to try and relieve myself of the burden of writing a play that everyone likes,鈥� she says.
鈥淲hen I wrote this play, I didn鈥檛 think anyone would do it, let alone that it would win a Pulitzer. So as much as I can, I want to try to return to that mode of writing where it鈥檚 just for me.鈥�
She's also found that there are other benefits to winning a Pulitzer, albeit much smaller ones. 鈥淢y dentist is so much nicer to me now,鈥� she says, laughing. 鈥淗e really waits for the numbing shot to set in.鈥�
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Mark Kennedy is at
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
