REVIEW: MY ENGLISH PERSIAN KITCHEN at Soho Theatre 16 Sept – 5 Oct 2024

‘Fractured memories, tastes of home and the smell of frying onions’ ★★★★

Inspired by a true story, this one woman show tells of new immigrant Atoosa Sepehr’s search for community and connection as she recreates the tastes of her home in Iran. Forced to flee from her life and family to escape an abusive husband, she lands in the UK knowing no one. She works hard to learn about and navigate a world that feels alien and unfriendly. What roots her is her quest to find the flavours of the life she left back in Iran.

My English Persian Kitchen is a gem of a show, well worth navigating the Dante-esque circles of hell that audiences must navigate to get to their seats at the Soho Theatre (queuing in an overcrowded bar, last minute rushed entry, ushers screaming orders as if we were in some kind of military bootcamp...)  As Sepehr’s story emerges, actress Isabella Nefar cooks a Persian noodle soup in real time. The sights and smells of cooking are the backdrop for an extraordinary tale of surviving and escaping a horrific marriage, fear and depression, hope and memories of the people and stories that have made Sepehr who she is.

Isabella Nefar’s performance was extraordinary. The structure of the play flips back and forth between memory and the present day, between manic positivity and terror. Nefar navigated those changes effortlessly - while cooking.

Pip Terry’s set was simple but marvellously conceived. Marty Langthorne’s lighting and Dan Balfour’s sound were almost like characters in the play. Hannah Khalil’s writing was breathtaking, with rhythms and structure that really conveyed the fractured mind of a woman recovering from trauma. I was craving a little more variety in the pacing, but I think that had more to do with the direction than the writing.

I was sitting next to the tech station and the constant noise of voices from what I think was the technician’s walkie talkie destroyed key moments of dramatic tension that Nefar worked so hard to create. Very irritating.

At the end of the show, the audience were invited to taste the soup Nefar had made. So many people rushed up, I didn’t get to try it, but if it tasted as good as it smelled, it would have been a fitting metaphor for an incredible performance.

Photography credit: Ellie Kurttz

MY ENGLISH PERSIAN KITCHEN by Hannah Khalil, Soho Theatre, 16 September to 5 October, https://sohotheatre.com/events/my-english-persian-kitchen-3/

Performer: Isabella Nefar

Writer: Hannah Khalil

Director: Chris White

Set Design and Costume: Pip Terry

Lighting: Marty Langthorne

Sound: Dan Balfour

Movement Direction: Jess Tucker Boyd

Associate Lighting: Craig West

Reviewer: Srabani Sen

Reviewer Srabani is a theatre actress and playwright. As an actress she has performed at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (The Globe), the Arcola, Southwark Playhouse, The Pleasance and numerous fringe theatres, in a range of roles from Shakespeare to plays by new and emerging writers. She has written several short and full length plays. Her play Tawaif was longlisted for the ETPEP Finborough award, and her play Vijaya was shortlisted for the Sultan Padamsee Playwrights Award in Mumbai.