Edinburgh Fringe 2024
My English Persian Kitchen
Soho Theatre and Traverse Theatre
Genre: New Writing, Solo Show, Theatre
Venue: Traverse Theatre
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
What if you had to leave your home, never to return? A true story of a woman who loses everything to start anew. Written by Hannah Khalil based on the original story by Atoosa Sepehr, starring Isabella Nefar, with direction by Chris White.
Review
My English Persian Kitchen is a show where audience members should make a concerted effort to inhale upon entering the theatre. Rarely — if ever — has the the Traverse 2 smelled this good. The aroma of chopped herbs wafts in the air and (excuse the homonyms) sets the scene before the scenery is ever seen, a fitting introduction to this sweet new play where stomachs growl and hearts swell.
Isabella Nafar plays an unnamed woman who is busy prepping the mise en place for dinner guests she very much wants to not disappoint. Who these dinner guests are is the play’s big mystery, and before they are revealed Nafar cooks a family favorite, a thick Iranian noodle soup called ash-e-reshteh.
Even when finished, however, this dish will not be served to her family. The woman has had to leave them behind in Iran to flee a dire marriage and has started anew in the United Kingdom. As she prepares this special familial treat from her London home, and as we in the audience smell fresh garlic frying in its hot pan, lights flicker and we see her become alert like prey sensing a nearby predator. In this case the hunter is her husband, and her entire demeanor changes as she listens to his insistent voicemail messages. Scenes alternate between her explaining the finer points of the recipe she is preparing with the challenges and sadness she faces as she plots her escape and departs her homeland and loved ones.
My English Persian Kitchen is a charming show that could use a bit more spice. More specificity about the woman’s marriage could raise the stakes to a more dramatic degree; the outlines the audience is given are too vague to make us truly worry for her. In addition, her thoughts and anecdotes about life as an immigrant were most engaging; more of that would be welcome. As is, the show aptly feels like a comfortable bowl of soup on a rainy afternoon, with its most winning ingredient being Nafar, who exudes warmth and hospitality. She is a radiant stage presence, and breaking bread with her is time well spent.
