English might sound like it's set in a grammar school, but this story takes place in an Iranian classroom where four adult students - and one determined teacher - tackle linguistic hurdles one by one. Their goal? To pass their English proficiency exam But as the words pile up, so do their dreams, secrets, and unspoken desires. Writer Sanaz Toossi and Director Knud Adams bring you the universal oddities of language and misinterpretation in a way that's hilarious, graceful, and from what the critics say - a roaring success!

Remember to catch English before it closes at the Todd Haimes Theater on Mar 2, 2025

Critic Reviews of English

"The Broadway transfer of Sanaz Toossi's "English," which opened on Thursday at the Todd Haimes Theater, is the consummate consomm. Even more so than when it debuted Off Broadway in 2022, and won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2023, it strikes me as a work of uncommon discipline despite its big and occasionally easy laughs. Without ever releasing a tight grip on its theme or perhaps because of that tight grip it suggests a world of small tragedies and smaller compensations." - The New York Times

"If Toossi's thoughtful and searching play has things to teach us - about character, culture, postcolonial identity - it does so through immersion. We first see Marjan's classroom from the outside, through a window. But Marsha Ginsberg's boxed set soon rotates to invite us inside; it keeps turning throughout the play to give us new angles, and Toossi does the same. Like any grammar, English has rules and structures that it carefully maintains, but enough exceptions and variations to provide character and texture. It unfolds fluently, but not glibly; its choices of word have purpose and care". - Time Out New York

"Those awards, and the move now to Broadway, where it's opening tonight at Roundabout's Todd Haimes Theater, puts the pressure of heightened expectations on "English." And, although only three years have passed, we arguably have entered a new era, politically and culturally. The result is that "English," transferring essentially intact including the same first-rate cast (all now making their Broadway debuts) plays differently for me." - New York Theater

"English, Sanaz Toossi's stunning Broadway debut, is a precise study of language's significance. The 2023 Pulitzer prize winner slyly presents as a comedy about studying a foreign language, but eventually blooms into an evocation of grief and assimilation." - The Guardian 

"I've seen "English" before, in Chicago (it also was seen Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre). The separate Goodman Theatre production had more of a sense of the world outside, to its betterment, and suggested that the classroom wasn't just a place where you lost yourself but an escape from chaos. But Adams has chosen a rather more ethereal path, scoring the show with emotive piano music and revolving the set in such a way as you feel like these students, and their teacher, are floating in a kind of linguistic netherworld, denying themselves with the prize of getting ahead." - The New York Daily News 

"This critic's advice is as simple as it was in 2022. Book a ticket right now - an exquisitely written, beautifully acted and mounted one hour and forty-five minutes of theater awaits. At this moment, with immigration - and attacks on immigrants' rights - at the top of President Trump's agenda, the play assumes a new, urgent precision". - The Daily Beast

"Absolutely nothing gets lost in the translation of Sanaz Toossi's English as the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a group of Iranians longing for the West finally makes its Broadway debut, two years after its Off Broadway bow garnered critical raves and regional stagings won over audiences with its unfailing wit, grace and compassion". - Deadline

"Crucial to the play's appeal is the way the relationships between the characters, amiable but distant at first, evolve under the astutely detailed direction of Knud Adams. This is particularly impressive because all the actors played their roles in the play's off-Broadway debut, and yet the performances still have the bloom of freshness and discovery, in exploring both the characters' sympathies and antipathies." - The Wall Street Journal 

"English begins with a teacher writing the words "English Only" on the whiteboard. These two words set into motion a moving show that wrestles with identity and showcases the chaos and power of communication. In any language, English is a triumph: Sanaz Toossi's Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a compelling exploration of how language shapes who we are and how we navigate the world." - New York Theatre Guide

"Knud Adams translates his impeccable production to a Broadway venue without losing any of the original intimacy or fine-grained naturalism. The director smartly brings his superlative designers from the Atlantic: Marsha Ginsberg with her modular, deracinated classroom rotating in black void; evocative sunlight and streetlight by Reza Behjat filtering through pale amber curtains; and Enver Chakartash's costumesWestern streetwear accented with jewel-toned scarves and accessories. Between this intensely focused and sensitive staging and his no-less powerful handling of Primary Trust, Adams must be on top of every young playwright's vision board. Whatever dialect he's speaking, it's welcome on the ear." - Observer