Review: MY ENGLISH PERSIAN KITCHEN, Soho Theatre
Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz
My English Persian Kitchen provides a unique theatrical experience which encompasses all the senses. Isabella Nefar brings to life Hannah Khalil’s text as she cooks and shares her story of grief, struggle and the journey it takes to preserve one’s identity in the face of profound loss. Directed by Chris White, My English Persian Kitchen opened at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 before transferring to Soho Theatre for its preliminary run last September.
Hannah Khalil’s writings are based on the true story of Atoosa Sepehr, detailing her forced escape from her home in Iran to her new life in England. The audience watches as she puts together one of her mother’s recipes whilst detailing how she lost herself and her identity through the trauma of a domestically abusive relationship. The juxtaposition created by watching her build a meal through simple actions whilst telling us the story of how she herself became fractured and broken invokes a clear message of the non-linear nature of the healing process. At its core, My English Persian Kitchen is a narrative about resilience and the power it takes to keep going after losing so much.
The show plays with timelines, consistently jumping between the past in Iran and the present, cooking in her home in London. Some of these moments happen seamlessly, enhanced by other factors of production to make the audience feel like they are travelling back into a memory with the performer. Marty Langthorne’s immersive lighting design is key for this. Langthorne successfully uses shadows to enhance the memory theme of this piece, making the audience feel like they are seeing the memories forming in the storyteller’s mind as she cooks.
However, at other points, these moments do not work as well as they could, with the movement and story feeling trapped by the need to continue cooking. The pacing of the performance feels disrupted by the frequent time jumps and the production elements do not always integrate as successfully as they could. That said, the moments when the sound, lighting and movement do work well together, a beautiful and moving scene is created on stage.
The story beautifully illustrates the importance of food for connection to oneself and the community around you. Despite feeling disconnected from the piece at moments, the overall message of this show is profound. The action of cooking gives the protagonist a connection to her new community and ties her back to her memories of home, even amidst experiencing displacement and loss. A brave and compelling piece of theatre.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Amelia Griffiths
