“ENGLISH” EXPLORES LANGUAGE, IDENTITY & BELONGING AT THEATERWORKS
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LONG WHARF THEATRE.
Have you ever gone years without making someone laugh? Have you ever had trouble communicating who you are? How do you master the English language when your accent is considered a war crime? English navigates the power of language, identity and belonging as four Iranian students prepare for the TOEFL - the Test of English as a Foreign Language.
Image courtesy of Theaterworks Hartford
At a time in our country when immigrants are punished just for existing and a certain brand of “American-ness” is being perpetuated, Theaterworks, in partnership with the Long Wharf Theatre, present a play that bravely yet compassionately compels its audience to consider a foreign perspective. If you’ve ever studied a foreign language, you can understand the frustration of communication, but to migrate to a country where your native tongue is weighed down with stigma is an altogether alienating experience. As teacher Marjan enforces a strict English only rule in class, her admiration and sometimes fanatical devotion to the English language reveals how we prioritize and romanticize it over other equally, if not more poetic languages, such as Farsi.
“English speaks to the theatre of this moment - urgent, resonant and deeply human,” Long Wharf Theatre’s artistic director Jacob Padrón accurately surmises. Meanwhile, TWH artistic director Rob Ruggiero expresses, “At its heart, English is a beautifully simple story with a powerful message about language and how the words we use shape who we are. Its themes of identity and belonging will deeply resonate with our audiences.”
Image courtesy of Theaterworks Hartford
To watch English is a truly immersive and transformative experience as the actors effortlessly bring us into their world and put us in their shoes — trying to master a language that has been weaponized against them, trying to love a language that may not love them back. English forces to you to question who you are if you cannot speak. English will run at Theaterworks Hartford until November 8 before it moves to the LongWharf Theatre from January 16 - February 1, 2026.
Image courtesy of Theaterworks Hartford