Review: MY ENGLISH PERSIAN KITCHEN, Soho Theatre

On the press night for My English Persian Kitchen, the smell of chopped onion, mint, and garlic wafts down the stairs of Soho Theatre. Hannah Khalil’s atmospheric play, combining true storytelling and live cooking, turns these scents into stories rooted in real life. Fresh from the Traverse programme at Edinburgh Fringe, the show comes to Soho for its London run.

Chopping ingredients, performer Isabella Nefar tells the audience that she’s making the traditional Iranian dish Ash E-Reshteh. Each step of the recipe finds itself woven together with an account of womanhood in Iran: despite being a successful businesswoman, our protagonist finds herself trapped in an abusive marriage, her freedom of movement taken away, leaving her forced to flee to London and start again from scratch. Together, these two threads form an intricate tapestry of memories and tastes. 

At its best, this creative structure is stunning. Sounds of cutting and sizzling create an ominous discomfort, the chopping knife at once a symbol of home-cooked food and of lurking violence. Director Chris White helps the show flicker between comforting and frightening, making kitchen furniture into a set for a desperate journey across international borders. 

This is exemplified by Marty Langthorne’s excellent lighting – lights come from pots, bowls, overhead lamps, and fridges, immersing us simultaneously in both a normal kitchen and an environment of threat. This creative lighting is especially impactful when used in conjunction with Dan Balfour’s sound design, which uses the onstage sizzling and frying in contrast with echoes of struggle and trauma. 

Khalil’s writing is well-crafted and lyrical, drawing thoughtful parallels and finding the humanity and relatability in a story that could otherwise feel far away. The script weakens as the show goes on, however, with what is initially sharp and exciting slowly becoming somewhat repetitive. A few pacing errors also mean the tension built is never given a real payoff, as audiences work out the details of the story fairly early on. Nonetheless, the details of Atoosa Sepehr’s original story are compelling throughout. Nefar is immediately likeable as our protagonist, but it does feel as though she begins to somewhat buckle under the weight and complexity of the narrative as it progresses, fumbling over a few lines. 

The strongest element of My English Persian Kitchen is the concept at its core. It subverts our ideas of what a ‘cooking show’ could be, the cooking truly interwoven with the narrative rather than just being a gimmick. Food is at the heart of the show, rooted in family, memory, and nostalgia in a way that speaks not only to modern Iran but to anyone who has moved to a new place. In this ambitious and heartfelt production, the chance to try the dish at the end of the play is more than a free treat, but a chance to join a community being built in real time. 

My English Persian Kitchen runs at Soho Theatre (Upstairs) until 5 October

Cover Image Credit: Ellie Kurttz

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