Review: WISH YOU WERE HERE, Gate Theatre @ Theatro Technis

The start of Sanaz Toossi’s Wish You Were Here sees girlies being girlies in 1978 Iran. While more protests keep breaking out around the country, five friends plan their lives between waxing each other’s legs and dreaming about their future husbands.

Their youthful Iranian bliss is rudely interrupted by the escalation of the Islamic revolution of 1979. Suddenly, their friendship is threatened by bigger concerns than what it will feel like to lose their virginity. As emigration becomes the only safest choice, will they manage to remain close in the shadow of Iranian authoritarianism? Last year’s Pulitzer Prize winner explores the fluctuations of womanhood across 13 crucial years of political turmoil and fear. Directed by Sepy Baghaei, this UK premiere is a plunge into the personal consequences of civil unrest.

It’s a script - and a production - of harrowing beauty. Its humour takes no prisoners, but neither does its profound humanity. Toossi encapsulates the specific sadness of a mutating friend group, the changes that, consciously or not, happen to each individual. She successfully ties the global to the private in detailed brushstrokes. The salient points of the Iranian conflict from the late 70s to the early 90s all get a sly mention, casually contextualising the action. As a play, it’s a bit long, but necessarily so. Running close to two hours without an interval, a few transitions and interludes could be streamlined and slightly trimmed for pacing benefits.

Sepy Baghaei directs with eloquent emotion; she gradually alters the vibe with each time-jump, souring the atmosphere imperceptibly at every scene change. One by one, the women get married, or leave, or disappear in a relentless natural flow that grievously mirrors real life. The cast flesh out the roles exquisitely from the get-go with idiosyncratic takes that grab the audience right on. They instantly become our mates, their traditions and customs are gorgeously celebrated, and we immediately care. This is how Toossi goes beyond the sociopolitical value of the piece, making it about how special female friendship is.

Afsaneh Dehrouyeh, Maryam Grace, Juliette Motamed, Isabella Nefar, and Emily Renée are a tight-knit company. They share a strong stage chemistry that results in crackling tension that runs throughout the show and drives their single narratives forward. Moments of significance are heightened by Pouya Ehsaei’s sound design receding to highlight the dialogue. A sweet nuance pervades their exchanges, lent to the performances by Toossi’s sophisticated understanding of human connection.

While this isn’t the easiest watch on a dreary autumn evening, it’s a triumphant mosaic of affection, solidarity, and loss framed by the heart-wrenching effects of upheaval. It side-steps nostalgia entirely and opts for open-hearted ingenuity instead.

Wish You Were Here runs at The Gate Theatre @ Theatro Technis until 23 November

Photo Credits: Rich Lakos/ArenaPAL

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