Anna Burnside reviews a production with good ingredients that comes out undercooked.
Some of the finest books in the cookery canon have been written by migrants pining for the tastes of home. Madhur Jaffrey, for example, began collecting her mother’s recipes when she was a lonely drama student in London.
Iranian Atoosa Sepehr found herself in the UK on the run from her abusive husband. But her instinct was the same. She too was starting from scratch - as her character tells us at the start of the show, she was one of the country’s 85% of highly educated women. Of course she didn’t work. She was too busy running her international accountancy business.
Sepehr's story, as recreated as a live cookery demonstration by playwright Hannah Khalil, is about finding community through food. As she chops herbs and drains lentils, Isabella Nefar re-enacts Sepehr’s terrifying flight from Iran, sweating through international departures before her husband cancels her passport.
It’s a smart enough conceit but the show feels like a lo-fi fringe production given a generous budget. Portentous rumbling sound effects do a lot of heavy lifting. Cans and implements in the staged kitchen flicker with internal fairy lights. At one point there’s a slideshow on the fridge.
Nefar’s delivery was lumpy in places. The soup, however, smelled great.
My English Persian Kitchen performs at the Traverse Theatre until August 25, 2024. Check the theatre’s website for specific performance times.
Photo by Ellie Kurttz.
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