The Royal Shakespeare Company announces the full cast and creative team for English in association with the Kiln Theatre. The Pulitzer Prize winning play by Sanaz Toossi will have its European premiere at The Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon between 9 May – 1 June before transferring to the Kiln in London from 5 June.
Full cast includes Nadia Albina as Marjan, Sara Hazemi as Goli, Lanna Joffrey as Roya, Nojan Khazai as Omid and Serena Manteghi as Elham.
Four of the five actors will make their RSC debut as part of Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey’s inaugural season as Co-Artistic Directors.
A classroom in Iran. Four adult classmates grapple with learning English as a foreign language. As they attempt to perfect their accents, pronunciation and vocabulary, they realise that there is more to their lives than can ever be uttered through language.
Nadia Albina, playing Marjan, last performed at the RSC in Hecuba, Othello and The Merchant of Venice in 2015. Albina played Lady Katherine in Emilia both at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2018 and during its West End run at the Vaudeville Theatre a year later. Other theatre credits include: Maryland, Living Newspaper: 5 (Royal Court), Dear Elizabeth (Gate Theatre), Macbeth (National Theatre) and Quiz (Chichester Festival Theatre).
Sara Hazemi makes her RSC debut as Goli – she was nominated for an Off West End Theatre Award (Lead Performance in a Play) for her role in A Sudden Violent Burst of Rain (Paines Plough/Gate Theatre). Other theatre credits include: A Guest (Vaults Festival), Half Empty Glasses, The Ultimate Pickle (Paines Plough) and Tales From Hans Christian Anderson (Guildford Shakespeare Company).
Lanna Joffrey plays Roya in her RSC debut season. Sheis an award-winning performer and a company member of The Factory, Barefoot Theatre, the Membership Lead of MENA Arts UK and the Founder of Hyphen Artist Collective. Lanna’s latest theatre credits include Sister Radio (Pitlochry, Traverse, Tron, Perth, Lemon Tree, Derby, Byre), I Call My Brothers (Gate Theatre), The Time Of Our Lies (Park Theatre) and The Eyes of the Night (Cervantes Theatre).
Nojan Khazai is an Oxford School of Drama graduate who makes his RSC and professional debut in the role of Omid.
Known for her roles in Bleak Expectations (Criterion Theatre) and as Alba Ortiz in the British thriller, The Diplomat, Serena Manteghi makes her RSC debut in the role of Elham. Other theatre credits include Hamlet (Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre), Eurydice (Holden Street Theatres, Adelaide), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Stephen Joseph Theatre), and the UK tour of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
English is directed by Diyan Zora. The creative team includes Anisha Fields as Set and Costume Designer, Elliot Griggs as Lighting Designer, George Dennis as Sound Designer, Maria Tarokh as Movement Director and Lotte Hines CDG as Casting Director.
