A five-sense wonder that leaves you with a warm, glowing feeling deep in your belly.Rating
Excellent
Back from a sell-out run at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe and now at Soho Theatre, My English Persian Kitchen, written by Hannah Khalil and inspired by the life of Atoosa Sepehr, continues to delight the senses, bringing a taste of Iran to the heart of the West End before heading off on a short tour.
Performer Isabella Nefar brings Sepehr’s powerful story to life with striking sensitivity and conviction and I have to say it’s the first time I’ve truly experienced all five senses engaged in a theatre setting. As we enter, we’re met with Pip Terry’s deceptively simple set: a kitchen worktop that suggests we’re about to watch a live cooking demo. But this setup quickly transforms into something more profound – the utensils and ingredients aren’t just props; they’re tools of memory and storytelling, used in real time to evoke a life lived across cultures.
Nefar commands attention with her focused, unforced performance. As she begins to chop vegetables and stir aromatic spices, it feels like watching someone make a dish they’ve lovingly prepared a thousand times before. We’re drawn in by her warmth, ready to listen and to learn her cooking secrets, when suddenly the tone shifts. The act of cooking becomes a backdrop for fragmented recollections of her life in Iran and the journey that brought her to the UK.
These flashbacks are seamlessly woven into the performance, aided by Marty Langthorne’s precise lighting design and Dan Balfour’s haunting soundscapes. A warm kitchen glow is interrupted by Nefar shining harsh spotlights upon herself, recalling moments of fear and surveillance through these particular memories of her controlling ex-husband. Jess Tucker Boyd’s movement direction, paired with Nefar’s physicality, captures how trauma lingers in the body. Her gestures become jagged and jarring, underscoring the abuse she has endured and escaped.
Throughout the show, the air fills with the scent of cooking, and we can’t help but wonder, is this dish just a theatrical illusion, or will it be real? When we finally see the finished meal, we realise it’s not just a clever device but a deeply symbolic one. Khalil cleverly mirrors the idea of ‘perfect timing’ in both cooking and in the character’s narrow escape from Iran, with just an hour spare before her ex-husband could block her passport – proving that one single moment can drastically change the course of our lives.
Where cooking was once a duty imposed upon Iranian women by the patriarchal regime, here we see it being reclaimed in a joyful longing for home and a way to bring isolated communities together. Just as the character connects with her neighbours through food, we as the audience begin as strangers and end as a community, invited to taste the dish she’s prepared. It’s a generous gesture that fills the room with warmth and connection.
Inspired by Sepehr’s real-life journey from Iran to Britain, My English Persian Kitchen is a poignant reminder of how food can be both memory and medicine. And as the tour comes to a close, it feels beautifully fitting that it ends in the city Sepehr now calls home – a full circle for a story about finding belonging through the most human of rituals: sharing a meal.
Written By Hannah Khalil
Original Story by Atoosa Sepehr
Directed by Chris White
Set & Costume Design by Pip Terry
Lighting Design by Marty Langthorne
Sound Design by Dan Balfour
Movement Direction by Jess Tucker Boyd
My English Persian Kitchen plays at Soho Theatre until Saturday 11 October, before embarking on a small tour until Thursday 30 October.
