Following acclaimed, sold-out runs at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Soho Theatre, My English Persian Kitchen makes a triumphant return to London this autumn before embarking on a four-week UK and Ireland tour.
Written by award-winning playwright Hannah Khalil and directed by Chris White, My English Persian Kitchen is inspired by the true story of best-selling cookery author Atoosa Sepehr. The production features live cooking on stage and celebrates the rich flavours of Persian cuisine.
The tour opens at Soho Theatre from 30 September to 11 October, this time graduating from the studio space to the Main House. It then travels to Bristol Old Vic (14–18 October), Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin (21–22 October), and concludes at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre (24–25 October) as part of the prestigious Belfast International Arts Festival.
This life-affirming play follows a woman forced to flee her homeland, who finds solace and strength in recreating the dishes of her childhood. Through food, she rediscovers her identity and builds a new life.
Atoosa Sepehr said:
“I didn’t realise how much I love cooking and how much I love food until I had to leave my country. Smell and taste can simply transport you to a different time and place.
An important theme in the play for me is the idea that even in our lowest moments life sometimes offers a way out, an opportunity to learn and grow and ultimately to redefine who we are as individuals.
Culture truly has no borders and when we migrate to a new country, we take with us aspects of our homeland that can contribute to a wonderfully rich multi-cultural society.
I hope audiences will now more than ever in these unsettling times, both in my adopted countries of the UK and also Ireland, find this story an uplifting and empowering one.”
Playwright Hannah Khalil added:
“I did a little dance of joy in my kitchen when I found out My English Persian Kitchen was coming back to Soho Theatre and then touring.
To have this as my first play at Bristol Old Vic, where I am currently writer in residence, feels incredibly fitting as it is all about how to find community in new places and the lovely people at Bristol Old Vic have certainly made me feel welcome.
And then Ireland! Where I have never had a play before: a homecoming for me – I can’t wait to experience the sounds, sights and smells of this play in my motherland.”
Originally co-produced by Soho Theatre and Traverse Theatre, the production was praised for its evocative storytelling and immersive sensory experience, with critics calling it “a thoroughly flavourful feast of a play” and “utterly sensational.”
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
