My English Persian Kitchen At Soho Theatre, Dean Street Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Debbie Kingsland

The Soho theatre is located a few minutes from Tottenham Court Road tube station but equally extremely easy to get to from other stations within ten minutes. The theatre has a busy bar and food menu which you can buy drinks to take into the theatre and this is also open when the show finishes. There is also another site to the Soho Theatre, which is in Walthamstow, East London.

If you are planning to go eat beforehand there are 100’s of restaurants within a couple of minutes’ walk, in addition to being able to eat at the theatre.

Written by the award-winning Hannah Khalil and directed by Chris White. Isabella Nefar stars in the one woman play and does a fabulous job of recreating Atoosa’s fears, passions and humour.

This is a true story based on Atoosa Sepehr who fled an unhappy marriage from Iran to make a new life for herself in the United Kingdom. She was just thirty when she made the overnight decision to flee made possible with the help of Mother. Had her husband found out he would have banned her from leaving Iran and refused a divorce. This was the start of a new beginning and the future she has today.

She dearly missed her family and to alleviate some of her loneliness and home sickness she started cooking Iranian dishes. This was something she had learnt from her mother and other relatives which made memories whilst growing up. Cooking and eating were a big part of her family life which she loved and often revolved around the kitchen. Throughout the play it is obvious that the passion of cooking didn’t stop there. It was about the smells, tastes and beauty of ingredients and the creations that brought the recipes together.

There was also an element of humour in the play as Atoosa (Isabella). Not all the Iranian ingredients were readily available so she often had to substitute with more readily available store bought ingredients but somehow she was still able to bring it all together.

At the end of the play the audience was invited on stage to sample some soup that had been made during the play itself.

One brave step and the ability to believe there was a better life is all it took to make Atoosa a recognised Iranian cookery writer and nutritionist and gave her the successful and flourishing life she has today.

Rating: 5/5

Prices – range from £15-32 which includes standing ticket prices. There are also membership and other concessions. The book is also available to purchase at the theatre too

Book here – https://sohotheatre.com/events/my-english-persian-kitchen/

Dates – Friday 3rd October until Saturday 11th October. The show starts at 7pm for a 70 minute show with no interval. There is also food tasting after the show finishes.
Age recommendations over 14’s

Accessibility – there are ramps and lifts around the venue so access for all. That said the queuing system is chaotic and the seats are pull-down but double so you are sharing the seat with the person next to you. View wise it’s great, being a small venue as you really feel included.