The Deliciously Good New One-Woman Play

When Iran-born cookery book author Atoosa Sepehr first met playwright Hannah Khalil, they found plenty of common ground, but food was what bonded them the most. The duo joins me on a video call as their play, My English Persian Kitchen, inspired by Sepehr’s journey from Iran to Britain and the comforting cooking that helped her plant new roots, enters its first week of rehearsals.

Their first meeting took place over a Zoom call in 2021. Soho theatre’s David Luff had read Sepehr’s story in the Guardian about her dramatic escape from a bad marriage in 2007. Sepehr left Iran almost overnight, with only a small window to avoid her husband blocking her exit documents, and settled in the UK alone.

In the solitude of her north London flat, missing her homeland, she began recreating the recipes she grew up with by calling the women in her family back in Iran. This painstaking endeavor gave her purpose and a sense of community, as neighbors were intrigued by the aromas coming from her kitchen. Eventually, she compiled these recipes into a bestselling cookbook, From a Persian Kitchen, after leaving her job in the import-export industry. Luff recognized that this tale of crossing borders and finding solace in food was one that resonated globally and deserved to be told on stage.

“It’s a story of hope,” Sepehr, 47, explains. “A rebirth, starting again, and not letting the past dominate you.” Cooking, previously dismissed as a societal expectation, became a source of comfort and focus for Sepehr. “My whole life I tried to suppress part of me. I never took notice of it because I wanted to be recognized in my society as equal to a man. The last thing I wanted to do was be in the kitchen and cook,” she says.

However, restarting her life abroad changed her perspective. “When I came to this country, everything happened so quickly. There was a sense of worry. I knew my husband wouldn’t give me a divorce, so it would be a long time until I could go back home. Cooking was the one thing that gave me comfort, a sense of getting back to life.”

Sepehr would travel across London to source ingredients after work and wake early to cook, sometimes perfecting recipes by making them 20 times. This dedication and passion are core to the new one-woman show, inspired by her life. Iranian-Italian actor Isabella Nefar stars as a woman in her kitchen, with the story traveling through different places and times.

The play explores how food connects Sepehr to both her worlds. “I was coming home and all I was doing was cooking and sitting on my own and enjoying the food,” she recounts. “I started texting the neighbors saying, ‘I’m cooking this, would you like me to bring you some?’ That initiated my connection with people in England.” This bridge extended back to her homeland as well. “As soon as you start cooking, it takes you back. It starts with the smell, then eating it, remembering the gatherings around it. Food doesn’t have a language; you can take it anywhere. It doesn’t need to be interpreted.”

The evocative smells of Persian cuisine will be part of the theater experience through live cooking on stage, marinating the room with the distinct fragrances of ash-e-reshteh, a traditional Persian noodle soup. Khalil recalls being inspired by a play that incorporated real cooking, which led to the idea of using food as a live element in their show. Not initially familiar with Iranian cuisine, she learned to cook through Sepehr’s book, eventually deciding on the dish after a Zoom cook-along.

Khalil emphasizes that food acts as a bridge back to Sepehr’s family in Iran and fosters community in the UK. “Theatre is about creating a community, a unique group of people experiencing something together,” she says.

Sepehr met other playwrights before feeling an instant connection with Khalil. Khalil’s mixed heritage (her father is Palestinian, and she was raised in Dubai) and her own experiences of moving to the UK helped her understand Sepehr’s story deeply. “The story’s not about Iran,” Khalil says. “It’s about how you start again, build from nothing as a woman. That’s my mum’s story. My main connection to my heritage is food; my father cooked and taught me those dishes.”

Khalil hopes the show inspires viewers to reach out and connect with people around them, perhaps through food. “The strength of Atoosa as a person,” she notes, “is a key element. I want people to leave feeling joyous and hopeful. It would be amazing if someone saw the show and thought, there’s someone in my block I don’t know, maybe I’ll go and say hello or cook for them.”

My English Persian Kitchen is a story of legacy, carrying something handed down from home to a new country and new stage, which Sepehr finds surreal. Now living in Belfast and working as a nutritional therapist, she reflects on her journey: “We can always give up and let the universe or others make a plan. Or we can do something about it and make the change ourselves. Food is a language of its own that transcends borders. I hope people look at this play and feel hope, knowing that even in our darkest moments, nothing is forever; we always have to look beyond it.”

My English Persian Kitchen is at Soho theatre from 16 September to 5 October.

Source: The Guardian