Produced for Soho Theatre

my english persian kitchen

by Hannah Khalil
from an original story by Atoosa Sepehr
directed by Chris White

Soho Theatre and Traverse Theatre
2024

What would you take if you were forced to leave home with no hope of returning? How would you make a fresh start somewhere completely new? This is the true story about one woman who loses everything. Remembering the tastes and aromas of her mother’s kitchen with live cooking on stage, she recreates the dishes of her childhood and homeland, building a new life and community around food. Written by award-winning Hannah Khalil from the story by Atoosa Sepehr, this life-affirming new play, in a co-production between Soho Theatre and Traverse Theatre, chronicles one woman’s quest to start again.

Utterly sensational
★★★★★ Quintessential Review

In 2018 David read an interview with Atoosa Sepehr in The Observer. Atoosa had just released a cookbook called “From A Persian Kitchen” and the interview detailed her astonishing life story. David thought it could make an excellent play and set about securing the rights and finding a writer to commission to tell the story for the stage. After a few years he secured the services of husband and wife team Hannah Khalil and Chris White, who wrote and directed the spellbinding production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Traverse Theatre in 2024 before its return to Soho Theatre that autumn. The production featured Isabella Nefar, who, aswell as giving a captivating performance, also recreated the smells and tastes of Atoosa’s recipes by cooking live on stage.

A thoroughly flavourful feast of a play that transports its audiences, through its aromatic delights, into an Iranian kitchen
★★★★ Guardian

Starring: Isabella Nefar
Written by: Hannah Khalil
From an original story by: Atoosa Sepehr
Director: Chris White
Set and Costume Designer: Pip Terry
Lighting Designer: Marty Langthorne
Sound Designer: Dan Balfour
Movement Direction: Jess Tucker Boyd
Associate Lighting: Craig West
Production Manager: The Production Office
Stage Manager: Abi Morris
Photography: Ellie Kurrtz

Producer: David Luff for Soho Theatre
Originally Commissioned by: David Luff Productions Ltd

Press:
The Guardian review (4 Stars) 2024
Whatsonstage review (4 stars) 2024
The Indiependent review (4 stars) 2024