Theatre / Persian food
The Weston Studio welcomes hit play inspired by true story of bestselling cookery author Atoosa Sepehr
When it was first presented the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2024, Hannah Khalil’s play My English Persian Kitchen won critical and audience approval for its blend of storytelling and immersive performance – featuring live cooking, and all its attendant sights and smells.
Khalil is now writer in residence at Bristol Old Vic – and the play will open at the Weston Studio on October 14 for a five night run during a UK tour that also takes in nearly a fortnight at London’s Soho Theatre, and later dates in Dublin and Belfast.
The story is based on the real-life account of Atoosa Sepehr (played by Isabella Nefar), the bestselling cookery author who was forced to flee her native Iran and move to London at the age of 30, to escape a ruinous marriage.
is needed now More than ever
Once in the UK, she turned to the flavours of home to recreate the flavours of her mother’s kitchen, while allowing herself to begin a new life.
“I didn’t realise how much I love cooking and how much I love food until I had to leave my country”, Sepehr says.
“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.”
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My English Persian Kitchen is at The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic on October 14-18 at 7.30pm, with additional 2.30pm matinee shows on Thursday and Saturday. Tickets are available at Bristol Old Vic.
Main photo: Bristol Old Vic
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