Theatre Review - Wish You Were Here
Close friends: Wish You Were Here [Rich Lakos/ArenaPAL]
SANAZ Toossi’s domestic drama opens in Iran in 1978. Five female friends are celebrating the upcoming wedding of Salme (Emily Renée).
As they help dress and groom the bride they joke about what she can expect on her wedding night.
Gradually we discover what drives their relationships with one another.
Shideh (Isabella Nefar) is the most serious and aspires to be a doctor; Zari (Maryam Grace) is light-hearted, Salme a loyal friend; Nazanin (Afsaneh Dehrouyeh) is waspish and occasionally mean, but has a special bond with outspoken Rana (Juliette Motamed).
Set against the background of the Iranian Revolution, we follow their fortunes over 13 years. Rana, who is Jewish, disappears early on and the women believe she has fled with her family to Israel.
Others leave to study or work abroad. The tragedy of one is strangely muted. Soon only Nazanin remains.
It’s baffling that there is no interval in Sepy Baghaei’s slow-burn production, lasting almost two hours, especially given the many scene changes that could have accommodated a break.
Also curious are Toossi’s frequent references to “pussies” and bodily functions that detract from the drama.
Fortunately, her play rewards patience, while nuanced performances from a brilliant ensemble retain our sympathy and keep us invested in the women’s stories.
I loved Toossi’s English, set in a classroom in Iran, which played at the Kiln, earlier in the year.
Wish You Were Here is equally poignant but by focusing on the intimacy between friends there is little sense of the authoritarian regime they endure, or manage to escape.
Until November 23