Wish You Were Here Reviews

Talkin Broadway- Recommended

"...Wish You Were Here, the current production at Washington's Studio Theatre, is a warm and intimate look into the friendship of five young women in Karaj, Iran, as they come of age just before the Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq War disrupts all their lives. Playwright Sanaz Toossi, who received the Pulitzer Prize for English, a play she wrote in graduate school, avoids preachiness or pretentiousness: the action begins in 1978, when women in their circle accept college educations and careers as just part of growing up. Sivan Battat's direction is unobtrusive and doesn't call attention to itself, serving the text and the characters."

MD Theatre Guide- Highly Recommended

"...Beyond the startling headlines, political uprisings, and incessant strife that is western media’s portrayal of the Middle East are human beings living through a history they didn’t ask for. While significantly encumbered, their very existence isn’t entirely defined by a political state. Yet so often, pervasively superficial understanding confines Middle Eastern existence to just that – victims and political symbols. “Wish You Were Here” at Studio Theatre sets out to change that perception through a story of ordinarily intricate friendship in the midst of a war. The outcome is poignant to say the least."

DC Theater Arts- Highly Recommended

"...The fact that Iran is often in the news these days adds extra topicality to Wish You Were Here. But beyond that, it’s only too easy to identify with the characters’ frustration, helplessness, and sadness — and their need to carry on — amid seismic political and global developments. At their best, people grow older and wiser; the world, only older."