Shortlisted for the Popcorn Writing Award 2024

Every time I've tried to make this dish there's been something missing. It hasn't been quite right. But now I think I know what it is. The missing piece. I'm almost sure. Today is the day. I'll get this recipe right. I have to. For them.

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 of 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, the life-affirming My English Persian Kitchen chronicles the journey of one woman's quest to start again.

This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere Soho Theatre and Traverse Theatre co-production in 2024.

Hannah Khalil was Resident Writer at Shakespeare's Globe in 2022. Henry VIII was part of their 2022 summer season and her critically acclaimed re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Fir Tree which premiered in 2021, returned for their 2022 winter season. Hannah's other theatre commissions include new work for the RSC, Soho Theatre, The Kiln and Mosaic/Fishamble. Previous work for stage includes A Museum in Baghdad, which opened at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre in 2019 directed by Erica Whyman, Interference for The National Theatre of Scotland, The Scar Test for Soho Theatre and Scenes from 68* Years for the Arcola. Hannah was named Heimbold Chair of Irish Studies at Villanova University in 2021 and was a Creative Fellow of the Samuel Beckett Archive for 2021/2022.