Wish You Were Here

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Wish You Were Here

Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy  /  5w

Set in Iran from 1978 to 1991, this breathtaking and unabashed comedy-drama explores the evolving relationships among a group of five women during the escalation, height and aftermath of the Iranian Revolution.

Image: 2022 Playwrights Horizons Production (Joan Marcus)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    5w
  • Duration
    Duration
    105 Minutes
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Recipient, 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award

Details

Summary
It’s 1978 and protests are breaking out all across Iran, encroaching on this suburb where a tight-knit circle of girlfriends plans weddings, trades dirty jokes, and tries to hang onto a sense of normalcy. But as the revolution escalates, each woman is forced to join the wave of emigration or face an equally uncertain future at home. With breathtaking humanity and cutting wit, Wish You Were Here chronicles a decade of life during war, as best friends forever become friends long lost, scattered and searching for home.
History
Wish You Were Here made its world premiere on 1 July 2020 at Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The play premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons on 13 April 2022. Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, the off-Broadway production featured Nikki Massoud, Marjan Neshat, Nazanin Nour, Artemis Pebdani and Roxanna Hope Radja.
Cast Attributes

All womxn. All start around age 20 in 1978. Cast them as the women they will become.

NAZANIN – Sort of mean.
SALME – Peaceful; religious and hijabi. Even when she’s not paying attention, she is present.
ZARI – Happy-go-lucky, spacecase. Grows up a lot.
SHIDEH – Uptight, takes everything too seriously. But takes it much easier later in the play.
RANA – Queen of cool, sophisticated and fun.
NEW FRIEND – Played by Shideh.

  • Time Period 1990s, 1980s, 1970s
  • Setting Various living rooms in Karaj, Iran. 1978 to 1991.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
  • Additional Features No Intermission
  • Duration 105 Minutes

Media

"A masterful work... How lucky we are to live in a time when Sanaz Toossi is actively writing.” – Theatrely

“It's a script of harrowing beauty. A triumphant mosaic of friendship and loss framed by the heart-wrenching effects of political upheaval.” – Broadway World UK

“A love letter to friendship.” – The Guardian

“Toossi focuses... on the women and how their relationships to one another – and to themselves – change with marriages, deaths and sudden departures. Their friendship is its own saga of constantly fluctuating degrees of intimacy and friction.” – The New York Times

“Bittersweet... It’s Toossi’s intention to lend an ear to women when secluded, but she decidedly has a deeper concern. On her mind is the fragility of friendship, when it flowers and wilts, sometimes flowering again, sometimes never returning, or barely returning.” – New York Stage Review

“An intricate story weaving a nuanced tapestry of friendship, change, and resilience against the backdrop of revolution.” – The Reviews Hub

“Dialogue shines.” – The Stage

“Femininity and the fallouts of war are given an appealingly informal treatment in Wish You Were Here... Charting the course of a tight-knit friend group as the Iranian Revolution shakes up its members’ lives one intimate conversation at a time, it feels like a night in with the girls while the world outside crumbles and changes.” – Theatrely

Videos

  • Wish You Were Here: Meet the Cast (Audible) youtube thumbnail

    Wish You Were Here: Meet the Cast (Audible)

Photos

  • Wish You Were Here

    Image: 2022 Playwrights Horizons Production (Joan Marcus)

  • Wish You Were Here

    Image: 2022 Playwrights Horizons Production (Joan Marcus)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £55 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

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Authors

Sanaz Toossi

Sanaz Toossi is an Iranian-American playwright from Orange County, California. Her plays include the critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning English (co-production, Atlantic Theater Company/Roundabout Theatre Company) and Wish You Were Here (Playwrights Horizons; William ...

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