Wish You Were Here, Gate Theatre Review
Written by Eleanor for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Wish You Were Here is a dramatic yet comical play by Sanaz Toossi. This one act piece follows the lives of five female friends living in Iran from 1978 to 1991, during the Iranian Revolution. As these firm friends are forced to separate and take different paths in life, both due to the war and their personal circumstances, we as the audience are left to wonder whether they will ever find the security and safety they once had in their youth.
I enjoyed the play overall, but it didn't resonate with me as deeply as I had hoped, especially given the emotional weight of the subject matter. This was partly due to some of the early comedic moments, which didn’t quite land for me. We also do not see some of the relationships between characters being forged at the beginning of the story. As a result, when these connections unravelled later in the play, the emotional impact for me wasn’t as strong as it might have been.
The show begins with Salme’s wedding (played by Emily Renee), capturing her hesitation as she begins this new chapter. Though it’s initially unclear if the group of women are friends or family, the scene effectively introduces each character and some of their desires in life. I also appreciated a guessing game that Rana (Juliette Motamed) and Nazanin (Afsaneh Dehrouyeh) like to play with each other which is introduced here, and is then repeated with different characters to great effect.
Scene transitions often return to the theme of weddings, creating a sense of continuity and highlighting the evolving relationships among these young women. The changing date is projected on the wall during each scene change which made the passage of time clear, helping to explain the sometimes dramatic shifts in their lives and circumstances.
The set (designed by Tomas Palmer) remains consistent, with a simple, intimate living room design on a square stage. This setup effectively separated the women’s personal lives from the turmoil of the war outside. It was also not too distracting, allowing me to focus on what is important in this narrative – the women and their changing relationships.
As the play progresses, this once tight knit group of women drift apart and some become entirely distant. This shift works well in the latter part of the play, fostering a deeper connection with the women who remain. However, the characters who appear less often toward the end feel less impactful, making their later mentions somewhat less resonant than the scenes with those who have been present for the entire story.
The cast formed a strong ensemble, realistically capturing the lively, often humorous conversations among young women, with moments I found relatable. Although the slightly crude humour shared between Afsaneh Dehrouyeh as Nazanin, Juliette Motamed as Rana, and Maryam Grace as Zari, was a bit much for me it was nicely offset by the more restrained performances of Isabella Nefar as Shideh and Emily Renée as Salme. This balance kept the humour from becoming overwhelming. The play’s strongest aspect is the evolving relationship between Nazanin, Salme, and Zari—honest, raw, and deeply believable, thanks to their skilful acting. In particular, Dehrouyeh as Nazanin delivered a powerful, emotional scene near the end that visibly moved some audience members.
Wish You Were Here is a thoughtful exploration of friendship and resilience during a very turbulent period in history. Though I had some issues with early comedic elements and a few underdeveloped relationships, overall the play was compelling. There are some genuinely moving scenes here which bring believability to this innately emotional story.
At Gate Theatre until 23 Nov 2024
★★★
