ArtsWest and Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble present WISH YOU WERE HERE by Sanaz Toossi directed by Naghmeh Samini. The cast features Ainaz Azarhoush, Newsha Farahani, Shereen Khatibloo, Mahshad Zareeizadeh, Parmida Ziaei and Azadeh Zanjani. WISH YOU WERE HERE performs at ArtsWest from June 11 – July 5, 2026. Tickets are available online at artswest.org or by phone at (206) 938.0963.

It’s 1978 and protests are breaking out all across Iran, encroaching on a 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.

WISH YOU WERE HERE marks the second co-production between ArtsWest and Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble. In 2024, the two companies produced Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize winning ENGLISH. An audience favorite, ENGLISH played to sold out houses throughout its run. WISH YOU WERE HERE delivers the quick-witted, fast paced comedic dialogue Toossi is known for and packs an emotional punch. While the play is set during the Iranian Revolution, spanning the years of 1978 to 1991, the playwright focuses the spotlight on a tightknit group of female friends and the universal way the bonds between our chosen family bend, break, evolve, and help us endure life’s toughest moments.

“Speaking about the Iranian people’s resistance always excites me, and this story is about how friendship, dancing, singing, sisterhood and loving one another become ways for people to survive during difficult political and social times in Iran,” remarks Director Naghmeh Samini, “It is a peaceful form of resistance: protecting the private sphere and keeping it joyful and alive while the public space is invaded by war, fear, and social disorder. This play gives me the chance to show how culture can be more powerful than war, violence, and oppression, and how friendship continues to resist across time. To me, true friendship is like a fossil: something that remains, endures, and carries memory even after everything else has changed.”

WISH YOU WERE HERE is the final production of ArtsWest’s 2025-2026 Season titled Between Us. The season features five bold contemporary plays that explore the invisible threads that bind us — the responsibilities we bear for one another, the debts of care we carry, and the lifelines we extend in moments of crisis. WISH YOU WERE HERE explores the complexity of lifelong friendships, and what we owe to our chosen family.