For the students in Sanaz Toossi’s dramedy about mother tongues and other tongues, the world’s lingua franca is not exactly free.

Sanaz Toossi’s buoyant, Pulitzer-winning drama follows a group of Iranians learning English, highlighting the desires and circumscribed circumstances that have brought them to the class.

Co-edited by retired UB English professor Cristanne Miller, the book has also received significant critical attention and ...