The specific counters of a theater’s building can inform a production’s staging choices.

And if the production transfers to a theater of a different shape, it’s meaningful to note which set elements were deemed important enough to withstand the translations required to be sized according to the new space.     

For instance, like the Atlantic’s original production, the set of English on Broadway still visually fragments the audience’s sightlines. 

Another set element retained: the unconventional use of the rotating set. 

Sets on a turntable are common, but usually they cycle through a variety of locations, by either changing the surrounding backdrops, or revolving through different rooms within the same building. 

But English takes place primarily in one setting. Even so, in between each scene, the set slightly rotates, providing the audience soft shifts in perspective on the central classroom. 

Which feels thematically relevant in a play centered around looking at the same thing from different angles. The person remains the same, but their use of language shifts perception — ours, each other’s, their own — on who they are.