Bekah Lynn Photography
The 2003 novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini tells a very personal, Afghani tale filled with mostly pain but some hope at the end of the tunnel. The current play was adapted by Matthew Spangler back in 2009, but this is the first US tour for the property. In general the play follows the story quite closely, about two and half hours including an intermission — we follow our main character Amir, played by Ramzi Khalaf, who is also our primary narrator.
He plays Amir as both child and adult alike, a classic stagecraft technique, allowing the same actor to embody the role in different eras, as does Shahzeb Zahid Hussain playing Amir’s childhood friend and servant Hassan. Shahzeb is noticeably shorter than Ramzi, underlining the difference in their social situations, and although in general one can get past the mild awkwardness of adults acting as kids ‘playing’, there’s also a bit of uncanniness in the way the characters shift their tone to sound like children — considering they are visibly adults, it takes some time to be fully immersed in the story, but we do get there.
Amir is a young Pashtun boy (the majority group in the country) growing up in Afghanistan with his very wealthy, critical father ‘Baba’ (Haythem Noor). Living on the estate in a ‘mud shack’ are Hassan and his father Ali (Hassan Nazari-Robati), both servants and part of the Hazara minority group, and in a complex situation in multiple ways — we follow these people as Amir talks about his carefree childhood that is complicated by local bullies like Asset (Wiley Naman Strasser) and their desire to win the local kite competition (and the connection to the concept of ‘Kite Running’).
Eventually awful things happen and Amir makes terrible choices and decisions, before the story changes in the second half to his adult life and the new ups and downs he faces, including wooing Soraya (Awesta Zarif) with her critical father General Taheri (James Rana) always watching, and of course, the connections he must eventually face back to his childhood days.
Bekah Lynn Photography
The story is a deeply Afghan piece, telling a story through the decades of the many hardships of the people, the social conflicts between religious groups, and the nature or even possibility of redemption. Because the play hews closely to the novel’s plot, it means that we have a majority male cast, with only two featured female actors at all, and even there it’s not the most significant roles. It also means that some of the more problematic elements of the 2003 novel are still present here, but what helps the material get elevated is the excellent performances of the lead roles — without a vital performance from the lead narrator with Ramzi Khalaf, the story would never get off the ground, but he anchors the show effectively.
There is also a heavy aspect of sound here, with Salar Nader credited as the primary ‘Tabla’ percussionist — there‘s also a great usage of wind sound effects here too, quite necessary for the kite scenes that are central to the story. It’s interesting that there’s actually a lot of amusing moments in the play, despite how dark it delves, and a lot of this is due to the great timing of the actors. This is a heavy show with heavier themes, but it tells a passionate (if occasionally predictable) story with aplomb.
The Kite Runner runs about 2 hours 30 minutes with one intermission. Recommended for age 13 and up. This production includes some content of a sensitive and mature nature and incorporates the sounds of gunshots.
The Kite Runner runs through June 30 at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center. Visit the theatre website for more information about the show. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.
The Kite Runner
The Kennedy Center
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
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