| WYNDHAMS |
| THE KITE RUNNER by KHALED HOSSEINI |
| **** |
| adaptater MATTHEW SPANGLER composer / musical director JONATHAN GIRLING director GILES CROFT choreographer KITTY WINTER décor BARNEY GEORGE lights CHARLES BALFOUR sound DREW BAUMOHL producers MARTIN DODD for UK Productions/ DEREK NICOL/ PAUL WALDEN for FLYING ENTERTAINMENT, NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE/ LIVERPOOL EVERYMAN & PLAYHOUSE with BEN TURNER amir, ANDREI COSTIN hassan, EMILIO DOORASINGH baba, EZRA FAROQUE KHAN ali/farid, NICHOLAS KARIMI assef, LISA ZAHRA soraya/mrs nguyen , NICHOLAS KHAN rahim khan/ omar faisil, HANIF KHAN tabla player |
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| Having seen this production in Nottingham in 2013 where it originated at the Playhouse I was so keen to see it at Wyndham’s in the West End. The reviews have been disappointing in comparing this stage version to the film and the book which one shouldn’t do. The book is a masterpiece as it goes into such detail of the characters and events which neither the play nor the film could do. But the play, even with its flaw in the second act being so episodic and losing the story of Hassan until the last part of the act, still is emotionally spellbinding. The magic of Act I carries the weight of the production and the involvement in the characters. What it has taken from the book is its sensitivity that still carries an aura. It is so moving that men were weeping in the audience. It does illuminate the loss of family life and culture.
Nottingham Playhouse’s artistic director Giles Croft’s staging of Afghan-born Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is extremely heart-rendering, keeping a simple presentation where Amir tells us the story of his life with moments that are dramatised or choreographed with such feeling that one is caught up in the tragedy of life…a tale told so beautifully that the magic of theatre unfolds before your eyes and the heart weeps in endless sobs. It is a tale that is happening at this very moment in Afghanistan centring on a disquieting childhood where the friendship of two boys led into the tragedy of their adulthood; where the guilt of teenage cowardice is redeemed by the next generation. Amir spins out his story covering over a period of the political upheaval from the Soviet invasion, to the rise of the Taliban, and to the repercussions of 9/11. One cannot describe the details of the story. It needs to be seen and heard to absorb the show’s ability to capture the imagination without the great filmic shots….especially Act I where the weaving of the ethnic and religious strands become more and more interwoven with the psychological as it turns from golden yellow to black on black as the play progresses.
The evening spins the enchanting tale in the first half, when Ben Turner as Amir, the son of a rich widowed merchant called Baba, escapes his father’s disapproval of his artistic leanings rather than the security of business, by concentrating on the exciting art of kite-flying over Kabul with Hassan (Andrei Costin), the son of his father’s faithful servant. Amir is a Pashtun (Sunni) and Hassan is a harassed lower-classed Hazara (Shi’a) which has no significance between the two boys… not until the local thug Assef rapes Hassan while Amir hides himself in cowardly fashion…. even after the fact that Hassan protected Amir from Assef with his bean shooter. Not able to face Hassan any longer and avoiding any of their game playing days, Amir makes up a story and falsely accuses Hassan of stealing his watch which causes Hassan and his father to leave the family for whom they worked over generations and to move to Pakistan. But Amir carried this guilt of his broken friendship for years, his treachery to the loving Hassan, especially when Amir and Baba had to flee Afghanistan, leaving their stately mansion and all the family wealth behind. Act II concerns itself with their arrival in San Francisco and starting from scratch selling goods in the market. We follow Amir’s growth into adulthood, his marriage, his care of his father and his gradual steps into becoming a writer. But still Amir could not forgive or forget the treachery he pulled upon the loving Hassan. In the end Amir saves the son of Hassan and brings him to America as his own, after Hassan and his wife are killed by the Taliban. But in between we see the aura of the kite flying which Amir teaches Hassan’s son. Amir eventually learns that Hassan was actually his half-brother. Baba as a young man had an affair with his servant’s wife who bore him a son. But according to Kabul custom, he had to be known as the servant’s son. Amir at last has eased his guilt in raising Hassan’s boy as his own.
Croft does more than justice to USA Matthew Spangler’s adaptation in his quietly subtle approach and by using a few theatrical essentials, he moves us round the world. Everything is kept to a simple truth to play upon the imagination. Barney George’s set of dark wooden posts and planks of wood grouped together and under back lighting changes from San Francisco skyscrapers to street scenes in Afghanistan or indoor rooms at the mansion where huge fan-like screens are projected on the diagonal opening and closing with elegant delicacy, conjuring up the entire range of locations. We don’t see kite flying but by choreographed miming the ensemble twirl their string on the kite spindles. It fills the imagination with such powerful images. Hanif Khan, the tabla player, adds to the atmosphere of danger and suspense. Charles Balfour’s moody lighting effects, William Simpson’s delicately projected fans, Jonathan Girling’s haunting music, Drew Baumohl’s live soundscape, and Kitty Winter’s gentle movements all add to the magic. It is Ben Turner as Amir that so brilliantly carries the show in his passion and emotional depth aided by the sensitive portrait of Andrei Costin’s Hassan (a former Romanian usher at Wyndham’s). Antony Bunsee’s General Taheri, Emilio Doorgasingh’s Baba, Nicholsas Karimi’s Assef give strong support as do the rest of this extraordinary cast. Do not miss this superb production of the most gripping story of life as it is today soaring on high as the kites with the world turned upside down. 2hrs 40mins
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| December 21 - March 11/17 |
| 2429 |