Premiere Stages' SELLING KABUL Begins Performances This Week

Premiere Stages' production of Sylvia Khoury's play Selling Kabul will begin performances this week in Kean University's Bauer Boucher Theatre Center (Vaughn Eames Hall, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, N.J.). Selling Kabul was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer in Drama and this production serves as the New Jersey Premiere. Selling Kabul features actors Atra Asdou, Anat Cogan, Afsheen Misaghi, and Zaven Ovian; Taylor Reynolds directs.

In Selling Kabul, Taroon once served as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Now it is 2013, and the Americans — and their promises of safety — have begun to withdraw. Taroon spends his days in hiding, a target of the increasingly powerful Taliban. On the eve of his son's birth, he must remain in his sister's apartment, or risk his life to see his child. With shattering precision, Sylvia Khoury's tense drama traces the human cost and the legacy of our longest war.

Selling Kabul received its New York Premiere at Playwrights Horizons (Adam Greenfield, Artistic Director, Leslie Marcus, Managing Director, Carol Fishman, General Manager) in November 2021, directed by Tyne Rafaeli. The New York Premiere was produced in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival.

The design team for Selling Kabul includes scenic design by Ashley Basile, costume design by Shivanna Sooknanan, lighting design by Zack Gage, sound design by Frederick Kennedy and Liam Bellman-Sharpe and props by Liss Faitoute. Humaira Ghilzai serves as Cultural Consultant and Louis Sallan serves as Dialect Coach. Dale Smallwood is the production stage manager.

Selling Kabul runs September 7-September 24 in the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center on the Kean University main campus in Union, N.J. Performances take place Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm.

Audience members are invited to engage more deeply with Ms. Khoury's thought-provoking play in Premiere's free Community Connections following select matinee (3pm) performances. Two non-profit organizations that assist Afghan refugees in New Jersey will lead talkbacks, One World One Love (Saturday, September 9) and the New Jersey Coalition for Afghan Refugees (Sunday, September 17). Patrons can learn more about the creative process with featured post-show speakers Director Taylor Reynolds (Sunday, September 10) and the cast of Selling Kabul (Saturday, September 23). Dates and speakers are subject to change; please call 908-737-4077 or visit premierestagesatkean.com for an updated schedule of post-show events and speakers.

Tickets are $35 standard, $25 for senior citizens and Kean alumni and staff, $20 for patrons with disabilities and $15 for students. Significant discounts for groups of ten or more apply.  Patrons are also invited to the Opening Night Party on Friday, September 8th. Each ticket is $75 and includes a pre-show catered party at 6:00 pm with live music outdoors at Kean University's picturesque Liberty Hall Academic Center patio; VIP reserved seating for the 8:00 pm performance; and a champagne toast with the cast after the show. To make reservations, please call the box office at 908-737-7469 or visit Premiere Stages at premierestagesatkean.com.

Premiere Stages offers affordable prices, air-conditioned facilities and free parking close to the theatre. Premiere Stages also provides free or discounted tickets to patrons with disabilities. All Premiere Stages facilities are fully accessible spaces, and companion seating is available for patrons with disabilities. Assistive listening devices and large print playbills are available at every performance; publications in alternate formats are available with advance notice. Sign-interpreted and audio described performances are available upon request; please call 908-737-4077 or email premiere@kean.edu at least two weeks prior to your desired performance. 

Premiere Stages is made possible in part through funding from W. John Bauer and Nancy Boucher, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Carole Shaffer-Koros and Robert Koros and ExxonMobil Foundation, The Dubose and Dorothy Heyward Foundation, The Northfield Bank Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The Union Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, The Union County HEART Grant and through the generous support of individual patrons and local organizations. Discover Jersey Arts is our marketing partner. Visit JerseyArts.com for more information about other arts programming happening around the Garden State.

Premiere Stages is committed to producing topical plays and interactive programs that reflect people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, national origins, nationalities, ancestry, religious groups, gender expression or identities, sexual orientation, political beliefs, ages, abilities and disabilities.

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