One of the best-loved and most highly acclaimed novels of our time, THE KITE RUNNER is a powerful play of friendship that follows one man’s journey to confront his past and find redemption. Afghanistan is a divided country and two childhood friends are about to be torn apart. It’s a beautiful afternoon in Kabul and the skies are full of the excitement and joy of a kite flying tournament. But neither of the boys can foresee the incident which will change their lives forever. Told across two decades and two continents, THE KITE RUNNER is an unforgettable journey of redemption and forgiveness, and shows us all that we can be good again.
But it had been too long since I'd last seen this kind of tearjerky TED talk, and it's a genre I did not particularly miss. It's a fascinating-enough story, if only because its healthy heapings of melodrama demand the seriousness post-9/11 white guilt. But its hurried second act doesn't deliver on the first's more in-depth investigations of class, ethnicity, and of who gets to escape versus who must stay in a decaying country. Facing this narrative in 2022, I'd just as soon leave it on the school reads table at Barnes & Noble.
Seeing everything through one pair of narrative eyes limits what the show can achieve on stage. And time and time again - most notably when Amir finally explains the past to his underwritten new wife, Soraya (Azita Ghanizada) - we are told about a scene rather than shown. Sure, there's an imperative to be honest to the novel and the protagonist's journey through guilt is easily understood by a broad audience. But this is now a play and it's a different time. It's clear that Sirakian is a deeply moving actor; but the show never gives him enough power in his own part of the story to fully demonstrate. The same applies to Ghanizada, playing the one woman on the stage with any kind of role. Frankly, it's egregious.
| 2017 | West End |
West End Transfer West End |
| 2017 | West End |
2017 West End Transfer West End |
| 2022 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| 2024 | US Tour |
North American Tour US Tour |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Awards | Amir Arison |
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