York Grand Opera House – until 12th May
Reviewed By Marcus Richardson
5*****
The Kite Runner is a novel, written by Khaled Hosseini, that a lot of people have heard of; a gripping tale of war, friendship and loyalty. When first adapted to stage in 2007, the play brought to life Amir’s story on a different platform to paper. The story follows a wealthy Afghan boy and his father, we are given the insight into how Amir views his servant and how society has already written their lives out for them.
The story is one demands emotion and attention, from the very start we are given tales of kites in the sky and snow on the ground, the cast beautifully painted a picture of the gusts of wind that sent kites soaring. Amir played by Raj Ghatak, was on stage most of the time switching between his American modern and his history of an Afghan child, we were shown the naivety and shyness of a child and then later the regret of his adult self, it was incredible to see this in the same scene as we watch the character jump in and out of his history. Amir’s relationship with his Servant Hassan played by Jo Ben Ayed is one of the main focuses of the play, their relationship its seen as one-sided loyalty with an adult Amir regretting his own loyalty to Hassan, their relationship as children is one of innocence and adventure, the two actors on stage really brought this bond between the two characters to life. Amir’s relationship to his Father is also an important part of the play, and it is said in the play in Muslim culture blood is one of the most important things about a man, we only know Amir’s father as Baba played by Gary Pillai, we have one of the strongest contrast of characters with his father standing up to any injustice and shows what it means to be a man. The whole cast created this ambience that fitted the scenes so well from parties to weddings and when the time demanded focus and sombreness they added to the scene.
The use of a Tabla drummer (Hanif Khan) who played the drums during scenes and through the use of live music and cultural importance of the instruments made some scenes harrowing with sounds made from singing bowls, the silence of the rest of the stage and audience added to this, it made you think about what was happening on stage and highlights the darker moments of the play. The stage itself has two large kites that hid certain moments of action and then represented Amir’s home, these visuals worked really well and you were given the sense of a hope through the just of projection on these two kites.
For me the play was captivating from start to finish, the injustice of the play really messed with me as a watcher and I just wanted to shout or do something to stop what was happening on stage, it is a very sensitive play, the issues are still very real and the way that they were addressed on stage is very clever, the acting during this production was masterful and I don’t think I’ve been more invoked by a piece of theatre and how it plays with our feelings. At times during the show I was just gawping at the plot, it felt real and relevant. I would recommend this show to anyone, but there are a lot of issues that are not suitable for children. Its important that issues like these are addressed and made aware, this show will play with your emotions and you will take away more than just an amazing night at theatre but you take away insight how war can affect people.