Eric Sirakian and Amir Arison in The Kite Runner. Photo: Joan Marcus
After a short while checking into The Kite Runner book sales, the best I could ascertain was that Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini had amassed 38 million books sold for at least two of his works.
That’s a lotta novels, and from the overwhelmingly favorable response to them, it’s a safe bet there’ll be no end of ticket buyers for Matthew Spangler’s Kite Runner stage adaptation, no matter how well or not well he’s done it. But breathe easy. He’s done it extremely well. In London, audiences have repeatedly turned out in the last few years for initial and revived productions. Now The Kite Runner has traveled to Manhattan for eager-beaver adorers to revel in it. When it’s run its for two-and-three-quarter-hours course, they’ll instantly stand and ovate, much as if it’s the winning kite in a heavy-weight tournament.
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★★★☆ review here.]
For those who don’t know the plot—there may be some who show up in audiences—let it be known that the rich and privileged Amir (Amir Arison) and servant and phenomenal kite-runner-slingshot-sharpshooter Hassan (Eric Sirakian) grow up as best friends. That’s when Amir isn’t bullied by equally well-heeled and brass-knuckled Assef (Amir Malaklou)—then the intimidated 12-year-old denies his close pal, as New Testament Peter does.
Hosseini’s impassioned tale of betrayal, guilt, redemption, and father-son alienation kicks in when, hoping to impress his father, Baba (Faran Tahir), Amir contrives to win a kite contest but runs afoul in the ugly aftermath. Searching for the suddenly missing Hassen, who’s run to locate the loser’s blue kite, Amir comes on Assef tormenting the ever-loyal pal. Rather than confront a taunting wise guy, Amir runs in the opposite direction.
Leaving Hassen to humiliating treatment, Amir allows his most important bond to weaken and in time appear to dissolve. The remainder of Hosseini’s 371-page book follows Amir and Baba leaving Russian-invaded, Farsi-speaking Kabul without Hassan and his dad, Ali (Evan Zes). They emigrate to the United States and San Francisco, where Amir meets and marries Afghan émigré Soraya (Azita Ghanizada), and then thrives as the successful fiction writer he always hoped to be.
That’s until he hears from Rahim Khan (Dariush Kashani), a family friend who’s been on to Amir’s compromising behavior all along. The wise man tells Amir he has an important obligation. He must find the now-deceased Hassan’s abandoned son, Sohrab (Sirakian doubling), who’s somewhere in a Kabul orphanage. This involves Amir’s learning some bitter truths about himself and Hassan before he sets out on an adventure that forces him to discover who he’s been, who he currently is, and who he wants to be.
On a relatively spare, adaptable Barney George set often lighted darkly by Charles Balfour, playwright Spangler respectfully repeats large hunks of Hosseini’s prose. Running a kite-string’s-length of emotions, Arison narrates entire conversations and descriptions precisely as Amir delivers them in the first-person text.
For the most part, Hosseini’s devoted readers won’t feel cheated of the book to which they’re so steadfastly attached. Also, patrons new to The Kite Runner will have no trouble taking in the eminently absorbing and grave odyssey, even, incidentally, as they’re filled in on the Taliban-ridden Afghanistan of today. (Hosseini has been quoted as saying he’s done some romanticizing but not much.)
During the last third of these proceedings, Spangler skims past a few significant Kite Runner sequences, such as Amir’s reactions on his return to the now decimated Kabul. There’s also no mention of his own lengthy recovery from a surgery-requiring beating he takes from Assef while trying to reclaim Sohrab. Earlier, Spangler glosses over Amir’s often compulsive need to tease the illiterate Hassan, further establishing himself as a spoiled kid already prone to questionable conduct.
And now a few needed comments about kites as a sine qua non production element: In the relatively low-ceiled Helen Hayes Theater, anything close to actual kite-flying is, of course, impossible. From time to time, actors in the 13-member ensemble carry on kites and wave them about, but aside from a few William Simpson projections showing kites greeting the sky, Arison must mime Amir’s kite manipulation. He brings it off nicely. (The 2007 Paramount film takes care of the kite-flying magnificently, as does a reader’s imagination.)
As scrupulously directed by Giles Croft, the actors consistently enliven Hosseini and Spangler. The early Amir-Hassan camaraderie is winning as carried out by Arison and Sirakian. The Amir-Assef encounters are chilly. The eventual brawl, fight-directed by Philip D’Orléans, is frightening. Tahir keenly balances the love and disdain Baba feels for his disappointing son. Ghanizada’s Soraya is properly loving. Zes is persuasive as both the obsequious Ali and a volatile Pakistani driver, Farid. Adding to the production effectiveness is musician and arranger Salar Nader.
A last word on adapter Spangler: He assiduously retains Hossein’s final two-word sentence. It’s certainly among the best concluding utterances in literary annals. Sincere condolences to the spectator who isn’t greatly moved by it.
The Kite Runner opened July 21, 2022, and runs through Oct. 30 at the Hayes Theater. Tickets and information: thekiterunnerbroadway.com
