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Simple tale beautifully told
Boyhood friends: Amir (Ben Turner) and Hassan (Andrei Costin), a deadly shot with a catapult. Photos: Robert Day The Kite Runner
Birmingham Rep
***** FOR reviewers, occasionally it is a
struggle to stay awake, sometimes a struggle to even stay, and then . .
. along comes a Kite Runner and you settle back and remember what
theatre is all about and why reviewing is one of life’s great treasures. The Kite Runner is funny, at times, sad, much of
the time, emotive and brutal with a story told with minimal but
remarkably clever setting, which means it relies on the art of acting to
bring it alive, and give it life this fine cast did. Ben Turner is simply stunning as the hero, or at
least main character, Amir, the Afghan boy from a rich family who lives
through the time of peace, revolution and finally the Russian invasion,
the point when Amir’s father decides enough is enough and escapes with
his son on a journey which takes them as poor immigrants to California. Turner is on stage for all but a few moments and
for two and a half hours he is simply mesmerising in a masterclass of
the actor’s art. We feel for him, sometimes contempt, sometimes
compassion, but at least we understand, we are for him and against him
as we see him grow from a boy, playing with his childhood friend, and
servant, Hassan, played by Andrei Costin. Early scenes have echoes of Blood Brothers
with Turner and Costin adults playing children. Costin, also plays
Hassan’s son Sohrab, not that you would know apart from the obvious
physical similarities, in another memorable performance. Emilio Doorgasingh is Amir’s father, Baba, a rich
merchant in pre-war Kabul reduced to working in a filling station after
escaping to the USA. The play revolves around the relationship between the three, with Amir trying to please his father and never quite managing it, even when he wins the biggest annual kite flying competition for years in Kabul. Hassan is a kite runner, the best in Kabul, if
not the whole of Afghanistan, running in the chase to claim the defeated
kites cut from the skies in the aerial dogfights. His final run, to
capture the greatest prize, the last kite cut from the skies, the
runner-up, leads to the horrific incident with the local bully Assef, an
incident that changes lives of all three main characters. In a selfish act to compound a shameful act A It is an act which also changes the life of Amir.
An act so shameful he dare not tell his father for fear he will be
despised, and despite the constant daily reminder of Hassan having been
cruelly removed by an act of treachery, the mark of shame is still
branded in his mind and Amir is left searching for recognition, a sort
of forgiveness, in a relationship with his father on the one hand and a
chance of atonement for the cowardly act of a boy against his
friend on the other.
Rahim Khan as one of his father’s friends gives
the now married and successful writer Amir that chance, a dangerous,
difficult and demanding chance, but a chance none the less. It brings Amir into contact once again with his
nemesis, the psychopathic Assef, who had made his childhood a misery and
set in train the destruction of Amir’s happy life. Assef has found his
niche making the life of a whole population a misery as a Taliban
official. Nicholas Karimi is truly frightening in the role, he exudes a
deadly mix of evil and violence. He gives us a man out of control whose
greatest pleasure appears to be inflicting pain, hurt and humiliation
and who finds a welcome within the Taliban. And a mention here for the director Giles Croft
who keeps the real scenes of violence and terror offstage. It is a
lesson that could be learned in film and TV and even in some stage
productions. The most terrifying acts of violence, tightest grip of fear
are created by imagination. We never see nor hear the act upon which the
play revolves yet we feel it just as much as Amir. In our mind we are
there with him. I have not read Khaled Hosseini’s novel upon
which Matthew Spangler’s adaptation is based but my wife said it was
true to the book so those seeing the play of a best-selling book they
have read should not be disappointed. And if, like me, you have not read it, it matters
not a jot; this is a play which stands squarely on its own with a tale
to tell and telling it well. There is good support from Antony Bunsee as
General Taheri and Lisa Zahra as his daughter Soraya, who is to become
Amir’s wife, as well as Ezra Khan, Bhavin Bhatt and David Ahmad in a
variety of roles in a fine cast. Music is an integral part of the production with
the haunting sound of singing bowls and internationally renowned Indian
musician sitting Hanif Khan cross-legged on a mat providing a near
constant background of rhythmic drumming on tablas, the intensity and
volume following and at times driving the narrative. There is also clever use of Schwirrbogen – no, I
had never heard of them either – which are swung around like large
football rattles, without the rattle, to produce a sound of rushing air
to represent when kites are flying. The set design by Barney George is a masterpiece
of simplicity. A back wall black for Afghanistan, stylised skyline for
the USA, a terracotta tile floor with two low ramps like a skateboard
park at ether side, two huge drapes, like the wings of a kite which
ascend and descend to vary the staging and a large plain carpet changed
by Charles Balfour’s excellent lighting to all manner of traditional
carpet patterns. This is a story of relationships between Amir and
his father, between Amir and Hassan and between the Sunni Pashtuns and
the Shia Hazara, who the Pashtuns look down upon. But above all it is a
very human story and a wonderful piece of theatre. To 04-10-14. Roger Clarke
22-09-14 The Kite Runner's tour brings it back to the Midlands from 20 - 25 October2014 at the
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mir
betrays the still loyal Hassan wrecking both his life and the life of
his father, Ali, (Ezrah Khan) Baba’s servant of more than 40 years. The
servants, out of honour, leave out of a shame not of their making.