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So, you may have noticed (or not, hey) that my site looks very different. And that, ladies and gentleman, is because I decided to jump ship again and revamp my blog completely! What I can say though (for real this time), that I LOVE how my blog looks now, and won’t be changing it any time soon.
Now on to the The Kite Runner!
The Kite Runner is one of my favourite books of all time. It’s by Khalid Hosseini, and documents a lengthy, mess fight with one’s self to feel worthy and do the right thing. I love this book so much that I’ve shaped my English Literature coursework around it, and then – my friend Anna told me that there was a production of it on at my local theatre in November!
It’s safe to say I was pretty ecstatic.
On the 4th of November, Anna and I went to see Matthew Spangler’s West End production of The Kite Runner, and I am going to be completely honest – it was one of the best things I have ever seen.
Movies and TV are great, but I think there’s something about plays. Something magical and real and impossibly possible.
The Kite Runner ticked every one of those boxes.
Spangler put the production together very cleverly. Whereas in the book, the protagonist Amir’s childhood is interwoven into his present, in the play, the first act represented his childhood and the second act his bid for atonement in the present.
I could go on forever listing every single thing I loved about it, but I’ll have to whittle it down otherwise you’ll be here forever!
The music was woven extremely well with the acting. There was an omnipresent tabla player sitting in a little nest on the side of the stage, providing simple yet highly effective dynamics. Other sound effects were these amazing ‘spinny things’ (yup) that created the wind in both the kite scenes as well as tense monologues.
The acting though. David Ahmad played the lead role, and his performance was incredible. Having a family background in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, he had a rich level of culture and Pashtun he brought to the portrayal. His monologues were extraordinary. He successfully and effectively switched between being his child self as well as omniscient narrator, which I really admired. His father in the play was also completely true to his character in the book – tall, stately, imposing.
Despite this being a heartbreaking play, there were some very humorous moments! Comments on what counts as a sin in the grand scheme of things, self-deprecation, as well as fond laughter at seeing Amir’s attempts at wooing Soraya Tahiri under the nose of her father all contributed to building a great family atmosphere.
In The Kite Runner, Amir betrays Hassan, his childhood best friend, the son of his father’s servant, leaving him guilty for the rest of his life. David Ahmad portrayed this very well, in particular emphasising the closeness of his relationship with Hassan with wonderful sequences of them doing things together like claiming to be the Sultans of Kabul.
The set was also very cleverly used! Shaped like towers with a white sheet behind them, different lights and pictures were projected on to them so that they formed the San Francisco skyline, as well as the kite-ridden Kabul sunset. What was really impressive though, were these two screens that were brought down in front of the towers – sometimes just one of them, and sometimes both of them. Pictures were projected on to these also.
My favourite moments of the play, were of course, the most sentimental ones. I loved the scene where Amir sat crying, having not prayed in decades and forgotten how – simply repeating the only words he knew for Sohrab’s life. It was so emotional – it required summoning a lot of pain to sit there and cry and recite. It was beautiful. Another favourite moment of mine was when Amir finally defended Hassan’s (and Sohrab’s) honour – I had held on very well until this point but I lost it there.
Perhaps one of the most iconic lines of the play paralleled beautifully in the first act and the second act. The first time, the air was pregnant with the knowledge of Amir’s betrayal so there was a hum in the audience – one in which everyone knew that although Hassan said ‘For you, a thousand times over’, Amir would not do the same.
The audience were right – but only partly. Amir went back to Kabul decades later, and saved what was left of his half-brother, and when he said ‘For you, a thousand times over’ to Sohrab at the very end, we were in tears. He had finally redeemed himself.
Well there you go. A lengthy review of one of the best pieces of art I have had the honour of witnessing. I came out feeling completely shattered and blown away by how heartbreaking and how extraordinary it was. I would thoroughly recommend that you try and see it if you're in the U.K. – the company is playing all over the country!
Please give me some feedback on this post, I would really appreciate it! Another note, all of the photos in this post are copyrighted to Matthew Spangler’s company.
See you soon lovelies!
Love, ss xx