As a matter of course,”Kite runner“Opened at the Hayes Theater on Thursday night” is a kite. They are miniature, attached to a thin stick waving by several actors, with white tissue paper flapping and bird-like overhead. If the kite splits the air with a soft swish, the paper will wrinkle.
Only the rest of this rigid work, adapted by Matthew Spangler from the 2003 popular novel by Kared Hosseini, exudes such elegance.
A redemption story about the unpleasant, sometimes totally sneaky protagonist “Kiterunner,” explained by Pashtun Afghan Amir (Amir Arison) that the timid decision he made at the age of 12 shaped today’s man. It will start in 2001. ..
He doesn’t tell us what it was right away. He went back in time to show us the scene of his life in Kabul with his single father, Baba (Faran Tahir). Their servant Ali (Evan Zess) is a member of the oppressed and harassed Hazara minority group. Ali’s son, Hassan (Eric Siracian). The rest of the 13 cast will be buried as other characters in Amir’s life, including his future wife, Russian soldiers, and various unnamed characters from the Afghan community on both sides of the world.
Allison (who also plays Preteen’s Amir all the time) reads to Hassan, who is illiterate, but not without mocking him. When they are in trouble, he makes Hassan fall. Still, Hassan is a loyal partnership with Amir in a competitive game operated by kite owners and using coated or sharp strings to separate competitors from the sky. The runner chases and catches the fallen kite.
Report from Afghanistan
When Amir fails to stop the violence against Hassan, the boys’ friendship is irreparably compromised. But Hassan never really leaves Amir. He brought guilt to the United States, and he and Baba fled there after Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan led the Taliban’s vicious government. After finding his love and a successful career, Amir eventually returns to his hometown to redeem himself from his past violations.
“The Kite Runner” was first performed at San Jose State University in 2007, then throughout England and eventually in the West End. For Broadway engagement, producers turned to Off-Broadway regular Alison, who has been a supporter of NBC’s “blacklist” for nearly a decade.
Under the direction of Gilescroft, Alison’s Broadway debut proves to be uneven. He describes his opening line in the firmness of the child who provides the book’s report and will never be completely relaxed in its role.
That part will be a daunting task for any actor. Amir is on stage throughout the show, and his transition between middle-aged and young self is about 30 years apart and requires some kind of gymnastics that not all performers can stick to.
Not to mention the character’s own challenges, the timid and unstable boy who becomes a timid and unstable man despite his childhood, supported by the unwavering love and loyalty of his friend Hassan, is in the painful innocence of Siracian. I played.
In the novel, even if you leave Hassan in the first third of the story, it’s easy to ride the twists and turns of Amir’s journey. Play shuffles on stage and it’s hard to keep investing in this unpalatable hero with Hassan in the rearview mirror.
For those who haven’t read “The Kite Runner” or watched the 2007 movie, it won’t spoil the violent scene that causes a crack between two friends, Otherwise, I feel uncomfortable with something that can be read like a proper parable. The astonishing gasping from the audience showed a sudden shock of real-world horror.
Again, emotionally pandaling novels are the DNA of the show, so some of them cannot be negotiated. However, Croft’s mechanical orientation is often melancholy, such as when a character dies dramatically or when Amir prays to save her loved one. Then there is a cheese serving that induces her sputum when Amir finds herself in San Francisco in 1981. Cool & The Gang’s “Celebration” is played by a flashy guy from the 80’s crossing the stage, throwing out random nouns like “Prince” for a decade. “Pac-Man” and “Darth Vader”.
For the “Kite Runner” to work, the boys’ nemesis must be formidable, but Spangler’s script reduces the childhood bully Asef (Amir Mara Crew). He is no longer the novel’s social neo-Nazi, but an adversary from something special after school, with an unstable accent.
Speaking of instability, Bernie George’s set design is frustratingly ambiguous, including a stage-length slope that looks like it’s borrowed from a skatepark and jagged rectangular panels along the back wall. .. Two giant cloth sails can come down from high places, similar to kite wings, but most often distracting.
William Simpson’s projection design provides a whimsical puff, while the kite-filled sky and pomegranate tree watercolor renderings give the script a fantastic fairy tale quality.
When it comes to works of color, legitimacy is always a difficult issue. The fact that Broadway has a story about the struggle of Afghanistan for nearly 30 years is a feat in itself, as is the cast of its descendants in the Middle East and South Asia.
The mass of conversation is spoken in a Persian dialect (all thanks to cultural adviser and script consultant Humaira Ghilzai), and many of the underlines feature the toned sounds and bangs of tabla players. Salar Nader, A stable presence on one side of the stage and one of the production jewels. (Jonathan Garling wrote exciting music.)
Nonetheless, “Kite Runner” is an Off-Broadway that recently investigated the personal and national losses facing Iran and Afghanistan, such as Sylvia Holy’s “Selling Kabul” and Sanaz Toossi’s “English” and “Wish.” Not as rich as theater. You were here “As Off-Broadway often proves, there are more compelling ways to tell a story.
Kite runner
Until October 30th at the Haze Theater in Manhattan. thekiterunnerbroadway.com.. Execution time: 2 hours 30 minutes.
