[NEohioPAL] Review of "The Kite Runner" at Cleveland Play House

[Bob Abelman]

CPH offers a soaring, well-tethered 'The Kite Runner'

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald 10/29/10

                                                                                       

It is astounding how little we know about a nation we have been at war with since 2001.  Afghanistan, its culture and its people have been as elusive as the Taliban that riddle its countryside.

 

No one play can fill this knowledge gap.  However, the delicate and intriguing storytelling found in The Kite Runner, currently in production by the Cleveland Play House, is an excellent and entertaining start.  

 

Based on the bestselling 2003 novel by Khaled Hosseini, which was turned into a film in 2007,  The Kite Runner spans the most recent 30 years of Afghanistan's turbulent history.  We are introduced to a rich culture that is at first divided by class and religious differences and then tragically and systematically annihilated by war and terrorism.

 

The Kite Runner  puts a human face on the abstract concepts of fear and prejudice, and makes immediately accessible an exotic world, its confounding mores and the unbearable pain experienced by its people. It does so by offering a story about friendship, family and redemption.  

 

The play tells the tale of two boys growing up in the same household.   Amir, the son of a wealthy business man from the privileged class, and Hassan, Amir's servant's son from the lower class, are inseparable friends who roam the Kabul streets, fly kites and innocently imitate shootouts from the Spaghetti Westerns they watch at the cinema.  Their bond is broken and their lives are irrevocably altered by an event that tests one boy's blind devotion and gives rise to the other's core cowardice.   Amidst a backdrop of global turmoil, a grown Amir seeks to make amends for his past failings.

 

The novel is told from a young Amir's first-person perspective, which makes for an interesting and personal read.   In the play, adapted by Matthew Spangler, events are narrated by an onstage and omnipresent adult Amir.   He watches and references his younger self along with the audience and, in the second act, speaks his mind as we witness his efforts to redeem himself.

 

This simultaneous unraveling of and running commentary on the story through adult Amir's physical presence and narration is delightful and dramatic.  It is made even more so by a sincere and incredibly endearing Jos Viramontes in the role and Marc Masterson's gentle touch as the director of this wonderful production. 

 

Masterson exposes the audience to Afghan culture by jumpstarting and infusing this production with the haunting sounds of live percussion music courtesy of internationally acclaimed tabla virtuoso Salar Nader.  The pace of Amir's emotional journey flows through fluid stage movement and seamless transformations in Michael Raiford's elegant and simple set, consisting of panels with traditional Islamic geometric design and a central stone structure. 

 

Although Viramontes and his character's younger self, played with charm and depth by Jose Peru Flores, are at the center of this production, the play consists of an ensemble cast who    gives definition and dimension to each of their respective characters.  Particularly noteworthy are Matt Pascua as a tender Hassan, Nasser Faris as Amir's emotionally distant father, Baba, and Apollo Dukakis as Rahim Khan, a family friend who sets Amir on his path of redemption.  Even Afghan street thugs, such as Zarif Kabier Sadiqi's Assef, are fully defined and interesting creations.      

 

That is until the second act.

 

This play and this production take a curious turn after intermission, when the story takes place in more modern times.  Things progress too rapidly, as if the playwright was speed reading through the novel.   Secondary characters, such as random members of the Taliban and various immigration officials, are portrayed broadly and out of sync with the more delicate depictions from earlier in the play.  Action unfolds more melodramatically, as if from the Clint Eastwood westerns the boys emulated in their youth.  

 

It could be argued that this play is a work in progress and that, over time, the production and performances will even out.  However, this production played for five weeks at the Actors Theatre of Louisville before coming to the Cleveland Play House, so this is a finished and refined work.

 

It could also be argued that these are artistic choices.  Gone are the romantic undertones of nostalgic reflection; here are the harsh and awkward realities of the current state of the Afghan people, accentuated for dramatic effect.   

 

But these are questionable artistic choices.  It would mean that some of the charm so carefully honed and harnessed early in this production is purposefully sacrificed to make a point that is explicitly clear in the story itself.

 

Still, this play and this production are spectacular.   This is a moving and important piece of theater that offers insight and perspective on a place and a people that are rarely given either.

 

The Kite Runner continues through November 7 in The Cleveland Play House's Bolton Theatre, 8500 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.  For tickets, which range from $46 to $66, call 216-795-7000 or visit www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
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