THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1

THE KITE RUNNER
GHILZAI
experiences. It sort of validated my experience, allowed me to speak about it. And because
a lot of people had read the book they could comprehend what I was saying, whereas I
think prior to that it was so outlandish that I felt, in a way, awed talking about what it was
like to be an immigrant – how we got here and the challenges that we faced. So I feel that
it’s opened up the world for a lot of us immigrants where it’s allowing us to tell our stories
and share our experiences. And it’s part of history and I think that’s how people learn and
hopefully prevent these things in the future.
JB: It’s such a great point about the story about how really unique and special it is in that
regard and how it’s changed a lot of people’s experiences around the country and around
the world.
HG: I was actually really good friends with his [Khaled’s] sister when I was young and
then we lost touch. When I read the book I sent him an email telling him thank you for
telling my story. It’s funny because for many people that’s not a component of the story
that resonates with them. But for me, as an Afghan immigrant, that was such a big part of
the book. So he [Khaled] and I reconnected and have stayed in touch since then.
JB: You bring up something so interesting about the book is that it is so specific in telling
the Afghan-American immigrant story that hadn’t really been told before and then at the
same time, it manages to be incredibly universal. The book does something that so few
novels are able to do and that’s a really wonderful thing. My last question for you is what
was most important for you to impart to the audience, actors and design team about
Afghan culture
HG: I wanted people to see the richness of the Afghan culture. I feel that the play really
captures that through showing the progression of one family from where they are in Kabul
and what happens to them. It really does an amazing job of telling the Afghan story in a
very culturally respectful way. The costumes are beautiful and just
gorgeously done. Kish and I worked very hard to make sure that,
not only are they culturally accurate, but they’re time sensitive. I
feel like sometimes in some things done on Afghanistan they slap
somebody with a traditional outfit but it’s not fitting of what is
happening. The set design is very simple but just beautifully done
and I feel that it really captures the essence of Kabul. And the one
other person who really brings the true essence of our culture
and the culture’s love of music is the tabla player, Salar Nader.
He infuses this amazing energy into the play that takes you back
to Kabul – it takes you around the world. Music has been a very
big part of the Afghan culture for a long time and unfortunately it
was muted during the time of the Taliban. So having the live tabla
player really captures the richness and the diversity of the Afghan
culture and the country.
- Questions created by Laura Farrell-Wortman, dramaturgical intern
Salar Nader in The Kite Runner.
Photo by Kevin Berne.
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 32