A classic tale from gulf

Over the years, Indian theatre has witnessed several adaptations of Western plays, movies and books. The latest addition to the list is the ongoing play The Kite Runner,  A gripping tale of love and friendship, betrayal and redemption, good and evil, juxtaposed against the turbulent backdrop of wartime Afghanistan, is an adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s book with the same name.

“We have worked towards making it a nuanced performance out of the original text, with the actors being aware of all the layers of the text,” says director Akarsh Khurana, who is known for his work on several book-adaptations like Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, and three other productions based on the stories of Ruskin Bond.

With the ensemble of eleven artists, American playwright Matthew Spangler adapted the book into two-hour-long play. And according to Akarsh, the writer engaged with Hosseini himself for over three years before breathing life into the final script of the play. While the book deals with a lot of inner dilemmas and guilt of the characters, the play tries to bring out the tone and culture of the text through music and set design. The director is trying to ensure that the storytelling process in the play would transport the audiences to the deserts of Kabul and Istanbul, where Amir and Hassan’s story is set. “The play is narrated by the protagonist, so he speaks of some of his internal conflicts. Our sound is a big contributor to that. We have curated some nice music for the show. So there will be sounds, and possibly smells, of Kabul,” the director reveals.

The soul-stirring story about friendship, abandonment, and growing up is brought to the audiences by the Aditya Birla Group’s performing art innitiative — Aadyam, along with Mumbai’s Akvarious Productions. When asked if he was apprehensive to bring this novel-based performance on stage in particular, Khurana says theatre overall is a challenge. “Everything is challenging in theatre. Doing justice to the material, remaining engaging throughout the play, designing the aesthetic, and telling the multi-continent saga in one space has been challenging task for the last three months,” confesses the director, who has also acted in more than 60 Bollywood films over the years.

While Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner was adapted for the screen by American screenwriter David Benioff in 2007 — which was directed by German-Swiss filmmaker Marc Forster — the play will be performed in India for the first time. “Indian audiences may have read the book and watched the film, but no official stage adaptation has happened in India before this,” the director notes in conclusion.