The Kite Runner - Brilliant

The Kite Runner has more twists and turns than a corporate boardroom and is one of those amazing stories that effortlessly spans continents and time thanks to a gripping tale of sorrow, humanity, redemption and brutality.

When Khaled Hosseini first wrote his seminal novel, he probably didn't realise what a profound effect it was about to have, in the same way that Harper Lee penned To Kill a Mockingbird because she simply had a tale to tell, not because she was hoping for millions of sales.

Both are novels from the heart, tinged, no doubt, by the realities of personal experience or knowledge, and Matthew Spangler's wonderful adaptation of Hosseini's book captured so brilliantly the original novel.

David Ahmad as Amir is the well to do Afghan Pashtun who grows up with eternally loyal playmate Hassan, the Hazara son of his family's servant. One is privileged, the other is the scourge of Kabul life.

But when Hassan, his diminutive, subservient pal, so well characterised by Jo Ben Ayed, is brutally sexually assaulted by the village bully, Assef, Amir denies witnessing anything. That decision is to haunt him for the rest of his life and leads to tragedy that will taint three generations of two families.

This is a play about betrayal, overwhelming guilt, loyalty, a complete roller coaster of emotions that leaves you feeling exhausted.

You sometimes know what is coming and yet there is an ever-present sense of foreboding, brutality or hatred just around the corner.

What next?

Charles Balfour's lighting plot captured beautifully the warm, balmy nights of Kabul but the excitement of New York, whilst Barney George's set design was multi-functional with its kitelike shaped tabs acting as a projection screen, a way of moving the plot on and a subtle reference to subject matter.

Everyone is a victim in The Kite Runner. Emilio Doorgasingh as Amir's demanding father, Baba, also living his own life of guilt as the father of Hassan, the result of an illicit affair with his servant's wife. More guilt.

Amiera Darwish, plays Amir's wife to be, Soraya, tainted in Afghan society after running off with a druggie. When she marries she can no longer be deemed pure; soiled goods. But Amir accepts her willingly knowing that he too is tainted by his own betrayal of a boy who would have died for him.

Everyone has their cross to bear in this amazing play that all begins so simply; two boys, a kite and a moment of tragic misfortune when they find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. All the actors were excellent.

But tragedy alone can leave you feeling empty unless the author or playwright finds a way of knitting together all the loose ends.

And The Kite Runner has got to be up there with the best.

If you have never seen it I will not spoil the ending but I will tell you another story. A distraught Hindu once confessed to Gandhi that he had killed a Muslim and had been devastated by his actions. "Does he have any children?" said Gandhi. "Yes," said the man, "a son".

"Then your penance is to bring up his son as a good Muslim," he told the Hindu.

The Kite Runner has something similar but you will struggle to guess. There is a way for you to be good again, Amir is repeatedly told by his father's friend.

Redemption comes, but at a price. Everyone pays for their journey to Heaven.

This is a great play with great actors and will grip you from start to finish. It is not very often that you see a near instant standing ovation at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Last night I did and it was deserved.

The Kite Runner
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Until Saturday 23rd September 2017