"The Kite Runner": Immersive and Introspective

By Victoria Petrosino, New Rep Reviewer

New Rep’s “The Kite Runner” has the daunting task of competing with the audience’s prior experiences with Khaled Hossein’s novel by the same name and the 2007 movie.  Overall, the company assembled a memorable cast, including the sociopath Assef (John Zdrojeski), who has a perfect maniacal laugh, and the innocent Hassan (Luke Murtha), who maintains a wonderfully serene expression throughout the performance.

The stage is set with an imposing stone slab floor, surrounded by gravel and stone walls, creating a bleak and barren landscape.  In Act II, when Amir (Nael Nacer) and his father (Ken Baltin) reach America, the set remains the same except for a blurry, zoomed in photo of the Golden Gate bridge projected behind the stage.  The slightness of the change is deliberately symbolic.   For Amir, it signifies his failure, the event in his past that he cannot bury no matter how hard he tries.  For Baba, this signifies the life he left behind: his business, his wealth, his reputation. 

The kite scene, one of the most poignant scenes of the novel, is particularly effective in Matthew Spangler’s adaptation.  The sound of whirling kites sweeps over the audience almost claustrophobically as cast members walk through the aisles flying their kites.  Combined with the cheering of the chorus, this creates a highly dramatic and anticipatory climate.  The audience truly feels the excitement of Amir’s win and all that means for his relationship with his father. 

Nacer delivers an enthusiastic portrayal of Amir in his search for redemption.  However, the drawbacks of having an older narrator re-tell the events of his childhood are numerous, and, at times, detract from the flow of the performance.  Occasionally, Nacer is forced to act in a situation that he is unable to interact with.  He tries to join in a John Wayne gun fight with young Amir (Fahim Hamid) and Hassan, but the results are awkward at best.  In Act II, when present day means an adult Amir, Nacer is forced to dually narrate the time span between adjoining events as well as act in the intervening scenes.  Because of this, the narrator always looks a little out of place.

“The Kite Runner” raises interesting points on the value of redemption and the possibility of a moral identity outside of culture or politics.  New Rep successfully sheds light on both of these issues, leveraging the collected talents of the cast to fully immerse the audience in the author’s introspective story.