Lights come up on a live broadcast. On the television on the far corner of the small apartment, we witness President Barack Obama announcing that American troops would withdraw from Afghanistan. Immediately the audience is transported to a different place and time—to Afghanistan in 2013. As the characters begin to weave in and out of the story, it becomes clear that America’s choice has a very different impact on everyone involved. Selling Kabul, Sylvia Khoury’s drama at Northlight Theatre, may only be 90 minutes, but the broadcast acts as the inciting moment for an emotionally jam-packed piece that runs full speed ahead until the lights come down at the end of the show.
We follow Taroon (Owais Ahmed), who previously served as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. With the Americans’ choice to withdraw their troops, Taroon finds himself forced into hiding as the Taliban gains power. His sister, Afiya (brilliantly portrayed by Aila Ayilam Peck), and brother-in-law, Jawid (Ahmad Kamal), do what they can to protect him. However, on the day Taroon’s son is born, all bets are off. As much as Taroon wants to leave, everyone involved—including Leyla (Shadee Vossoug), the seemingly nosy neighbor, will have to decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to survive.
Directed by Hamid Dehghani, Selling Kabul is fast-paced and bubbles with tension. Khoury writes a smart script—slowly revealing key bits of information as the story unfolds. Just when you think things cannot possibly get worse, another gut-wrenching reveal slams to the surface that turns everything on its head. Set designer Joe Johnson draws the audience into a small, cramped apartment with very few places to hide—forcing the characters to learn each others’ secrets, whether they like it or not. With so many twists and turns in such an intimate space and heightened political landscape, Khoury invites the audience to question alongside her characters as they consider: what are they willing to do to protect their family, and will it be enough?
Khoury’s play is inherently political. Every individual in the story has their own stake in the war, and their own opinions and fears in relation to the Taliban’s control. However, part of what makes the piece so successful is the focus on the relationships, and how Khoury utilizes them as an access point, a window through which audiences can see how the political tensions are pulling folks apart—both from each other and individually within.
The first relationship we witness is that of Afiya and Taroon, a brother and sister who had been separated for years. Only a few months earlier, Taroon returned and began his period of hiding in Afiya’s apartment. At the beginning of the play, Afiya has just returned from meeting Taroon’s new baby son in the hospital, and while he knows it is not safe, all Taroon wants to do is leave and see his wife. After begging, pleading, and literally placing herself between him and the door, Afiya finally forces him to sit down and mend some clothes with her.
The two had been fighting and bustling around the apartment. The space barely seems big enough for the two of them, and as valiantly as Afiya fights, it almost seems like she is ready to give up and let Taroon meet his fate. However, in this moment of stillness, we see a whole new side of the relationship take form. Taroon starts to make fun of Afiya’s stitches, and the two begin laughing and joking around. Skillfully helmed by Dehghani, Ahmed and Peck play both sides of the relationship beautifully, filling the space with an authenticity that any audience member with a sibling could recognize. As much as the two understand how to push each other’s limits, there is also a clear love, and the balance perfectly sets the audience up for the heartbreaking moments to come.
A phenomenal cast and brilliantly clever script make Selling Kabul an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. If you are anything like me, you might even find yourself holding your breath at various points, anxious but excited to see what happens next.
Selling Kabul runs through February 25 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd. Tickets are $20-$84 for Wednesday-Sunday performances. Running time is 105 minutes without intermission.
For more information on this and other plays, see theatreinchicago.com.
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