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PLAY GUIDE
About
The Kite runner
Play Guide
This play guide is a standards-based
resource designed to enhance your theatre
experience. Its goal is twofold: to nurture
the teaching and learning of theatre arts
and to encourage essential questions that
lead to enduring understandings of the
play’s meaning and relevance. Inside you
will find history/contextual information,
vocabulary and worksheets that lay
the groundwork of the story and build
anticipation for the performance. Oral
discussion and writing prompts encourage
your students to reflect upon their
impressions and to analyze and relate key
ideas to their personal experiences and the
world around them. These can easily be
adapted to fit most writing objectives. The
Bridgework connects theatre elements with
ideas for drama activities in the classroom
as well as integrated curriculum. We
encourage you to adapt and extend the
material in any way to best fit the needs
of your community of learners. Please
feel free to make copies of this guide, or
you may download it from our website:
ActorsTheatre.org. We hope this material,
combined with our pre-show workshops,
will give you the tools to make your time
at Actors Theatre a valuable learning
experience.
Table of contents
3
The Kite Runner Synopsis, Characters and Setting
4
About the Author; About the Adaptor
5
In Their Own Words: Khaled Hosseini
and Matthew Spangler
6
An Interview with Humaira Ghilzai,
Cultural Consultant
7
Afghan Diversity and Conflict
8
Afghanistan Timeline
10
Bridging Barriers: An American in Afghanistan
Shares His Take on The Kite Runner
12
Writing Portfolio, Discussion Questions
13Bridgework
14
Other Reading and Works Cited
15
Glossary of Terms
Actors Theatre Education
Steven Rahe, Director of Education
Jacob Stoebel, Associate Director of Education
Julie Mercurio, Education Fellow
Jane B. Jones, Education Intern/Teaching Artist
Christina Lepri, Education Intern/Teaching Artist
Liz Fentress, Teaching Artist
Jessica Leader, Teaching Artist
The Kite Runner student matinees
and play guides address specific
educational objectives:
Play Guide compiled by Alex Connolly, Tara Duffy,
Adrien-Alice Hansel, Julie McCormick, Steven Rahe,
Jacob Stoebel, Amy Wegener
• Students will identify or describe the
use of elements of drama in dramatic
works.
Graphic Design by John Bowhers and Elissa Shortridge
• Students will analyze how time,
place and ideas are reflected in
drama/theatre
• Students will explain how
drama/theatre fufills a variety of
purposes
If you have any questions or suggestions
regarding our play guides, please contact
Steven Rahe, Director of Education, at
502-584-1265 ext. 3045.
Special Thanks to Arizona Theatre Company for use of their
study guide articles.
The Crawford Charitable Foundation
supports education programming for Actors
Theatre of Louisville’s 2010-2011 season
The Kentucky Arts Council,
the state arts agency,
supports Actors Theatre
of Louisville with state
tax dolars and federal
funding from the National
Endowment for the Arts.
Cast of
Characters
Amir
Thirty-nine-year-old Afghan
Pashtun who immigrated to
America, reflecting on his past
and in search for redemption
in the present.
Young Amir
Amir as a boy living in 1970s
Afghanistan. Hassan’s best
friend but desperately wants
his father’s approval. Twelve
years old. Afghan Pashtun.
ali
Hassan’s father and Baba’s
servant. Afghan Hazara.
assef
An Afghan boy by a carpet selling stand. Photo by Steve Evans
Synopsis
Amir, an Afghan-American living in San José, Calif., gets a
phone call one day which pulls him back into his past in an
instant. Growing up as a member of the ethnic Pashtun upper
class in Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir lived a life of privilege made
possible by his father’s money and his servants’ work. His
childhood was spent playing side-by-side with a servant boy
named Hassan, a member of the ethnic Hazara people who are
looked down upon, even hated, in Afghanistan. In a fateful
moment, Amir betrayed his friend and servant, Hassan, and
made a decision that haunted him for years to come, long after
he and his father left Afghanistan behind because of political
turmoil and war.
Years later, the phone call reminds the adult Amir that he
cannot outrun his past. He must return to the land of his
childhood to try to make amends for what he did so many
years ago. But time and politics have drastically changed
the Afghanistan of his childhood into a country he barely
recognizes. He finds himself up against the same prejudice and
evil from which he ran the first time. Will Amir be able to atone
for his past?
-from The Kite Runner Play Guide, reprinted with permission of
Arizona Theatre Company
As a twelve-year-old in Act I,
he bullies Hassan and Amir.
As a thirty-eight-year-old in
Act II, he is a member of the
Taliban. Afghan Pashtun.
MRs. nguyen
Vietnamese shop owner in
California.
soraya
General Taheri’s daughter and
Amir’s supportive and loving
wife. Afghan Pastun.
farid
Amir’s cab driver when he
returns to Afghanistan. Former
Mujahideen fighter against the
Soviets. Afghan Tajik.
sohrab
Hassan’s son. Ten years old.
Afghan Hazara.
baba
Amir’s father who is hard to
please. In his forties in Act I,
fifties by Act II. Afghan Pashtun.
hassan
Young Amir’s loyal best friend
and servant. Eleven years old.
Afghan Hazara.
rahim khan
Baba’s business partner and friend
who reaches out to Amir. Late
thirties to early forties in Act
I, mid to late sixties in Act II.
Afghan Pashtun.
wali
and
kamal
Part of Assef’s gang in Act I.
Afghan Pashtuns.
General Taheri
Former military leader who
fled Afghanistan to resettle
in America but still values
traditional Afghan ways.
Afghan Pashtun.
dr. schneider
American oncologist of
Russian descent.
zaman
Runs an orphanage just
outside of Kabul faced with
choices. Afghan Pashtun.
omar faisal
A disorganized but kind
Pakistani/American
immigration attorney.
raymond andrews
A harshly honest American
Embassy Official in Pakistan.
Setting
Spanning place and time from Kabul, Afghanistan in 1973 to
San José, Calif. in 2002.
3
About the author
khaled hosseini
In many ways, the life of Amir and the events portrayed in The
Kite Runner, reflect author Khaled Hosseini’s own personal story.
He was born on March 4th, 1965 in Kabul where The Kite Runner
begins. Like the protagonist Amir, Hosseini and his four younger
siblings enjoyed a peaceful childhood in the affluent Wazir Akbar
Khan neighborhood in the Afghan capital city where kite fighting
is a local passion, much like basketball or football here in the
United States. Because of his father’s career as a diplomat for
the Afghan Foreign Ministry, the family had to move away from
Afghanistan to Tehran, and later Paris. It was while the Hosseini
family was living abroad that the PDPA (the People’s Democratic
Party of Afghanistan) violently took control of the government
in 1978, followed by the Soviet invasion. Instead of returning to
the war-torn country, the Hosseini family resettled in San José,
California, among a growing Afghan refugee population.
Like Baba and Amir, Hosseini’s family had very little when they
came to the United States, despite their wealth and status back
in Afghanistan. His father, the former diplomat, worked on an
assembly line, while his mother, a former teacher of history and
Farsi, worked as a waitress at a Denny’s. Taking an example
from his hardworking parents, Hosseini applied himself to his
studies, graduating from high school, college, and medical school,
eventually becoming a doctor. However, he had always loved
reading and writing, and was first inspired to try writing novels
after reading John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath in his high
school English class. He wrote the draft for The Kite Runner in the
early morning hours before working longs shifts at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles. The book was published in 2003
and quickly became a best-seller; its themes of friendship and
redemption resonated with readers. While there are many parallels
between Hosseini’s and Amir’s lives as far as the setting and the
historical events in The Kite Runner, Hosseini says that the plot
itself is not autobiographical.
Hosseini continues to write (A Thousand Splendid Suns, 2007), and
provides humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through The Khaled
Hosseini Foundation. He organized the Foundation after a trip to
Afghanistan in 2007 as a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations
Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It had been thirty
Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner
years since the author had left his native country. Although he
wrote a graphic depiction of modern-day Afghanistan in The Kite
Runner, he said after seeing the devastation first-hand he realized
the situation was worse than what he had imagined. Hosseini
currently lives in northern California with his wife and two
children.
About the adaptor
Matthew Spangler
Matthew Spangler adapted the script for The Kite Runner from Khaled Hosseini’s novel.
He is an Assistant Professor of Performance Studies at San Jose State University, where he
teaches courses on adaptation. Previous works include a one-actor show of James Joyce’s
novel, Dubliners, as well as an adaptation using several short stories by Ernest Hemingway.
He also wrote a music-theatre adaptation, Mozart!, based on the composer’s letters. He
received his B.A. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, and later a Ph.
D. in Performance Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a
member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
4
Did you know?
Actors Theatre is offering a new
how-to-adapt playwriting residency.
Adaptation is a ten-session residency
guiding fifth-grade classrooms
through the process of turning a
modern classic book into a play.
For more information contact us at
education@actorstheatre.org
In Their own words
Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, and Matthew Spangler, who adapted the novel as a play,
discuss the story, its context and its journey from page to stage.
Khaled hosseini
Mr. Hosseini published The Kite Runner, his first novel, in 2003.
It quickly became an international sensation. Here, he sets the
record straight on whether or not it is autobiographical.
The story of The Kite Runner has always taken precedence over everything else. It is quite
a burden for a writer to feel a responsibility to represent his or her own culture and to
educate others about it.
My writing always starts from a very personal, intimate place, about human connections,
and then expands from there.
I’m asked all the time about how autobiographical this book is. It’s not a memoir by any
stretch of imagination, although I have a surprisingly hard time convincing some of my
readers of that. You know, there are some parallels within my life and the life of the boy
in The Kite Runner. I grew up in Kabul in the same era, I went to the same school, we
both were kind of precocious writers, we both love film, loved those early Westerns of the
’60s and ’70s. So there is quite a bit of me in the book. The story line itself, what happens
between the boys and the fallout from that, that just—that is all imagination.
The cover for the novel, The Kite Runner
Matthew spangler
Mr. Spangler’s adaptation of The Kite Runner has
been performed at the San Jose Repertory and
Arizona Theater Company. In this interview, he
talks about why he thought it would translate as
theater, and how he worked with the author to
bring it to the stage.
I absolutely loved The Kite Runner from the moment I first read
it. This is the rarest of novels in that it contains both a political/
historical story as well as a beautifully human story about
interpersonal relationships.
Amir, in some sense, begs the audience for
forgiveness for what he has done.
I knew right away that the book had the potential to make a
powerful play. First, the characters are vividly drawn: from
Baba’s sometimes authoritarian attitude toward his son, to Assef’s
sociopathic bullying, to Amir’s ruthless narcissism. Second, much
of the book’s drama is rooted in the candid and heartfelt nuances
of Amir’s first-person narration. So much so, it almost reads like a
confessional; Amir, in some sense, begs the audience for forgiveness
for what he has done.
One of the things I find most compelling about this novel, and it’s
something I’ve tried to replicate in the play, is that it is uniquely
situated to counter
some of the stereotypes
about Afghanistan:
specifically, that it’s a
war-torn country of
mud huts, poverty, and
terrorists. Afghanistan,
as the book shows, has
an incredibly diverse
society—both ethnically
as well as politically.
Afghanistan can no
more be equated with
the Taliban than the
United States can be
equated with the KKK.
Afghanistan
in global geography
After I read the book, in 2005, I contacted Khaled and I asked
him what he would think of a stage production that would cover
the entire narrative of The Kite Runner. He lives in San Jose and
I’m a professor at San Jose State University, where I teach courses
in adapting material for the stage. Our proximity was convenient
because we were able to meet for the first time at a local Starbucks.
He liked the idea of a play, and I guess you might say the rest is
history.
-Both interviews are condensed from interviews conducted by Jonathan Crider, PR
and Marketing Associate of Arizona Theatre Company
5
Interview with the cultural consultant
an afghan american’s take on the kite runnerT
Actors Education recently spoke with Humaira Ghilzai,
the Cultural Consultant for Actors Theatre’s production of
The Kite Runner. Born in Afghanistan but now living in San
Francisco, Ghilzai acts as the chair of the Afghan Friends Network,
an organization that seeks to educate and empower Afghans,
particularly girls and women. Ghilzai has also worked on previous
productions of The Kite Runner. Read more to find out Ghilzai’s
role in the production, her own immigrant story and what she
hopes audience members realize about Afghanistan after seeing the
play.
Actors: Can you describe what your role as the Cultural
Consultant for The Kite Runner entails?
Humaira: My role is to work with every aspect of the production
to make sure everything is culturally accurate. I originally worked
with Matthew Spangler on the first version of the play, consulting
on language—there are a lot of Dari words. I worked with the
director to give the cultural context, to explain the background of
how some of these characters lived. I’ve been working with the set
and costume designers too. My job is not the creative aspect of the
production; I basically look at their ideas and say “Yes, a Pashtun
man would wear this hat,” or “No, an Afghan man of that class
would not wear this color.” I will be working with the actors on
their gestures and their language, especially when they use Dari
words.”
“I basically look at their ideas and say ‘Yes, a
Pashtun man would wear this hat,’ or ‘No, an
Afghan man of that class would not wear this
color.’ ”
Actors: How do you think the Afghan immigrant story, like the
one seen in The Kite Runner, is similar to other immigrant stories?
How is it different?
Humaira: My husband read the book first and he said to me,
“Read this—it’s your family’s story.” I think many Afghan
immigrants experienced an element of what’s in The Kite Runner,
whether it’s how we left behind our loved ones or how we traveled
across the border to get out of the country. There was an active war
and people who were living happy lives beforehand were no longer
safe nor welcomed within their own country, so they had to leave
just to survive.
I want to note that the Afghan immigrants have not just come to
the United States, which I think is different from the Ellis Island
stories. Afghans went to Pakistan, Iran, Europe, the U.S. and
Australia. It was like shattering glass and scattering the pieces all
over the world. I think that happens more to war immigrants as
opposed to those who immigrated for a better [economic] life.
For example, my family crossed the border to Pakistan and then
we went to Germany. My father and three of my siblings were
already in the United States, so they sponsored us to come here. My
two aunts didn’t have anyone in the U.S., and my father couldn’t
sponsor them, so they stayed behind in Germany.
6
Humaira Ghilzai
It was like shattering glass and scattering the
pieces all over the world.
Actors: How do you think students’ perceptions of Afghanistan
will be changed after seeing The Kite Runner?
Humaira: I think people don’t understand Afghanistan because
what you hear on the news is only the U.S. military effort. What
they are going to walk away with is seeing a cultural perception of
Afghanistan—that these people have lives and traditions. It will
bring a human face to Afghanistan, and the story itself is a global
story of two friends where there is a rift and then regret. I think
that the idea of redemption is universal.
Afghan diversity and conflict
A fghanistan is a mosaic of various ethnic groups and languages. Its location, connecting East,
T
West, South and Central Asia, has made it attractive to conquerors and traders alike, each group
contributing to the culture through art, architecture, language and religion. The distinct customs
and lifestyles of the three most populous ethnic groups, Pashtun, Tajik, and Hazara, demonstrate
the multifaceted nature of Afghan culture, but their interactions reveal that such diversity can
breed tension and conflict, as seen in The Kite Runner.
Pashtun father and daughter in
Khowst Province, Afghanistan.
Pashtuns have dominated Afghan
politics and culture since the mid-18th
century, with most of the kings and top
leaders coming from this ethnic group.
Comprising nearly half of the Afghan
population, Pashtuns are both upper
and lower class, live in urban and rural
settings, and belong to many distinct
tribes, some of which don’t always get
along. In The Kite Runner, Amir and
Baba are members of the urban Pashtun
upper-class. Pashtuns speak Pashto,
an Indo-European language, which is
recognized as one of Afghanistan’s two
official languages.
Hazaras the most oppressed
ethnic minority, are the third
largest ethnic group, making
up nearly a tenth of the overall
population. Hazarajat, the area
in central Afghanistan where
most Hazaras live, is a barren,
impoverished region that
lacks good roads and schools.
Many Hazaras in urban areas,
especially before the Soviet
invasion, worked as servants
for the Pashtun upper-class,
like Hassan and Ali in The Kite
Runner. Hazaras are often said
to be descendents of Genghis
Khan’s Mongol army that
A Hazara Man. Photo by Steve Evans.
invaded Afghanistan in the
11th century, due to their Asiatic features like a flatter face and
slanted eyes. However, like any ethnic group, not all Hazaras look
identical. Hazaras are a religious minority as well; in a country
composed predominantly of Sunni Muslims, Hazaras belong to the
Shia sect.
Tajiks compose much of the middle
class as farmers, vendors and mid-level
government officials. They make up
nearly a third of the total population.
Tajiks don’t maintain the same tribal
distinctions like Pashtuns, but instead
base loyalty on their village or city.
Although this group makes up a
significant part of Afghan society,
there is only one Tajik character in The
Kite Runner—Farid, the taxi driver
who transports Amir into Talibanruled Afghanistan. Most Tajiks speak
Dari, the Afghan variant of Farsi
(Persian), which is another official
A Tajik Man with a traditional hat.
language of Afghanistan. In a country
with nearly 49 distinct languages and dialects, many Afghans speak
more than one language, and Dari serves as the common tongue
for citizens from distant regions.
What’s the difference
between Shia and
Sunni Muslims?
These two sects of Islam stem from a disagreement about
whom to recognize as a legitimate leader of the religion
following the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632
CE. Shias believed that leadership should stay within
Muhammad’s family, while Sunnis thought it should be
open to the community that surrounded the prophet. As
a result, Shias follow the instructions of religious leaders
known as imams, believed to be infallible, while Sunni
Muslims do not have such a centralized spiritual authority.
The two sects of Islam differ not only in leadership but
also in the phrasing and performance of central prayers.
However, Shia and Sunni Muslims still share many of the
basic fundamental beliefs of Islam, such as the oneness of
Allah (God) and Muhammad as the ultimate prophet.
Hazaras are part of the Shia sect (about 15% of the overall
Afghan population). The majority of Afghans of the other
ethnic groups are Sunni Muslims. The Taliban, composed
of Sunni extremists and ethnic Pashtun supremacists, view
Hazaras as only slightly above animals who should not be
considered true Afghans due to their Shia practice of Islam
and association with the Mongol invaders. This was most
evident in 1998 in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif when Taliban
forces took over the city and systematically singled out
and killed 2,000 Hazaras and Tajiks. The Kite Runner also
depicts violence against Hazaras at the hands of religious
and ethnic fanatics.
7
Afghanistan Timeline
6th Century BCE
The Persians conquer ancient
Afghanistan and introduce the Farsi/
Dari language as well as epic poetry.
Although The Shahnameh, the Persian
poem that Amir reads to Hassan,
was not written until 1000 CE, it
stems from the storytelling tradition
established in this era.
330 BCE
Alexander the Great,
in his conquest of the
Persian Empire, invades
ancient Afghanistan on
his way to the Hindu
Kush mountains and
India. Hellenistic
(Greek) architecture
is still found in some
northern cities like
Mazar-i-Sharif.
652 CE
The Arab Conquest of the region
establishes Islam as the dominant
religion.
1st Century CE
Afghan cities are stops along
the Silk Road, a trade route
that reached from China to the
Mediterranean. Goods from
all over the known world travel
through and are exchanged in
Afghanistan.
This mosque is a Muslim place of worship.
Photo by Steve Evans
1979
1989
The PDPA abolishment of
traditional Muslim customs
inspires Mujahideen
resistance groups to oppose
the government. Fearing
they will be overthrown,
the PDPA allows the
Soviet Union to invade
Afghanistan to maintain
Communist dominance.
The Soviets withdraw from
Afghanistan after a decade-long
conflict that leaves the country
devastated.
1992
The PDPA government collapses
and the country plunges into civil
war as rival Mujahideen factions
vie for control of the country.
1996
The Taliban
establishes a
theocracy based
on fundamentalist
Islam.
Under Taliban rule, women could be violently punished if they
did not wear the burqua.
18th Century
The Durrani Empire, founded
and led by Pashtun tribal leaders,
establishes Kabul as the capital
and unites many regions into a
modern Afghan state.
19th Century
Fearing that
Afghanistan would
invade their colony,
India, the British adopt
a containment policy
towards the country that
results in frequent wars
and occupations.
1893
The Durand Line Treaty defines the
boundaries between Afghanistan
and British-controlled India (which
then includes Pakistan). This
mountainous location serves as
the basis for the modern AfghanPakistani border and makes
policing movement between the two
countries difficult.
1220 CE
Genghis Khan’s Mongol army
invades Afghanistan as its
raids travel westward from the
Mongolian homeland in the east.
At its height, the Mongol Empire
streches from the Sea of Japan to
the Danube River in Europe.
1946
Kabul University becomes
operational as the first modern
institution for higher education in
Afghanistan and includes faculties
in Law, Agriculture, Islamic
Studies, Literature, Economics
and Pharmacology.
1978
In the Saur Revolution, the
communist People’s Democratic Party
of Afghanistan (PDPA) violently
overthrows the Daoud government,
killing the prime minister.
1973
King Zahir’s cousin,
Mohammad Daoud Khan, stages
a bloodless coup while the king
is abroad in Italy and declares
Afghanistan a republic.
The flag of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
2010
2001
Due to the Taliban’s refusal to hand
over Al-Qaeda operatives responsible
for the September 11th attacks on
the World Trade Center in New
York City, the U.S. launches an
invasion of Afghanistan to oust
the Taliban and capture Al-Qaeda
leaders. Hamid Karzai is selected as
the transitional leader and eventually
is elected President of Afghanistan.
The war in Afghanistan continues
today and is now the longestrunning war in U.S. history.
Large deposits of minerals in Afghanistan,
including lithium and copper, are estimated
to be worth nearly a trillion dollars. While
the full effects of this development remain
to be seen, this could potentially transform
the Afghan economy and the country’s
standing in international politics.
9
Bridging Barriers:
an american in afganistan’s take on the kite runner
CPT Anthony Clark in a Black Hawk helicopter
Captain Anthony Clark is a Louisville native
currently serving in the rural Khowst Province
in eastern Afghanistan. He works with Afghan
community members, primarily Pashtuns, on
a daily basis to develop understanding and
cooperation between locals and U.S troops.
He graciously agreed to take some time to
discuss his views on Afghan culture, how it is
misunderstood, and how The Kite Runner helps
bridge cultural barriers.
Afghanistan: Spanning Urban and Rural
CPT Clark notes that The Kite Runner is very much about urban
Afghanistan, but the country also includes vast rural areas, like the
Khowst Province where he is stationed. “Much like in the United
States, the difference between rural and urban Afghans is a matter
of identity.” He explains that “An Afghan identifies himself first by
family, then by village, then by tribe, then by ethnic group, then by
region, then by country, then as a Muslim.” In cities, though, tribal
affiliation is not as important as in rural areas. CPT Clark points
out that the urban Afghans in The Kite Runner heavily reference
their ethnic groups in part because tribal affiliations are harder to
see than “the more distinguishable ethnic differences.”
With less emphasis on the tribe in Afghan cities, Pashtunwali,
the system that Pashtun tribes have used for millennia to govern
themselves, is less important in an urban setting than it is in rural
regions. In the tribe, the jigra, a council of elders, convenes to make
the decisions that will assure the group’s well-being. According to
10
Pashtunwali, which literally means “The Way of the Pashtuns,”
honor does not just apply to the individual but rather the entire
group. So if someone does something dishonorable, the entire tribe
is dishonored. Other values include hospitality towards visitors and
strangers, and appropriate retaliation for insults to the tribe’s honor.
CPT Clark sees examples of Pashtunwali in The Kite Runner, like
General Taheri’s concern for his daughter’s honor and Rahim
Khan’s hospitality towards Amir, but for the most part urban
Afghans do not strictly follow the tenants of the code. “This is
not the case when you step outside the city into areas where people
live much like they have for the past 600 years with the exception
of automobiles and cell phones,” CPT Clark says. There “the old
honor code is still very much alive.”
“I think the popular American misconception
is that the only source of identity for Afghans is
their religion.”
Another difference between rural and urban Afghanistan is that
“urban Afghans are more likely to be less conservative” than their
rural counterparts. However, CPT Clark observes that stricter
adherence to Islamic guidelines in rural regions “does not equate
to the fundamentalism advocated by the Taliban.” In his personal
experience, the Taliban “are a collection of a few zealots and a
larger number of criminals who use a fundamentalist interpretation
of Islam to control the population through fear.”
The Taliban “are a collection of a few zealots
and a larger number of criminals who use a
fundamentalist interpretation of Islam to control
the population through fear.”
A typical home in Khowst Province. Photo by CPT Clark
Confronting the Stereotypes
What CPT Clark finds interesting about the story of The Kite
Runner is “how it works to confront the various generalizations
people have about Afghan history and government.” Although the
play focuses on the small urban population of Afghanistan, “it still
confronts several stereotypes,” he contends.
“I think the popular American misconception is that the only
source of identity for Afghans is their religion,” says CPT Clark.
Religion is just one of many ways in which Afghans can distinguish
one person from another, in addition to family, tribe, village, region
and ethnic group.
One stereotype is that all Afghans live in huts or caves. CPT
Clark explains that while almost every Afghan he knows “lives in a
mud-brick building he built himself,” city dwellers live in modern
concrete buildings. But even those rural mud brick buildings are
“rather nice, large, and decently constructed.”
Another stereotype is that all Afghans are violent fundamentalists.
Though “most Afghans are very religiously conservative,
not everyone is,” CPT Clark explains—and we see this in
many characters in The Kite Runner. Moreoever, even the
religiously conservative are not what he would consider religious
fundamentalists.
CPT Clark believes that The Kite Runner “resonates with so many
people because Amir’s story provides a bridge that a Western
audience can use to connect to an Afghan society” and because the
world and characters of The Kite Runner represent a combination of
East and West. Also, Amir deals with major flaws but seeks a way
“to atone for those character failings in his past.” The universality
of such a journey overcomes cultural barriers.
Khowst City, with a population of 160,000, is the only urban
center in Khowst Province. Photo by CPT Clark
11
Writing Portfolio
PERSONAL
The action of The Kite Runner is centered
on Amir’s need to atone for his betrayal of
Hassan. Write a personal narrative about a
time you failed or wronged a friend. What
were the circumstances? Why did you do
it? Did you seek forgiveness? What did you
learn from this experience? Now write from
your friend’s perspective. Try to imagine
the same situation from their point of view.
TRANSACTIVE
Write a review of the performance of The
Kite Runner that you saw at Actors Theatre
of Louisville. Describe what it was like to
watch the play, but be sure to write more
than just the plot of the play. Think about
how the play tells the story. Make the
experience come alive for the reader. Use
lots of sensory details when describing the
play’s elements, like the costumes, lights,
props, and music. Also consider how the
actors delivered their lines, and how the
director realized the vision of the play. Let
the reader decide for themselves if the play
is worth seeing.
LITERARY
The Kite Runner is a work of fiction that
references actual historical events, like
the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and
the rise of the Taliban. Research a major
political upheaval and/or war and write a
fictional short story that heavily features the
main characters and plot points
Discussion Questions
Pre-Show Questions
Post-Show Questions
1. The Kite Runner is an adaptation of a novel. Can you think
1.
of other works that have been adapted from a book into a stage
or film production? What about movies that have become plays?
Why do you think it happens so often? What are the challenges of
adaptation? What other books or movies do you think would make
a good play? Which ones do you think would not translate very
well on stage?
2. In The Kite Runner, the fact that Amir and Hassan are of
different ethnic and religious backgrounds (Pashtun Sunni and
Hazara Shia) poses obstacles for their friendship. Can you think of
example of other places and/or time periods in which societies have
resisted friendships between different ethnicities? Do you think that
such resistance exists in the United States today? Why or why not?
3. The Kite Runner portrays Amir and his father immigrating to
the United States. Is there an immigrant story in your own family?
Did your family ever move from one location to another? What
were some of the challenges that you or your family faced due to
this move or immigration?
12
Were you surprised by how Afghanistan and Afghans were
portrayed in The Kite Runner? Did the play change your view of
Afghanistan? How? Did you learn something new about the
country and the people?
2. The Kite Runner explores the themes of forgiveness and
redemption. Could you relate to Amir? Have you ever needed
forgiveness from a friend? How did you go about asking your friend
to forgive you? Were you successful? Why or why not?
Bridgework
building connections between stage and classroom
The following exercises combine creative drama, theatre concepts and core content to connect the
theatre experience with drama activities in your classroom.
By exploring drama as a mode of learning, students strengthen skills for creative problem solving, imagination and critical thinking.
AT YOUR DESK Activities
From Page to Stage
Take two to three pages
from your favorite book
and rewrite them as pages
in the script of a stage
adaptation. What are
things that a playwright
must deal with that would
not have concerned the
novelist? Are there things
in books that are not
possible on stage? Are
there moments in books
that would be boring
in front of an audience,
like a narrator telling
us everything instead
of showing it? Was this
A kite shop in Northern India
process easier or harder
than you thought? Why? Be sure to include the technical elements
of theatre in the your stage directions, like what kind of costume
the characters are wearing or what the lighting is like on stage.
Telling Your Story Through Kite Design
The kite fighting depicted in The Kite Runner, like other popular
sports including basketball and football, is an activity that engages
the entire community—everyone watches the competition. Not
only does kite fighting hold importance in the community, but also
within the family of Amir and Baba and the friendship between
Amir and Hassan. Ultimately, it is a way Amir defines his selfworth. Create a rhombus kite divided into 4 sections. Decorate one
section to reflect your community, another for your family, another
section for your friends, and the final section for yourself.
ON YOUR FEET Activities
Scene Improv
The Kite Runner depicts the Afghan community and includes
many large group scenes, like the kite fighting competition, the
flea market, and the wedding. Three students start and improvise
a scene in one of these three locations. Then other students in the
class gradually incorporate themselves as characters in this setting,
until the entire class is involved with creating this world. Try it once
with speaking and then pick another location and create the scene
silently. What changed when you couldn’t speak?
High Flying
Kite fighting is a popular pastime in Kabul. Construct your own
kite using the instructions from bigwindkites.com/20kids and
then fly it. Was it easier or harder than you thought to make and
fly the kite?
CROSS-CURRICULAR
CONNECTIONs
History
In recent decades, many Afghans have immigrated to other
countries due to war and political unrest. Research Afghan
emigration and create a table with the information that you find.
Geography
Take the information you found out about the Afghan emigration
and represent it visually on a world map by drawing arrows from
Afghanistan to the other countries, writing the number above
the arrow. Write a paragraph about what trends you observe from
mapping it out. Which regions have the most Afghan immigrants?
Why do you think that is?
Literature
Map of Afghanistan
In the play, Amir reads to Hassan passages from The Shahnameh,
a Persian epic poem about the kings of ancient Persia and the wars
they fought. Hassan loved the epic poem so much that he named
his son, Sohrab, after one of the main characters. The Kite Runner
itself contains epic elements by spanning nearly 30 years, and
locales as distant as Pakistan and San José, Calif., and by exploring
themes of betrayal and redemption. Research some conventions of
epic poetry and write one short chapter in an epic poem about your
daily life in school. Topics can be as diverse as trying to open a
jammed locker to the terror that comes with a pop quiz!
13
If You Liked The Kite Runner...
Books
Afghanistan: A Short History of its People and Politics by Martin Ewans
Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager’s Story by Said Hyder Akbar & Susan Burton
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story by Tamim Ansary
Film
Charlie Wilson’s War (2007) dir. Mike Nichols
The Kite Runner (2007) dir. Marc Forster
Afghan Star (2009) dir. Havana Marking
On the Web
AfghanCooking.net — Humaira Ghilzai’s Afghan food blog
Works Cited
Bazell, Jennifer et al. The Kite Runner Play Guide. Phoenix: Arizona Theatre Company, 2009.
Print.
Clark, Anthony. Personal Interview. 18 June 2010.
Crider, Jonathan. “About Khaled Hosseini,” Preview: News, Notes and Next from Arizona
Theatre Company. 23. 1 (2009). Web.
---. “An Interview with Matthew Spangler,” Preview: News, Notes and Next from Arizona
Theatre Company. 23. 1 (2009). Web.
Emandi, Hafizullah. Culture and Customs of Afghanistan. Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press,
2005. Print.
Ghilzai, Humaira. Personal Interview. 14 June 2010.
Hosseini, Khaled. Interview by Academy of Achievement. Academy of Achievement. 2008.
Web. 6 June 2010.
Huey, Aaron. “The Kite Maker.” Time.com. Time. 22 Feb 2007. Web. 21 June 2010.
Magnus, Ralph H. and Eden Naby. Afghanistan: Mullah, Marx and Mujahid. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press, 2002. Print.
Phinney, Eric. “Instruments in Depth: Tabla: Drums of North India.” Bloomingdale School of
Music. Bloomingdale School of Music, n.d. Web. 21 June 2010.
Poldeco, Grant. “Artistry In The Air—Kite Flying Is Taken To New Heights In
Afghanistan.” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. 15 Nov.
2002. Web. 21 June 2010.
14
GLOSSARY
Afghan speech is a mosaic of many languages, the most dominant being Dari, the Afghan variant of Farsi (Persian) and Pashto, the
language of the Pashtun ethnic group. As a Muslim country, many Arabic terms are also used in Afghanistan.
AGHA
BINI PUCHUQ
a Dari term for nobleman or commander,
though it is used in daily language like
“Mister.”
a derogatory term for a Hazara person
meaning “flat-nose.”
ALLAH-U-AKBAR
a Dari phrase meaning “cut him,” in
reference to kite flying.
an Arabic phrase meaning “God is great.”
BACHEM
a Dari term of affection meaning “my
child.”
BAS
Arabic for “enough.”
Kite Fighting
Kite fighting, a sport practiced
in nations around the globe,
is played in large tournaments
where competitors eliminate
their opponents to be the last
kite in the sky. To do this, kite
strings are coated with manja, a
mixture of broken glass, glue, and
sometimes metal scraps that coat
the kite string, allowing the deft
flyer to cut the strings of other
kites and send them falling to the
ground. Kite fighting tournaments
in Afghanistan are popular
particularly in the winter.
BOBORESH
JAN
added to the end of a name and used as a
term of endearment.
KAKA-JAN
literally, beloved uncle. Used as a term of
respect for an older man.
KALASHNIKOV
Russian assault rifle, also known as AK-47
The tabla is a common instrument
in South Asian music, particularly in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northern
India. It consists of two drums that
are played in tandem: a larger, metal
drum for bass notes called bayan and
a smaller, wooden drum for higher
notes called dayan. The tabla is a
challenging instrument to play, with
complex rhythm patterns and finger
and wrist movements that take years
to master. Tablas usually accompany
other instruments or vocalists—solo
performance is a relatively recent
phenomenon, developing in the last
hundred years or so.
KHODA HAFEZ
a Dari phrase for saying goodbye, literally
“God keep you safe.”
MUJADIHEEN
an Arabic term for a group of Muslims
engaged in conflict or war. During the
Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, it
referred to the loose association of groups
reacting against the communist suppression
of traditional Muslim customs.
Example of a Tabla drum
SHAHBASH
Dari for “Bravo!”
MULLAH
SHOWARI
SAHIB
Arabic for “scholar.” This term was also
used to refer to officials in the Taliban.
a term of Persian origin for a Muslim man
educated in Islamic theology and sacred
law.
an Arabic term meaning “friend,” but is
used like the title “Sir”.
Kids participating in Kite Fighting. Photo by
Humaira Ghilzai
Tabla
SALAAM
a Dari term for the Soviets.
TALIB
TASHAKUR
Dari for “thank you.”
an Arabic greeting for “Hello.”
15
The Kentucky Arts Council, the
state arts agency, supports Actors
Theatre of Louisville with state tax
dollars and federal funding from the
National Endowment for the Arts.
The Norton Foundation
2011
attention:
young playwrights!
Actors Theatre of Louisville is seeking
submissions for our Ten-Minute Play Contest
Students grades 6-12 living in the Commonwealth of
Kentucky or the (812) area code of Southern Indiana are
invited to submit their very best ten-minute play to New
Voices, Actors Theatre of Louisville’s annual ten-minute play
contest for young playwrights!
Guidelines, tips, examples and submission details are
outlined at ActorsTheatre.org. You may also email your
questions to NewVoices@ActorsTheatre.org.
Deadline for submissions:
October 31, 2010, Halloween
NEW VOICES YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
Winning plays will be fully produced at Actors Theatre of
Louisville in April of 2011 and will be published in our New
Voices Anthology!
actors theatre of louisville n 316 West Main Street n Louisville, KY 40202-4218
Box office 502-584-1205 n Group Sales 502-585-1210 n Business Office 502-584-1265
ActorsTheatre.org