Selling Kabul

B+

In her timely, gripping new drama at Playwrights Horizons, Sylvia Khoury (Power Strip) demonstrates great skill in building and maintaining enough tension to keep you on the edge of your seat for much of the play. She further shows a remarkable ability to capture the workings of an entire society by focusing tightly on the life of one family. It is 2013 and the U.S. is drastically reducing its forces in Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to strengthen their grip on Kabul. They are determined to find and punish all Afghanis who aided the U.S. including those who worked as translators such as our protagonist Taroon (Dario Ladani Sanchez). We meet him after he has been in hiding in the apartment of his sister Afiya (Marian Neshat; Queens) for over four months awaiting the U.S. visa that he had been promised. Interestingly he is portrayed as reckless, selfish and shortsighted rather than as a sympathetic hero. His wife is giving birth to their first child, but it is not safe for him to visit the hospital. In an ironic twist, Afiya’s husband Jawid (Mattico David; Noura) runs a shop making uniforms for the Taliban and she assists by sewing some of them at home. Afiya has been avoiding all social contacts including her neighbor Leyla (Francis Benhamou; The Profane) and her 5-month-old baby to prevent anyone from discovering Taroon. A surprise visit from Leyla is cause for severe tension. The situation only becomes more tense when it is confirmed that the Taliban are definitely seeking Taroon and he must try to leave the country immediately. Decisions are made that test each character’s ethics and lead to momentous consequences. Some of the acting is superb, particularly Ms. Neshat and Mr. David. The set by Arnulfo Maldonado (A Strange Loop) and costumes by Montana Levi Blanco (A Strange Loop) are convincingly realistic and the direction by Tyne Rafaeli (Power Strip) is smooth. With so much going for it, you may wonder why I don’t praise the play more effusively. One reason is that Mr. Sanchez’s portrayal of Taroon leaves much to be desired; he does not have the range to match the character’s development over the course of the play. The other reason is that there are a couple of giant holes in the plot; you will probably be too caught up in the action to notice them while you are watching the play, but they are likely to bother you later. Despite these problems, the play is well worth seeing. I do wish that they had not found it necessary to bookend the play by assaulting the audience with the deafening sound of a helicopter. Running time: 100 minutes, no intermission.