"A Thousand Splendid Suns" at the Old Globe

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" at the Old Globe Theatre.                                                   Photo by Jim Cox

      A production of immense emotional potency, the Old Globe’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, presented in association with American Conservatory Theater (ACT), is not to be missed. Adapted for the stage by Ursula Rani Sarma and based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini (“The Kite Runner”), the play explores the relationship between two Afghan women living in Kabul in the deadly years between 1979 and 2001. In spite of dehumanizing government restrictions and the unspeakable violence to which they are subjected by the husband they share, they strive with all their hearts for dignity, love and to hold family together.
     Carey Perloff, ACT’s artistic director, oversees a fervent staging at the Globe that includes breathless performances by Nadine Malouf as young Laila and Denmo Ibrahim as the older Mariam. Haysam Kadri is unrelenting as the ruthless husband Rasheed. Original music directed and performed by David Coulter provides piquant backdrop to a story that is shocking in its depictions of brutality one moment and life affirming in the next. (Review originally published in San Diego CityBeat on 11/23/18.)