''Selling Kabul'' is a 2019 American play by Sylvia Khoury. Set in 2013, the play centers a former interpreter for the

U.S. Military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

during the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

forced to choose between witnessing the birth of his child or staying in hiding as a target of the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

. The play was a finalist for the 2022

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

Production history

Williamstown Theatre Festival (2019)

''Selling Kabul'' had its world premiere on July 10, 2019 on the Nikos Stage at the

Williamstown Theatre Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. ...

, produced in association with

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit American Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. ...

. The play won the 2018 L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award administered by the Williamstown Theatre Festival, which grants winners a reading at the Williastown Theatre Festival. This production was directed by Tyne Rafaeli, and featured

Omid Abtahi Omid Abtahi (; born July 12, 1979) is an Iranian-born American actor. He is best known for his roles as Salim, in the Starz Original ''American Gods'', Penn Pershing in ''The Mandalorian'', Saleem Ulman in '' NCIS'', and Homes in the fourth insta ...

, May Calamawy, Marjan Neshat, and

Babak Tafti Babak Tafti is an Iranian-American actor best known for the role of Emil Michael on ''Super Pumped,'' Chris in '' The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed'', Bradford Luke in '' Billions'', and Eduard Asgarov in ''Succession''. Ca ...

Playwrights Horizons (2021)

''Selling Kabul'' made its Off-Broadway and New York debut on November 17, 2021 through Playwrights Horizons at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, directed by Tyne Rafaeli and starring

Francis Benhamou Francis Benhamou is an American actress. She received Lucille Lortel Award and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in the 2022 off-Broadway play ''Prayer for the French Republic''. Life and career Be ...

, Mattico David, Marjan Neshat, and Dario Ladani Sanchez. This production was produced in association with the Williamstown Theatre Festival. The show was initially scheduled to play in March 2020, with

in the role of Taroon, but was rescheduled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Northlight Theatre (2024)

In 2024, ''Selling Kabul'' was staged at Northlight Theatre in Chicago, directed by

Hamid Dehghani Hamid Dehghani is an Iranian director, playwright, and actor. His work spans theatre productions in both Iran and the United States, with a focus on storytelling that explores complex themes of identity, language, and human experiences. Dehghani h ...

. This production received critical acclaim for its tense and emotionally rich portrayal of the play's themes.

Reception

The show has received positive reviews. Alexis Soloski of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' declared the show's Playwrights Horizon production a Critics Pick, praising its sharp writing and the effective suspense created by the script and production design. Catey Sullivan, writing about a February 2024 production of the show by Northlight Theatre for the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'', similarly praised Khoury for having "structured a breathless, airtight plot where every moment of dialogue — and even seemingly innocuous bits of sound design — fits precisely into an intricate, meticulously rendered puzzle that shocks and surprises right up until the last piece falls into place."

References

External links

* {{IOBDB show, id=Selling Kabul, title=Selling Kabul 2019 plays Off-Broadway plays Plays about the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)