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| A Thousand Splendid Suns company Pamela Raith Photography |
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini’s spiritual sequel
to The Kite Runner runs at Northern Stage from 30 May – 15 June.
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| Sujaya Dasgupta (Laila) Amina Zia (Mariam) A Thousand Splendid Suns Pamela Raith Photography |
Khaled Hosseini’s international best-selling novel is the
powerful story of three generation
Rasheed’s first wife Mariam has no choice but to accept her
younger, and now pregnant, rival. As the Taliban take over, life for all of
them becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, and
the two women find themselves unlikely allies. In A Thousand Splendid Suns,
love grows and sustains the human spirit even during the hardest of times.
The cast features Waleed Akhtar (Salmon Fishing in the
Yemen/ Lasse Hallström; What Shadows / Birmingham Repertory Theatre and The
Kite Runner/Nottingham Playhouse & Liverpool Everyman); Pal Aron (Behind
the Beautiful Forevers/National Theatre; Stella/ Sky One); Sujaya Dasgupta
(Death of a Salesman/Royal & Derngate, Press/BBC); Munir Khairdin
(Whitechapel/ITV); Naveed Khan (Tamburlaine and Tartuffe /RSC); Mollie Lambert
(The White Devil/Shakespeare’s Globe); Shala Nyx (Miss Prue/Bristol Old Vic;
The Shadow Factory/Nuffield Southampton Theatres) and Lisa Zahra (The Kite
Runner/Wyndham’s) and Amina Zia (Tartuffe/RSC).
Roxana Silbert directs A Thousand Splendid Suns, her final
show as Artistic Director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre. She said:
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| Sujaya Dasgupta (Laila) Naveed Khan (Babi) A Thousand Splendid Suns Pamela Raith Photography |
“In Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns we are given
a rare glimpse into 30 years of contemporary Afghan history and thanks to
Ursula Rani Sarma’s emotionally stirring adaptation audiences will be able to
bear witness to the extraordinary story of two radiant women who struggle to
survive the terrifying political situation they find themselves in. I can’t
wait to bring this inspiring and enlightening story to the stage.”
Playwright Ursula Rani Sarma said:
“This play is about the immense strength and endurance of
women and how they can survive tremendous suffering to keep those they love
alive. It is also about how even in the darkest of times and places, love can
grow and sustain the human spirit beyond all pain and hard-ship. It’s about
friendship and loyalty, courage and selflessness, grief and violence. What the
play has to say about love, endurance, and survival is very much worth
listening to for a contemporary audience. There is beauty and strength at the
heart of A Thousand Splendid Suns, and I feel so proud to be part of its
evolution from novel to stage.”
Ursula Rani Sarma is a scriptwriter for stage and screen.
Her previous credits include Delicious (Sky), the award-winning film Anywhere
But Here, Yerma (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Dark Things (Traverse
Theatre).
Khaled Hosseini is one of the most widely read and beloved
novelists in the world, with over 38 million copies of his books sold in more
than seventy countries. The Kite Runner was a major film and was a Book of the
Decade, chosen by The Times, Daily Telegraph and Guardian. A Thousand Splendid
Suns was the Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year in 2008. Hosseini is
currently a Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, the UN Refugee Agency and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini
Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which provides humanitarian
assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and
lives in northern California.
A Thousand Splendid Suns will have set and costume designs
by Ana Inés Jabares-Pita, lighting design by Simon Bond, composition by Mahmood
Kamen, sound design and co-composition by Dave Price with Ben Hart as magic
consultant.
Tour Listings
30 May – 15 June Northern Stage
Box Office: 0191 230 5151 / northernstage.co.uk
25 June – 6 July
Nuffield Southampton Theatres
Box Office: 023 8067 1771 / nstheatre.co.uk
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| Sujaya Dasgupta (Laila) Pal Aron (Rasheed) Amina Zia (Mariam) Pamela Raith Photography |
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