Northern Stage Northern Stage opens its 26th season with “Selling Kabul,” Sylvia Khoury’s searing drama Oct. 11 to 29 at the Barrette Center for the Arts, 74 Gates St. in White River Junction. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays (6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14 opening night); 5 p.m. Sundays, plus 2 p.m. matinees Thursdays, Oct. 19 and 26, and Saturdays, Oct. 21 and 28. Tickets are $19-$34 for Previews (pay what you can) Oct. 11-23; $19-$69 for all other performances; call 802-296-7000, go online to
northernstage.orgWhen the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, the native men and women who had supported the American war effort found themselves in fear for their lives. Abandoned by their former employers, they were sought out by the Taliban aiming to imprison or execute them — as well as those who hid and supported them.
“Selling Kabul,” Sylvia Khoury’s taut 90-minute thriller retelling one family’s story, will open Northern Stage’s 26th season of professional theater Oct. 11 to 29 at the Barrette Center for Arts in White River Junction.
Directing is Evren Odcikin, currently interim artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. “Sylvia Khoury masterfully threads humanity, humor and love into the harsh realities of ‘Selling Kabul,’ an unflinching play about Afghanistan in 2021, and the impossible choices one family must make to survive through that time,” Odcikin says.
“In our work, we’ve found that there is a rich tapestry of Afghan refugees and immigrants in Vermont and the surrounding areas, which highlights that this play is not just about ‘them’ and ‘over there.’ It’s about us, and I’m excited to be able to work on it with that lens.”
A 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist, “Selling Kabul” received its world premiere in 2019 at Williamstown (Massachusetts) Theatre Festival — Northern Stage, with the playwright’s permission, moved its time to 2021 — and its New York Premiere in 2021 at Playwrights Horizons.
The action takes place in Afghanistan in 2021 where Taroon, a former U.S. military interpreter, is hiding from the Taliban at his sister’s apartment in the wake of the American troop withdrawal. On the eve of his son’s birth, Taroon is faced with an impossible decision to either stay with his family or escape to safety.
“I can’t say it’s a fun one, but it’s been a really exciting play to work on,” Odcikin said of the play’s challenges recently. “It’s a really beautiful exploration of good people trying to do their best under impossible circumstances — and really the human impact of the American policy in Afghanistan during the past couple of decades.
“What I love about it is although politics and war are the context, the play stubbornly focuses on the people — and their love for each other, and their care for each other,” he said.
Creating the tension of the situation is key to the success of this drama.
“The biggest challenge for the play is, it has a ton of logistical requirements, and it requires a breakneck pace so that the tension never lets up,” Odcikin said. “The whole play works on the walls getting tighter and tighter — and to balance those things while focusing on the acting, which is the most important part of a play like this.
“Balancing the logistics, like acting and pacing and tone, is really the challenge,” he said.
At a recent donor event, people asked about the difficulty of portraying Afghan people.
“How hard is it to put yourself, for us Americans, into that situation?” Odcikin said. “Funnily enough, that’s not the hard part. Most of us working on the show are immigrants or children of immigrants and, to be honest, many Americans have some sort of ancestral cultural trauma.”
Northern Stage is benefiting from the input of Humaira Ghilzai, the production’s cultural consultant.
“I’ve worked with her three times now — this is my third Afghan play,” Odcikin said.
“Sylvia Khoury masterfully threads humanity, humor and love into the harsh realities of this unflinching play about the impossible choices one family must make to survive through that time. We’re working hard to create complexity like Sylvia’s words demand.”
For “Selling Kabul,” Northern Stage is partnering with CommunityCare of Lyme (CCL), a community organization that has launched the “Welcome Fund” to support Afghan evacuees and other newcomers displaced by challenging circumstances in 2021. Northern Stage also will work with CCL’s partner organization SHARe (Supporting and Helping Asylees and Refugees), whose work ensures a well-coordinated approach to newcomer welcome across the Upper Valley.
