After the Americans withdraw from Afghanistan, the people who relied on them to support social freedom are reeling from the Taliban’s brutal return to power, replete with reprisals and severe repression. Those most in danger are the Afghans who directly helped the U.S. military. That’s the case with Taroon, who served as an interpreter for American forces.
In Selling Kabul, we see Taroon living in fear, hiding in his sister’s apartment. The Taliban and its informers seem to be everywhere and there’s a palpable sense of the noose tightening throughout Sylvia Khoury’s taut 90-minute play. The psychological and emotional trauma created by the Taliban takeover extend well beyond just the targeted collaborators. In creating their new police state, the Taliban are relentless in monitoring public places for infractions, and they will stop at nothing to force friends, family and neighbors to inform on anyone still on the run.
Everything comes to a head on the day Taroon’s son is born. He is desperate to the point of recklessness to get to the hospital and see his wife and child. Owais Ahmed portrays Taroon believably as an immature yet courageous young man pushed past his breaking point. It’s up to his older sister, Afiya, and her husband, Jawid, to somehow keep the lid on this pressure cooker even as Leyla, Afiya’s cousin and neighbor, pacing the hall with a baby of her own that will not sleep, inches closer to discovering the truth.
When Leyla (Shadee Vossoughi) stops by and begins asking uncomfortable question after uncomfortable question of Afiya (Aila Ayilam Peck) as Jawid (Ahmad Kamal) tries to get her to leave, the tension rises. We can feel the Taliban tightening the screws with every furtive check of the kitchen curtains as military vehicles drive by. Jawid is counting on his connection to the Taliban as a uniform tailor in good standing–and the money he has been hiding all over their flat–to see them through this night of growing terror, but the shame of his collaboration eats at him.
Regardless of who lives and who dies, Iranian director Hamid Dehghani (last seen at Northlight onstage in Andy Warhol in Iran) creates a claustrophobic sense of walls closing in that indicates no one will escape this violent and suffocating crackdown unscathed. Peck, Kamal and Vossoughi play out their deadly game of chess in such a way that we see there are no heroes and villains here, only victims doing anything they can to protect themselves and the ones they love.
Selling Kabul runs through February 25 at Northlight Theatre.
For a full roundup of reviews of this show, visit Theatre in Chicago.
Photo by Michael Brosilow
