EVREN ODCIKIN
SELLING KABUL by Sylvia Khoury
Northern Stage, White River Junction, VT (2023)
Kabul, Afghanistan. 2021. 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: stay with his family or escape to safety. Sylvia Khoury’s gripping thriller — a 2022 Pulitzer Prize Finalist — is an emotional and poetic family love story about sacrifice and strength discovered under extreme circumstances.
"Selling Kabul, with its excellent ensemble acting, is timely and fiercely powerful theater."
—Rutland Herald
"The Northern Stage production, begins like a gentle sitcom of brother-sister squabbles and, in its intermission-less 100 minutes, morphs into a desperately taut thriller. Yet its tragedy is visited by beautiful human tenderness."
—Rutland Herald
"A riveting, heartbreaking production... As taut as a thriller, but with the warmth and depth of feeling of a family drama. Director Evren Odcikin has done seamless work here."
—Valley News
"Odcikin keeps the story taut. Selling Kabul raises not just tension, but outrage over the incomprehensible ignoring of the plight of so many who deserve better."
—Artful Blog
"An exemplary production... Odcikin stretches a taut string from the play's opening moment, and each performer maintains the tension."
—Seven Days Vermont
"A triumph... A first-rate production of a play so fresh, so serious, and so important."
—White River Valley Herald
Cast
Hana Chamoun, Mattico David, Fatima Maymoun, Nima Rakhshanifar
Creative Team
Avi Amon (Sound Designer and Composer), Dina El-Aziz (Costume Designer), Julia Egizio (Assistant Stage Manager), Humaira Ghilzai (Cultural Consultant and Dramaturg), Colt Luedtke (Stage Manager), Rocio Mendez (Fight and Intimacy Choreographer), Sasha Schwartz (Set Designer), Maria Shaplin (Lighting Designer)