THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1

THE KITE RUNNER
forces in Afghanistan is a contentious issue.
KABUL
The mid-1900s were a comparatively prosperous era for
Kabul. The king encouraged modernizations, such as paved
roads and electricity. He was also a supporter of education
for women. Kabul University opened in 1930. By the 1960s,
Kabul was a cosmopolitan city. However, Soviet influence
was beginning to creep in, and in 1979, the Soviet Union
invaded Afghanistan. On December 24 of that year, the
Soviet army occupied Kabul and used it as a base in their
war against the Mujahideen for the next ten years.
In 1989, anti-communist Mujahideen, supplied and
trained by the United States, forced the Soviets out of
Kabul. During the Cold War, the United States supplied
and funded many anti-communist dictators and militia
forces throughout the world. The Mujahideen were no
exception, and when the Soviet Union fell and the specter
of communism was no longer a threat to US interests, the
United States left Afghanistan and Kabul to the whims
of this now-powerful, radicalized element. During this
period, Kabul suffered enormously. By 1993, there was no
longer electricity or running water in the city. The city was
factionalized amongst many militia groups. Millions were
killed or forced into refugee camps. The vacuum left by
the United States’ military and economic support allowed
for the rise of the Taliban and other extremist militias such
as Al Qaeda. On September 26, 1996, the city was finally
captured by the Taliban and major fighting between rival
militias ceased. The United Nations estimates that during
the 1990s, 90% of the buildings in Kabul were destroyed.
For a brief period, the Taliban moved the Afghan capital to
Kandahar.
We stayed huddled that way
throughout the night. The
shootings and explosions were
foreign sounds to us then. The
generation of Afghan children
who would know nothing but
the sounds of bombs and
gunfi re was not yet born.
– Amir, The Kite Runner
Craig Piaget, Thomas Fiscella, James Saba
and Lowell Abellon in The Kite Runner.
Photo by Kevin Berne.
Kabul during the 1990s, during the Afghan civil war
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 11