THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1

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THE KITE RUNNER GLOSSARY Mashallah: Praise God. Typically said when seeing someone beautiful or smart— anything that one wants to praise. Mazar-i-Sharif: A large city in Afghanistan famous for its Blue Mosque. The Taliban massacred the ethnic Hazara population there in 1998. Mujahideen: A term used to describe a group of Muslims engaged in a war or conflict. In The Kite Runner, it describes the Afghanistan Mujahideen Freedom Fighters Front, which challenged the Soviet forces and later lost against the PDPA (People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan) government. Namaz: Prayers, those especially prescribed by law (which are repeated five times a day). Namoos: Reputation; fame; renown; esteem; honor; dignity. Nang: Honor; reputation; estimation. Quran/Koran: Religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Quran to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God. Rafiq: Comrade. Sahib: A friend; a courtesy title like “sir.” Salaam: Hello. Salaam alaykum: Hello to you. Shahnamah: “The Book of Kings” is an enormous poetic opus written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi around 1000 AD and is the national epic of Iran. The Shahnamah tells the mythical and historical past of Greater Iran from the creation of the world up until the Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century. Shorawi: The Farsi term for the Soviets, who invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and occupied the country for a decade. Tashakor: Thank you. Wah wah: Bravo! Admirable! Wazir Akbar Khan: A wealthy suburb of Kabul. The neighborhood is named after the Akbar Khan, son of the anti-Shuja Shah Durrani king, Dost Mohammad, and is a common place for foreign workers to live. The streets are laid out on a grid with Western, two-story houses that date back to the 60s and 70s. --from The Kite Runner: A Study Guide reprinted with permission from San Jose Repertory Theatre The Company of The Kite Runner. Photo by Kevin Berne. Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 28
THE KITE RUNNER GHILZAI UNDERSTANDING AFGHANISTAN: A Conversation with the Cultural Consultant Literary Manager Jenny Bazzell recently spoke with Humaira Ghilzai, who serves as the Cultural Consultant on ATC’s upcoming production of The Kite Runner. Ms. Ghilzai served in the same capacity for the play’s world premiere production last season at San Jose Repertory Theatre. Read on to find out Humaira’s perceptions of working on The Kite Runner as well as her views on what Afghan-Americans immigrants face in their transition to life in the United States. Jenny Bazzell: Tell me about your role in the production. What does a cultural consultant do Rinabeth Apostol and Barzin Akhavan in The Kite Runner. Photo by Kevin Berne. Humaira Ghilzai: The role of the cultural consultant is a very fluid one. Not many directors and playwrights get to work with one so together we determined what should be covered. My main focus was to make sure that the Afghan culture, traditions, language (which is called Dari) as well as the historical perspective of the play is being correctly portrayed and reflected. I had the pleasure of working with so many different components and phases of the play. For instance, I worked with Matthew Spangler, the playwright, on rewriting a couple of scenes, with David Ira Goldstein, the director, with Kish Finnegan on the costumes and with the actors. Specifically, there is a wedding scene that I was very involved in. David even let me produce that part of the play so I told him that I want full credit for that [laughs]. And I also worked along with the marketing and outreach team when I was working with San Jose Rep in promoting the play. So I think that my main role was to make sure the Afghan culture and traditions were presented in a positive and rich way in the production. JB: What is the greatest challenge in presenting Afghan culture to an American audience HG: I think the biggest challenge is breaking a lot of the perceptions that not only just Americans, but the West has of Afghans. They’ve only seen what is shown in the media, which are the Taliban and the Afghan children and families in villages, which always makes for a nice caption on a photograph. But there was and is still a very rich culture Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 29
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