SAN DIEGO — “A woman must endure.” The Old Globe tears the veil open in a play by Ursula Rani Sarma based on the book by Khaled Hosseini, and what we see is heartbreaking.
Afghanistan. We hear the name and brace ourselves. How many were killed this time? We know so little about the culture, the art and poetry. We see a chador covering a body from head to toe, but know nothing of the hearts and minds of the women inside.
The scenic design of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Ken MacDonald with lighting by Robert Wierzel cunningly evokes the rugged landscape with sculpted wire mesh mountains and a swirling, severe wire sun.
Joseph Kamal portrays Hakim as a gentle soul. His Afghanistan is filled with poetic verse. But it’s being blown to rubble by civil war. Laila, his teenage daughter is smart, spirited and poetic like her father, but with a mind of her own. The family is preparing to leave for a refugee camp in Pakistan where they hope to find some peace. Laila hopes to be reunited with Tariq, the impish rascal she loves. Nadine Malouf and Antoine Yared have a sweet chemistry as Laila and Tariq. Friends from the cradle, they tease each other like siblings, but with a flirtatious sparkle in their eyes.
The strongest of us can be broken when everything we cherished is lost. The house is hit by a random shell leaving a badly wouded Laila the only survivor. She is rescued by Rasheed and nursed back to health by his wife, Mariam. In this society, a young woman alone has very few options. Business at the brothels is booming, but she can save face by becoming the second wife of her rescuer. The resentment of Mariam soon follows.
Haysam Kadri’s Rasheed is a deeply complicated man. In his culture, he was raised with certain expectations of his wives. By turns kind and brutish, he can be quite demanding and deems it his duty to “discipline” his wives. Denmo Ibrahim gives a layered performance as Mariam. Hard and bitter on the outside, we learn that she was once a bright and curious young girl. Where the sharing of Jacob made rivals of sisters, Rachel and Leah, marriage to Rasheed makes sisters of rivals, allies with a common enemy.
Life becomes even more difficult once the Taliban take over. Women are to be completely covered and may not go out without a male escort. They may not get jobs, even if they are starving. Though their young minds thirst for knowledge, girls may not go to school. Even the simple pleasures of playing chess and flying kites are forbidden as these are “vices” that distract from the study of Quran and Hadith.
And our own government shoulders some blame for creating this world. To spite the Soviets, we backed the Mujahideen. When the Soviets pulled out in 1989, the Taliban rushed to fill the power vacuum and the country fell into civil war and chaos. But that really wasn’t our problem … until 9/11.
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a deeply moving tale of love and courage in an unrelentingly brutal world. My guest, herself a survivor of spousal abuse, could relate only too well. Come to the Old Globe and behold A Thousand Splendid Suns. And as you look across the divide of geography, religion and culture, you may just find a mirror.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World