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Cast: Nottingham Playhouse & Liverpool Everyman's Kite Runner

In what they are billing an "extraordinary theatrical coup", Nottingham Playhouse and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse have jointly secured the rights to stage the European stage premiere of Khaled Hosseini's international bestseller The Kite Runner.

With a script by Matthew Spangler, completed before the release of the 2007 feature film adaptation, the play was first produced by The San Jose Repertory in 2009 and is the recipient of five San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle Awards.

The Kite Runner, which first hit the bookshelves in 2003, was Khaled Hosseini's first novel and became and international bestseller. The book tells the story of Amir, a young boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, whose closest friend is Hassan, his father's young Hazara servant.

The tale is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy, through the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States and the rise of the Taliban regime. It charts a friendship that spans cultures and continents and follows one man’s journey to confront his past and find redemption. Nottingham Playhouse artistic director Giles Croft, who is directing the production, said: "I was immediately excited by the thought of bringing the play to Europe for the first time... The Kite Runner is truly a story of our time, and bringing its vivid and haunting mix of betrayal and personal salvation to the British stage for the first time is a thrilling prospect."

Ben Turner, leads thew cast. Well-known for his role as Jay Faldren in BBC’s Casualty, he has also appeared on screen in Syriana and Adulthood while his theatre credits include Richard II (Donmar Warehouse) and Awake and Sing (Almeida). Alongside Turner will be Farshid Rokey (Mogadishu, Lyric Hammersmith/ Royal Exchange and Tour; Family Tree, HBO/BBC), while their tormentor, Assef, is portrayed by Nicholas Karimi (War Horse, National Theatre/ New London Theatre; The Double, Theatre Royal Bath).

Also included in the cast are Antony Bunsee, Emilio Doorgasingh, Nicholas Khan, David Ahmad and Ezra Khan.

The Kite Runner will run at the Liverpool Playhouse from 13 June to 6 July.

- by Theo Bosanquet & Glenn Meads

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