In the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre
As a part of the New Works Fall Festival
Featuring Readings of 5 New Plays, Spotlighting Irish Female Voices
By Ursula Rani Sarma
Based on the Book by Khaled Hosseini
Directed by Rakesh Palisetty
CAST: Justin Ahdoot, Waseem Alzer, Bahar Beihaghi, Olivia Khoshatefeh, Nazanin Nour, Sina Pooresmaeil, Roxanna Hope Radja, Omar Shafiuzzaman & Ali Lopez-Sohaili
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 7pm
A sweeping and deeply moving theatrical adaptation of the best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner). The epic story of three generations of Afghan women and their remarkable resilience, A Thousand Splendid Suns is set in the war-torn neighborhoods of 1990s Kabul. Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss, and by fate. As they endure the ever-escalating dangers around them–in their home, as well as in the streets of Kabul–they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, playwright Ursula Rani Sarma reimagines Hosseini’s novel to show how a woman’s love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.
The adaptation was commissioned, developed, and produced by the American Conservatory Theater — Carey Perloff, Artistic Director — in 2016- 2018. Their production of Ursula’s adaptation toured across America and Canada at theaters from the Old Globe and Seattle Rep to Arena Stage and the Grand in Ontario.
*Tickets for this reading are free with a suggested donation of $10
Not recommended for anyone under the age of 16.
Irish Repertory Theatre’s New Play Development Program includes table reads, staged readings, workshops and commissions from voices that fulfill Irish Rep’s mission and tell stories of Irish and Irish-American people of all races, genders, abilities, and orientations. Following the success of the inaugural New Works Summer Festival spotlighting LGBTQ+ voices in June 2023, the New Works Festival returns this November with five new play readings spotlighting female voices. This program enables us to hear new work aloud with an audience and discover new plays and musicals for possible future production.
