The Kite Runner - Adaptations

Adaptations

The Kite Runner was published in 2003 and in 2007 adapted as a motion picture starring Khalid Abdalla (Amir), Homayoun Ershadi (Baba), and Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada (Hassan). Directed by Marc Forster and with a screenplay by David Benioff, the movie won numerous awards and was nominated for an Oscar (2008), the BAFTA Film Award (2008) and the Critics Choice Award (2008). However, Manhola Dargis of the New York Times states that "The back of my paperback copy of this Khaled Hosseini novel is sprinkled with words like 'powerful' and 'haunting' and 'riveting' and 'unforgettable'. It's a good guess this film will be rolled around in a similarly large helping of lard."

The novel was also adapted to the stage by Bay Area playwright Matthew Spangler. It was performed at San Jose State University in March 2007 and two years later at San Jose Repertory Theatre, where David Ira Goldstein (artistic director of Arizona Theater Company) directed a cast that included Barzin Akhavan (Amir), Demosthenes Chrysan (General Taheri), Gregor Paslawsky (Rahim Khan), James Saba (Ali), Thamos Fiscelle (Baba), Craig Piaget (Young Amir), Lowell Abellon (Young Hassan), Rinabeth Apostol (Soraya), Adam Yazbeck (Assef), Zarif Kabier Sadiqi, Wahab Shayek, and Lani Carissa Wong, with Salar Nader also onstage playing tabla. The play was subsequently produced at Arizona Theatre Company (2009), Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Play House (both 2010), and The New Repertory Theatre of Watertown, Massachusetts (Sept. 2012).