Review: The Kite Runner at Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield takes audiences on a haunting & thought-provoking journey
The Kite Runner is at Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre until June 8, 2024.
We all think we would have the bravery to step in, and sacrifice our safety, if we saw a loved one in danger - but the reality of such a dilemma is often more complex than you might think.
That is just one of the threads running through the haunting tale of the Kite Runner, running at Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre, until Saturday, June 8.
Direct from Broadway, the play takes the audience on a journey across multiple faiths and continents.
Amir, played by an anguished Stuart Vincent, is the audience’s narrator and protagonist, as you are guided from a joyful childhood in Afghanistan as the prospect of war looms large, to a traumatic, and life-changing incident, the impact of which ripples through the rest of Amir’s narrative journey.
Themes exploring the bonds that bind us, the powerful relationships between father and son, childhood innocence, religious and cultural intolerance and grief make The Kite Runner a harrowing, but powerful watch.
The dedicated cast helped to draw you into Amir’s well-drawn world, but it was the performance of Yazdan Qafouri as Amir’s best friend, Hassan, that I found to be the most affecting.
His expressive eyes conveyed so much, as he demonstrated the character’s youthful naivety and exuberance in one moment, and poise and resilience in the face of turmoil in the next.
Similarly, the intelligent staging, using kite-shaped projectors to transport you from location to location, and Hanif Khan’s rhythmic tabla playing throughout, really contributed to this Kite Runner production’s narrative texture.
I found this production of the Kite Runner to be an engrossing, thought-provoking, and occasionally uncomfortable, experience, and it has continued to stay with me since.
It runs at Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre until Saturday, June 8, 2024. For more information, please visit: https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/the-kite-runner-2024