The Kite Runner

The Global bestseller comes to the West End this December

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Khaled Hosseini's global bestseller arrives this December at the Wyndham's Theatre, in a powerful new play that has already captured audiences across the UK. Spanning across three decades and two Afghan wars, this story of friendship, betrayal and ultimate redemption has touched readers in 70 countries, selling 31.5 million copies in a staggering 60 languages; there was also a 2007 film adaptation, garnering a Golden Globe Nomination in the process. Follow the journeys of two friends from different classes, who find themselves separated after the USSR invasion of Afghanistan, and one of their ventures to find the other and gain forgiveness.

What is it about?

The story follows thirty years in the life of Amir, a young boy from Kabul, whose best friend is Hassan, who works for his father as a servant. Their simple but idyllic existence of flying kites is extinguished however, when a local bully sexually assaults Hassan in an alleyway, and Amir leaves the scene, disturbed. Their friendship at an end through Amir's fraught feelings, both of their lives face even more upheaval with the fall of Afghanistan's ruling monarchy as a result of the Soviet Union invasion.

Amir and his father flee the violence, leaving Hassan and his father to the fate of the warring tribes and the rise of the Taliban regime, ending up in the United States. But Amir is haunted by the fate of his friend, and embarks on a bittersweet journey after 9/11 to trace Hassan and beg forgiveness. However, the rise of of Taliban has changed everything, and Amir's search takes an ultimately different path.

The Kite Runner charts a friendship that spans cultures and continents, as one man journeys to confront his past and find redemption.