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Selling Kabul

Selling
Kabul

by SYLVIA KHOURY
directed by EVREN ODCIKIN

OCTOBER 11-29, 2023

Kabul, Afghanistan. Taroon, a former U.S. military interpreter, is hiding from the Taliban at his sister’s apartment in the wake of the American troop withdrawal. On the eve of his son’s birth, Taroon is faced with an impossible decision: stay with his family or escape to safety. Sylvia Khoury’s gripping thriller — a 2022 Pulitzer Prize Finalist — is an emotional and poetic family love story about sacrifice and strength discovered under extreme circumstances.

Click HERE for Tickets
  • Regular Tickets $19 - $69

    Prices vary based on seat location

  • Youth Tickets $20

    For 25 and under

  • Student Tickets $19

    For students of all ages

  • Preview Tickets (Oct.11-13) $34

    For "pay what you can" tickets please call the box office

Running time is approximately 105 minutes. There is no intermission. This show is recommended for teens and up.
Click HERE for Tickets
OR Call the Box Office at 802-296-7000

A NOTE FROM NORTHERN STAGE & THE COMPANY OF SELLING KABUL:

Our thoughts are with those suffering in the aftermath of the terrible earthquakes in western Afghanistan. We send our prayers to the families of those who have been affected and who have lost loved ones. Please click HERE to learn more about how you can help.​

"a riveting, heartbreaking production [...] profoundly affecting [...] seamless work [...] “Selling Kabul” is by no small margin the most powerful piece of theater I’ve seen on an Upper Valley stage. It's the kind of art we need, and that we should have the courage to go see."
Alex Hanson
Alex HansonValley News
"riveting — and touching — production [...] Northern Stage’s “Selling Kabul,” with its excellent ensemble acting, is timely and fiercely powerful theater
Jim Lowe
Jim LoweRutland Herald
"an exemplary production [...] Director Evren Odcikin stretches a taut string from the play's opening moment, and each performer maintains the tension [...] The performances are intense and masterful"
Alex Brown
Alex BrownSeven Days
"four outstanding actors [...] a theatrical treat [...] It was a triumph [...] This whole production is fine art, from the hallway displays of Afghan history and culture to the final exit after a standing ovation. Vermont is incredibly fortunate to have a company which can mount a first-rate production of a play so fresh, so serious, and so important."
Charlie McMeekin
Charlie McMeekinWhite River Valley Herald
"Northern Stage isn’t kidding when it says it is “changing lives, one story at a time." [...] Selling Kabul raises not just tension, but outrage over the incomprehensible ignoring of the plight of so many who deserve better."
Susan Apel
Susan ApelArtful
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Special Events

Click on the events to learn more

THURSDAY, OCT. 12
6:30 PM – Welcome & Refreshments
7:30 PM – SELLING KABUL Performance
9:00 PM – Meet & Greet with the Cast

We welcome all members of the Afghan community and Upper Valley neighbors who sponsor refugees to an evening of gathering and conversation. Join us for refreshments before the performance and a meet-and-greet with the actors after!

Please RSVP to the box office if you plan on attending. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 15
Following the 5:00PM Performance

Taroon’s story hits closer to home than you might think. Organizations in the Upper Valley have sponsored Afghan refugees applying for the same visa Taroon is waiting for in the play, and members in our community are actively supporting Afghan families in crisis both here and in Afghanistan. In this panel discussion, Martha Tecca from SHARe (Supporting and Helping Asylees and Refugees) will speak about neighborhood resettlement and how you can be part of welcoming refugees to the Upper Valley, and Behishta Sadaat (current Dartmouth graduate student and former Program Analyst with UN WOMEN) will share about her work creating the first toll free helpline for Women and Children in Afghanistan.

 Click HERE to Reserve. Admission is Free to the Public. Learn more about the speakers HERE.

FRIDAY, OCT. 20
6:00PM – 7:20pm

Join fellow subscribers for complimentary drinks and snacks prior to the show!

RSVP recommended but not required. Admission is Free to all 2023-24 seasons subscribers.

SATURDAY, OCT. 21
Following the 7:30PM Performance

Join us after the 7:30 PM show for a conversation with the Selling Kabul company.

Admission is Free to the Public.

Meet the Cast

Nima Rakhshanifar

Taroon

NIMA RAKHSHANIFAR (Taroon) makes their Northern Stage debut with Selling Kabul. Credits include Seth in Bald Sisters (World Premiere – Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Farhad in Andy Warhol in Iran (World Premiere – Barrington Stage Company); Henry in Sanctuary City (TheatreSquared); Lucky in Waiting for Godot (Victory Gardens); Angeloin Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Belle’s Husband in A Christmas Carol, Waiter in Junk (Milwaukee Rep); Fish in The Cat in the Hat (Northbrook Theatre). Nima studied acting at Pacific Conservatory Theatre – PCPA. Www.NimaRakhshanifar.com

Hana Chamoun

AFIYA

HANA CHAMOUN was born in London and raised in Lebanon. Since moving to NY she has appeared on stages including NYTW, The Atlantic Theater and WP Theater. Some of her film and TV appearances are Salam (2018), premiered at Tribeca FF, Emmy Award-winning show Ramy (2020) and Netflix Original show Jinn (2019). She is one of the founding members of the NY based theater company Society. Hana trained in Meisner technique with coach Terry Knickerbocker and has just completed a Shakespeare course at RADA in London. She is honored to be making her regional theater debut at Northern Stage.

Mattico David

Jawid

Off Broadway credits include Selling Kabul, Noura (Playwrights Horizons).
Regional credits include Layalina (Goodman Theatre), Noura (Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Old Globe, Detroit Public Theatre, Marin Theatre Company); A Streetcar Named Desire, Boeing, Boeing, A Stone Carver, Escanaba In Da’ Moonlight, Best Of Friends, Apartment 3A, Corktown, Bleeding Red, Consider The Oyster, Growing Pretty, (Purple Rose Theatre Company); American Buffalo, Disgraced (Jet Theatre); Danny And The Deep Blue Sea (Flint City Theatre).

Fatima Maymoon

Leyla

Recent credits: Murder on the Orient Express (Rep St. Louis), Selling Kabul, A Thousand Splendid Suns (Seattle Repertory Theatre), Dance Nation (Unicorn Theater). Upcoming: #1 Happy Family USA (Amazon/A24). Fatima is a proud daughter of refugees, and dedicates this performance to all of her brave and resilient Afghan sisters.

Meet the Creatives

Sylvia Khoury

Playwright

Plays include SELLING KABUL (Playwrights Horizons, Williamstown Theater Festival), POWER STRIP (LCT3, development at Playwrights Horizons, WP lab), and AGAINST THE HILLSIDE (Ensemble Studio Theater, development at the Lark, the O’Neill, Roundabout Theater Underground, and NNPN). Commissions include Lincoln Center, Williamstown Theater Festival, and Seattle Repertory Theater.

​Awards: Pulitzer Prize Finalist (Selling Kabul), 2021 Whiting Award for Drama, L. Arnold Weissberger Award and Jay Harris Commission and a Citation of Excellence from the Laurents/Hatcher Awards.

Read more about Sylvia Khoury at sylviakhoury.com.

Evren Odcikin

Director

EVREN ODCIKIN is a theater director, writer, and arts leader with a commitment to championing historically excluded voices in the American theater. He served as the Interim Artistic Director at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2023 after serving as the Associate Artistic Director and Director of Artistic Programming since 2019. At OSF, he programmed the 2024 Season, and oversaw the producing of five repertory seasons, and helped guide the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the devastating Almeda Fire. He is a founding steering committee member of the MENA Theater Maker Alliance, a founder of Maia Directors, and a member of Playwrights Foundation’s Board of Directors. Evren was born and raised in Turkey and is a graduate of Princeton University. Read more about Evren at odcikin.com.

DRAMATURG & CULTURAL CONSULTANT

Humaira Ghilzai

Costume Designer

Dina Al-Aziz

Sound Designer

Avi Amon

LX Designer

Maria Shaplin

Scenic Designer

Sasha Schwartz

Fight & Intimacy Choreographer

Rocio Mendez

Community
Partners

Click the logos to learn more about our community nonprofit partners.

Production
Sponsors

Selling Kabul is sponsored in part by The Norwich Inn, R.C. Brayshaw & Company, LLC, and Vermont Public.

Season
Sponsor

Thank you to Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, our season underwriter since 2018.