A stage adaptation of the bestselling “The Kite Runner” will be presented on Broadway in July.
The piece, which began life in California in 2007 and has been widely produced ever since, plans to make a limited run from July 6 to October 30.
The announcement is encouraging news for Broadway, which has been ravaged by closures as the coronavirus pandemic continues to storm the industry. But there are still many producers with the appetite and funding to bring new shows to Broadway, while others end their runs.
The novel “Kite Runner”, written by Khaled Hosseini and published in 2003, is a coming-of-age story about a man born in Afghanistan whose life is haunted by his failure to protect a childhood friend. The novel, a surprising hit, has sold millions of copies worldwide and was made into a movie in 2007.
The theatrical adaptation was written by Matthew Spangler and was first performed in 2007 at San José State University, where Spangler teaches performance studies. It had its first professional production in 2009 at the San Jose Repertory Theater, which no longer exists, and has since been staged in multiple countries around the world.
The Broadway version will be directed by Giles Croft, who has directed productions of the play since 2013, when he oversaw a run for Britain’s Nottingham Playhouse; Since then he has directed productions in the West End and on tour in Great Britain.
The play is scheduled to run at the Hayes Theatre, which is the smallest on Broadway at 600 seats. The theater is owned by the non-profit Second Stage Theater, which will lease the space to “The Kite Runner”.
The lead producers are Victoria Lang and Ryan Bogner; Daryl Roth will serve as executive producer. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the producers want to raise up to $5.75 million, but a spokesperson said the actual Broadway capitalization will likely be closer to $4.6 million.