Critical Stages Touring is using theatre to support the plight of Afghans
This weekend, Critical Stages Touring will perform a live-streamed reading of Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play ‘Homebody/Kabul’. On October 1st and 2nd, in favour of charities that help Afghanistan’s most vulnerable, the play will be available to view from the comfort of your home.
Director Chris Bendall called on the wider and wonderful performing arts community to help respond to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan in the best way he knows how – by producing a still-timely and powerful work about the region, inspired by the charities Women for Afghan Women and Mahboba’s Promise, both based in Australia.
Nearly 400,000 Afghans have fled their homes, cities, and provinces in search of safer havens as a result of the present situation in Afghanistan. Critical Stages Touring enlisted the help of the arts community to find a method to fund on-the-ground services for the most disadvantaged.
In 2007, Chris first directed the award-winning production. For this rendition, he has brought back original cast members Majid Shokor, Tyler Coppin, and Wahibe Moussa, as well as an intriguing mix of the arts community’s favourite stage and film names. It is set to be a momentous occasion.
“Re-reading it recently I was struck by Tony Kushner’s remarkable dexterity of language, his wit, and the hope that he offers – that through knowledge we might gain a greater understanding of the world we live in.” Chris Bendall reflected.
“Kushner has extraordinary skill creating drama at the intersection of the personal and the political. In this vast, moving, and often richly comic play, he creates complex characters searching for connection, and yearning to be understood, against the backdrop of Afghanistan under Taliban rule. It was a work that turned out to be eerily prescient when it premiered in 2001, and now 20 years on has only gained in resonance and relevance.”
Caroline Brazier (Rake), Geraldine Hakewill (Ms Fisher’s MODern Murder Mysteries), Osamah Sami (Ali’s Wedding), Mansoor Noor (Omar & Dawn), and Simon Burke are among the cast members. All eyes will be on Simon Burke, who is currently preparing for the premiere of the mega-musical Moulin Rouge, which will soon return to Melbourne once lockdown restrictions ease, and which swept the recent Tony Awards.
Readers should follow Critical Stages Touring on YouTube, or visit the event on Facebook to be in the audience. They can also register for a reminder via Eventbrite with the option to donate today.
Media Release Supplied.
Photography supplied by Robbi James.
