Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns at Nottingham Playhouse

The brutality facing women under the Taliban in Afghanistan is laid bare in a graphic, thought-provoking new production at Nottingham Playhouse.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, which runs until May 24, makes for uncomfortable viewing as nothing is left to the imagination, from domestic abuse and miscarriage to suicide and executions.

And yet this is production will probably be one of the best things you see on stage this year.

The novel by Khaled Hosseini has been perfectly adapted for the stage for Ursula Rani Sarma, capturing all the nuances of Hosseini’s book without being over-complicated.

In 1992 wartorn Kabul Laila is living a relaxed, almost trouble-free life with her parents with a potential marriage to childhood sweetheart Tariq on the horizon.

But all that changes when - after Tariq and his family flee the war to Pakistan - she is suddenly orphaned in a missile strike.

Her older neighbour, Rasheed, opens his home and takes Laila in as his second wife - to the dismay and disgust of his first wife Mariam, who is jealous of her younger, more beautiful rival.

However, the birth of Laila’s daughter, Aziza, combined with the Taliban takeover and the resulting struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, bring the two women together as unlikely allies.

The two women’s back stories are told in flashback, to build the characters and the production goes on.

Jonas Khan is brutally realistic as the misogynist Rasheed, going from caring husband to controlling wife-beater as the Taliban confirm his already low opinion of women.

But it is the two leading women who deserve all the plaudits - Rina Fatania as Mariam and Kerena Jagpal as Laila. These are two incredibly strong women run down by a regime beyond their control but never give in, despite everything that is thrown at them.

Well written and well acted, this is a truly outstanding production.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is unflinching in the graphic detail of life under the Taliban regime and makes for a difficult watch at times, but ultimately it is actually an uplifting tale of strong women, friendship and finding peace.