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But for good books to make good plays typically requires substantial overhaul.
There is no shortage of words in the adaptation of the 2003 best seller at the Helen Hayes Theater.
Playwright Matthew Spangler has taken large passages from Hosseinis book, including word-for-word dialogue and lots of first-person narration.
But Hosseinis storytelling excels in the thrill of its incidents and discoveries rather than its prose.
But what does it feel liketo be bad?
An audience wants to recognize whats at stake from the outset.
Why does Amir need to recall and relive his darkest days?
What is the alternative?
But a spring-loaded drama ought to demonstrate the wounds of his regret upfront.
Hassan is recklessly loyal and excels at running down Amirs kite as it flits to the ground.
Amir, we learn, has tormented himself since that moment of paralysis in the face of danger.
A man riddled with guilt over his passivity rather than some grievous action makes for a slippery protagonist.
The already privileged son has managed to frame somebodys elses tragedy as his own.
ButThe Kite Runneris notHamlet.
Collapsing the distance between present-day narrator Amir and the boy he was doesnt help.
One moment hes stooped forward, childlike with a lilting accent, chasing a young Hassan through stony streets.
The next hes back to describing action.
Its an impossible set of maneuvers to sustain.
But Spangler has not conceivedThe Kite Runnerto function theatrically, and the production cannot overcome the foundational shortfall.
The context that propelledThe Kite Runnerto sell millions of copies nearly two decades ago has shifted, too.
The Kite Runneris at the Hayes Theater.
