The Kite Runner (Play Script) by Matthew Spangler

Author:Matthew Spangler [Spangler, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2018-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

Act Two

SCENE ONE

Several refugees, as many of the Ensemble members as possible, including Baba, sit in the empty tank of a moving fuel truck. A Husband and Wife cradle a baby. Amir stands to the side.

AMIR: In 1978, communists in the Afghan army pulled off a military coup. President Daoud Khan was executed and Afghanistan was on the verge of civil war. Then in December 1979, the Soviet army invaded and all hell broke loose. With Russian soldiers patrolling the sidewalks and tanks rolling up and down the streets, Baba made the painful decision to leave.

Amir joins the others in the truck.

We hired a people smuggler to take us to Pakistan. A dangerous crossing in the tank of a fuel truck. (Now as if reliving the events.) It was pitch-black. It stank of shit, vomit, and gasoline. The air was thick, almost solid. You open your mouth and order your lungs to draw air. Now, you need air, need it NOW, but your lungs, they ignore you. They collapse, tighten, squeeze . . . panic sets in!

BABA: Think of something good, Amir. Think of something happy.

AMIR: Hassan . . . For you, a thousand times over.

First Russian Soldier enters. He carries an AK-47 slung over his shoulder.

FIRST RUSSIAN SOLDIER: Ei, stop the truck! A-stan-na-VEE ma-SHEEN-u! [Stop the truck!] Stop the truck!

He shines his flashlight in at the refugees.

Everybody out! Out of the truck! Vwee kha-DEE-tyeh! [Get out!]

Over the next line, the refugees get out of the truck.

Da-VAI-tyeh! Da-VAI-tyeh! [Come on! Come on!] Bis-STRAY-e! [Faster!] Vwee kha-DEE-tyeh! [Get out!] Ya ska-ZAL [I said], get out! Da-VAI-tyeh! [Come on!]

The refugees are out of the truck now.

Na ZEM-lyu! See-CHAS-jhe! [On the ground! Now!]

The refugees don’t move; they don’t understand him.

Sit down! On the ground! Sa-DEES! [Sit!]

Quickly, the refugees sit. The First Russian Soldier looks over the refugees. He gestures to the Woman with the baby.

I want thirty minutes, that woman. Now, get up. Come with me!

HUSBAND: Wait, no, what are you doing?

FIRST RUSSIAN SOLDIER: She price letting you pass. (To the Woman.) Ve-sta-VAI! [Stand!]

HUSBAND: No, don’t do this.

FIRST RUSSIAN SOLDIER: Shut up!

HUSBAND: I’ll pay you. How much do you want?

FIRST RUSSIAN SOLDIER: Don’t want money. Want her.

HUSBAND: Please, show a little mercy—

FIRST RUSSIAN SOLDIER: (ignoring the Husband) Stand up, come with me!

HUSBAND: Maybe you have a wife or a mother—

FIRST RUSSIAN SOLDIER: (to the Husband) Zad-ke-NEES! [Shut up!] (To the Woman as he grabs her arm.) Now, stand up. See-CHAS-jhe! [Now!]

BABA: (standing, to the Woman) No. Don’t move. (To the First Russian Soldier.) Where’s your shame?

FIRST RUSSIAN SOLDIER: No shame in war.

BABA: You’re wrong. War doesn’t negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace.

AMIR: Baba, sit down, you’re going to get us all killed!

FIRST RUSSIAN SOLDIER: Better listen to boy.

BABA: No, you let us pass.

FIRST RUSSIAN SOLDIER: (preparing his AK-47) Will be good to put bullet in you.

BABA: I’ll take a thousand bullets before I let this indecency take place.

AMIR: Baba, please!

The First Russian Soldier points his gun at Baba’s chest.

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