Homebody/Kabul

Play Presented by: Mercury Stage Productions
Mercury Stage Productions in association with Culturate Inc. present the Canadian Premiere of Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul Featuring Fiona Reid.

In 1993/94, acclaimed playwright Tony Kushner brought us "Angels in America". In 2001/03, he offered up an equally gripping and historically prescient epic drama. Set in London and Kabul in August of 1998, Homebody/Kabul explores life in Afghanistan, its history, its long troubled relationship with the West and its ongoing political and humanitarian crisis.Mercury's forthcoming production of Homebody/Kabul will mark the Canadian premiere ofthis exceptional play. Director Jon Michaelson, whose work for Mercury has often featured creatively vibrant performances, has assembled a first-rate cast including recent Order of Canada inductee Fiona Reid, who will play the challenging role of The Homebody. The cast also features Sanjay Talwar and Deena Aziz (both from Bombay Black), rising Canadian film star Kris Holden-Ried (Touch of Pink), Lesley Faulkner (Léo) and Michael Spencer-Davis. (Via Dolorosa/MTC)Homebody/Kabul offers a mature playwright¹s compassionate, illuminating and provocative take on the East/West tensions which animate the lives of various inhabitants of Kabul. It¹s a suspenseful and intriguing drama which bears witness to their struggles to make sense of lives caught in the cross-fire of an historical ordeal.The story centers around the disappearance of an eccentric British woman (the Homebody) and the search for her by her husband and daughter in a Taliban-ruled Kabul. In their quest for the truth and closure, the lines between real and unreal, and the political and the personal become blurred and painfully ambiguous.Homebody/Kabul is a dynamic portrait of lives in chaos which evokes a dangerous collision between cultures. Despite being set in 1998 , the play's relevance and resonance has not dated.

Starts: May 18, 2007
Ends: Jun 9, 2007
At: Berkley Street Theatre Downstairs, 26 Berkeley St., Toronto
Neighborhood: Downtown
Playing: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Language: Primarily English, with some Dari, Pashtun, Aribic, Esperanto and French
Times: 7:30 pm, matinees Wed (May 30th) & Sat (May 19th, May 26th) at 1:30 pm
Cost: $15 -$20
Tickets: http://www.homebodykabul.ca/
For more information contact: Amber Ebert
Phone: 416.703.2773 x202
Email: pressoffice@theatreadmin.com
Web site: www.homebodykabul.ca

If you can't get to the theatre, check out the book.




Book Details:
Homebody/Kabul
Author: Tony Kushner
Paperback: 149 pages
Publisher: Hushion House; Rev Sub edition (February 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1559362391
ISBN-13: 978-1559362399

Set in Kabul, this book examines current day Afghanistan, its history, its long tortured relationship with the West, and its current political and humantarian crisis. The play centers around the disappearance of an eccentric British woman (the Homebody) and the search for her by her husband and daughter. In their quest for the truth and closure, the lines between real and unreal, the political and the personal are intentionally blurred and are fully ambiguous.