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DC Premiere

Selling Kabul

Feb 21 - Apr 2, 2023
A 30-something Middle-Eastern man with a beard and short cut curly hair sits on the ground in front of a TV screen. The TV displays an image of the American flag.

A suspenseful drama about family and sacrifice from an exciting new voice.

In 2013, a sister secretly shelters her translator brother from an increasingly powerful Taliban while he awaits the ever-delayed arrival of a promised American visa. On the eve of his son’s birth, the walls begin to close in, threatening him, her and everyone they love in a heart-racing exposé with devastating echoes to the present day.

Breathtaking and unpredictable through the final curtain, this unflinching exploration exposes the human toll of American withdrawal.

“[Sylvia] Khoury’s delicately crafted play . . . etches the cost of tyranny, corruption and terror in intensely human terms.”
The Berkshire Eagle

Written by Sylvia Khoury
Directed by Shadi Ghaheri
#SigSellingKabul
#SigSellingKabul

Performance Info

Seating Chart

  • Run Time

    Running time is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, no intermission.

  • Content Warnings

    This show is recommended for mature teens and adults. Signature does not admit children under 6 years old.

  • Masking

    Masks are always optional in the lobby and other public areas of the building.

    Face masks are required inside the performance spaces on Thursdays and Sundays.
    Face masks are optional inside the performance spaces Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

  • Language

    All performances will be performed in English.

Content Warnings

This show includes discussions of a murder threat and descriptions of beatings.

Program

Flip through the Selling Kabul Program

Click the arrows to turn the pages, and click the box in the bottom right corner to view in full screen.

Specialty Nights

Discussion Nights

March 7 & 15, 2023

Pride Night

March 10, 2023

Cast Members

Mazin Akar

Taroon

BROADWAY: The Kite Runner. INTERNATIONAL: Canada: Sunny Under The Assumption. OFF-BROADWAY: Theatre Row: Banned. TV/WEB: NBC: The Blacklist. Netflix: Marvel’s Jessica Jones; Halston. FILM: Blood Red Ox, The Rewind, The Sweet East. AWARDS: Best performance – 2022 Astoria Film Festival. EDUCATION: American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA), The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. Mazinakar.com @mazinakar

Raghad Almakhlouf

Afiya/Leyla Understudy

DC AREA: The Academy for Classical Acting: Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Tales from Ovid, Cymbeline; Folger Theater: Hamlet (reading); The Welders: In This Hope – A Pericles Project; Adventure Theater: The Star Cow. INTERNATIONAL: Syria: Almerwad Wa Almekhaleh, Tactic, Wretched Dreams (أحلام شقية), AB Negative, The Poster, Right you are if you think you are, The Bear, Romeo & Juliet; Denmark: Venus Labyrinth. TV/FILM: Washington, DC: Faith, Meet up, Jihad; Syria: The Long Night, Orchids, Abu Khalil Al Qabbani, Lipstick (قلم حمرة), The Time of Fear (زمن الخوف), The Smell of Rain (رائحة المطر), Faces and Places (وجوه وأماكن), Hidden Voices (أصوات خفيّة), The Salt of Life (ملح الحياة). EDUCATION: STC’s Academy at the George Washington University: MFA in Classical Acting.

Neagheen Homaifar

Leyla

she/her TV: Apple TV: Houston; Peacock: Killing It; Fox: The Resident; FILM: Before Dawn, Kabul Time; Susie Searches; Site. EDUCATION: Harvard University: B.A. in Social Studies and Spanish. www.neagheen.com @neagheen

Yousof Sultani

Jawid

DC AREA: Arena Stage: A Thousand Splendid Suns; Woolly Mammoth (joint production with PlayCo, Guthrie, A.R.T. and Oregon Shakespeare Festival): This Is Who I Am. REGIONAL: Northlight Theatre: Georgiana and Kitty; Seattle Repertory Theatre: Selling Kabul; The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: The Gradient; Drury Lane: And Then There Were None; Court Theatre: Photograph 51; InterAct Theatre: Heartland; Milwaukee Repertory Theater: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Guards at the Taj; Steppenwolf: The Doppelgänger, The Fundamentals; TimeLine Theatre: Disappearing Number, Inana; Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Othello. TV/FILM: Glass House; Fox: The Big Leap, Empire; NBC: The Brave; Chicago Fire. EDUCATION: Virginia Commonwealth University: BFA in Performance. He will be dedicating his performance to his late father, Wahid Sultani. Yo_Sultani

Ramtin Vaziri

Taroon/Jawid Understudy

he/him DC AREA: Silver Spring Stage: Back of the Throat (Khaled), Yellowface (Marcus), Constellation Theater Company: White Snake (ensemble), TV/WEB: House of Cards, Unsolved Mysteries, EDUCATION: George Washington University: BA. @ramtinvvv

Awesta Zarif

Afiya

she/her INTERNATIONAL: China: The Motherfucker with the Hat (Veronica); Going to Baidi (Alpha); The Jungle Book (Shere Khan); Matt and Ben (Ben); Fun Home (Middle Alison); The Learned Ladies (Henriette); Little Shop of Horrors (Crystal); Starchild: The Little Prince Reborn (Rose/Snake); Almost, Maine (Glory/Villian). REGIONAL: Seattle Repertory Theatre: Selling Kabul (Afiya); Geva Theatre Center: Jane Eyre (Grace Poole/Blanche Ingram/Bessie). EDUCATION: Boston University: B.F.A. Theatre Arts. UPCOMING: Round House Theatre/Olney Theatre Center: Ink (Stephanie Rahn). Awestazarif.com @awestaz

Creative Team

Sponsored by

Signature Theatre

4200 Campbell Ave Arlington, Virginia

Selling Kabul Resources

Click the link below to learn about the country of Afghanistan, a brief history of the American withdrawal, impactful organizations and more.

Inside Signature with Awesta Zarif

Signature newcomer Awesta Zarif plays sister Afiya in the Pulitzer Prize finalist Selling Kabul. Originally from Afghanistan, come listen about her worldwide work including a residency with UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute, growing up in San Diego and what Selling Kabul means to her.

Press Reviews

Beautifully portrayed and incredibly important

BroadwayWorld

Hard-hitting, provocative, and heart-wrenching

DC Theater Arts

An important topic, worthy of illumination

The Washington Post

Will literally keep you on the edge of your seat… a must-see

TheatreBloom

Carefully scripted and brilliantly performed

District Fray

A high wire of tension

Metro Weekly

All four actors give exemplary performances

Talkin' Broadway