Tony Kushner’s Homebody/ Kabul: A time of connection?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study is of threefold. First, it investigates the way Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul was received when it first premiered a few months after the events of September 11. The timing is particularly important because considerable emphasis is often placed on the relevance of the play to the historical and political context as an important reason for the play’s success. Second, the study explores the way representative male and female Afghan characters are portrayed in the play, especially in comparison to their British counterparts. The discussion in this part shows how reviewers and critics considered the issue of characterization in Homebody/Kabul as another important measure for the play’s degree of success. Thirdly, the paper explores whether Homebody/Kabul did in fact succeed in offering an alternative perspective of the Afghan people and their culture that challenges the hegemonic, static, and considerably Orientalist discourse in the Western mainstream media.