It was supposed to be a story of a bygone era - until the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 dramatically changed that.įor the opera’s stage director, Roya Sadat, who lived under the Taliban’s first rule and made a professional name for herself after the group’s 2001 ouster, that reversal is deeply personal. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a novel by Afghan American author Khaled Hosseini centered on two women brought together by tragedy and fate during the turbulent last quarter of the 20th century in Afghanistan. Nana had worked as a housemaid for the wealthy cinema owner Jalil, Mariam's father, but after she became pregnant, Jalil cast her out to the shack. It’s a story of hardships, injustices and loss, but also of deep love, endurance and one big decision that, ultimately, alters both their lives and leads to the survival of only one. A Thousand Splendid Suns Summary Mariam, a young girl, lives in a small shack with her mother, Nana, outside of the city of Herat in Afghanistan. The women, born nearly two decades apart, forge an unlikely bond as they share an abusive husband and navigate struggles facing them and their country.

It is based on a novel by Kabul-born author Khaled Hosseini that explores the inner worlds of Mariam and Laila over decades of Afghan history, some with stark parallels to the present. The world premiere of Seattle Opera’s “A Thousand Splendid Suns” opened Saturday evening. As the Taliban once again assert control of Afghanistan and push women further out of public view, a female Afghan filmmaker is working thousands of miles away to help bring to life a wildly popular tale of two heroines living in her homeland, including under the group’s first reign.

A thousand splendid suns