“Do you realize that the U.S. has only spent under 20 years when we are NOT involved in war?” the rap star Duke (Jay Ellis) tells an unseen interviewer. “When will that end?”

Duke is being asked about his time in Kabul a decade earlier, which he doesn’t want to talk about. He had gone over to entertain the American troops at the Bagram Air Force Base, and met Roya (Stephanie Nur), an Afghan interpreter. He was immediately attracted to her, with repercussions lasting to this day.

 “Duke & Roya,” a play by Charles Randolph-Wright, is opening tonight Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater.  The events of the last few days make Duke’s line extraordinarily timely, and would likely heighten interest in a suspenseful and pointed story of an American’s clueless and disastrous entanglement with a foreigner, presented as a microcosm of America’s entanglement with foreign countries. The timing might even boost something less political, a steamy romance set against a background of danger and intrigue.  The actual production, though, lands somewhere in-between pointed tale and romance, not completely satisfying as either, despite a charming four-member cast.  Like other promising moments in the play, little is made of Duke’s line about America’s wars.  

The initial meeting between Duke and Roya in 2016 sets us up to expect a romantic comedy,

“You speak English?”
“Yes”
“You work here, right?”
“Yes.”
“Are you from around here?…”
“Yes”
“Is yes the only word you know?”
“No.”
“Two words. Excellent. I should learn the same words in your language. What are they?”
“Yes. No.”
“Oh, so English is your language?”
“Yes and No”

I suppose this is clever, but would a young Afghan woman employed  by the United States Air Force talk to a man she knows to be a V.I.P. like this? It feels synthetic, even when we learn how independent she is. Mercifully, such dialogue is largely dropped, and their characterizations deepen, thanks in part to scenes involving her father Sayeed (Dariush Kashani), and his mother Desiree (Noma Dumezweni) — who eventually get their own subplot.

Both Duke and Roya turn out to be fans of the same literature, quoting (and recognizing each other’s quotes) from everybody from Rumi to James Baldwin.

Duke requests Roya’s services as an interpreter, then enlists her to sneak him out of the base so that he can see the real Kabul, something that he’s forbidden to do, for his own safety. The result could be characterized as disastrous, but, like much else that happens in “Duke & Roya,” the repercussions feel insufficient, as if the playwright were working off a checklist and didn’t have time to linger. This sense is further reinforced when, after most of the play takes place in 2016 and 2017, it moves at lightning speed through the ensuing years of disruption, and then skips abruptly to 2025. 

Along the way, “Duke & Roya” does touch on some real issues, such as the role of women in Afghanistan. Roya was the fourth of four daughters, and, following a tradition called Bacha Posh, she was expected to look and act like a boy, which is how she was able to get an education and a job alongside her father. We also see the difficulty of foreigners’ getting American visas,  and glimpse the way an artist’s celebrity can trap him artistically.

Jay Ellis, who won me over as the insecure longtime boyfriend in “Insecure” and has gone on to higher profile roles, nails the swagger and slouch of a hip hop artist – and gets original raps to recite. It takes a good actress like Stephanie Nur to say lines like “ Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction,” and make it touching – and not because (as Duke tells us) it’s a translation from Rumi.

Duke & Roya
Lucille Lortel Theater through August 23
Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes with 15 minute intermission
Tickets: $79 to $239
Written by Charles Randolph-Wright
Directed by Warren Adams
Scenic design by Wilson Chin, costume design by Snowber Sabrina Spanter, lighting design by Amina Alexander, projection design by Caite Hevner, original music by Ronve O’Daniel, sound design and additional music by Taylor J. Williams
Cast: Jay Ellis as Duke, Stephanie Nur as Roya, Noma Dumezweni as Desiree, Dariush Kashani as Sayeed

Photos by Jeremy Daniel