Heather Brady, special to wtop

WASHINGTON – It is somewhat unusual to walk into a professional theater and hear Eminem playing in the background when a solid percent of the audience is your grandparents’ age.

In spite of the generational gap, “Love in Afghanistan” still charmed and moved its audience. It subverts expectations by taking a relatively predictable love story — two very different people from different worlds falling in love — and throwing in unexpected, and at times, heart-wrenching twists.

The play focuses on the attraction between Duke, a famous American rap artist who comes to Afghanistan to perform for the troops at Bagram Air Force Base outside of Kabul, and Roya, a female Afghan translator working for the troops and staying at the base for protection.

From the moment the play begins, Duke is charming, cheeky and somewhat na