The Great Game: Afghanistan
Encyclopedia
The Great Game: Afghanistan is a British series of short plays on the history of Afghanistan
and foreign intervention there, from the First Anglo-Afghan War
to the present day. It is organised into three sets of four plays and draws its name from the 19th and 20th century Great Game
, a geopolitical struggle for dominance between The British and Russian Empires. The main plays are linked by monologue
s and duologues giving historical background and verbatim theatre
edited by Richard Norton-Taylor
from modern figures linked with western involvement in Afghanistan, such as William Dalrymple, Hillary Clinton, Stanley McChrystal and David Richards.
Premiering at the Tricycle Theatre
in London in 2009, it had another 6 week run there before a tour of the USA. The cast included Michael Cochrane
and Jemma Redgrave
and the directors were Nicolas Kent
and Indhu Rubasingham. It was noted for the significant interest shown in the production by the Pentagon, as an educational tool for US soldiers and officials involved in the war in Afghanistan.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010900125.html
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and foreign intervention there, from the First Anglo-Afghan War
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst...
to the present day. It is organised into three sets of four plays and draws its name from the 19th and 20th century Great Game
The Great Game
The Great Game or Tournament of Shadows in Russia, were terms for the strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. The classic Great Game period is generally regarded as running approximately from the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1813...
, a geopolitical struggle for dominance between The British and Russian Empires. The main plays are linked by monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
s and duologues giving historical background and verbatim theatre
Verbatim theatre
Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary theatre in which plays are constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or topic.-Definition:...
edited by Richard Norton-Taylor
Richard Norton-Taylor
Richard Norton-Taylor is a British editor, journalist and playwright.He is a security-affairs editor of the British newspaper The Guardian.-Early life and education:...
from modern figures linked with western involvement in Afghanistan, such as William Dalrymple, Hillary Clinton, Stanley McChrystal and David Richards.
Premiering at the Tricycle Theatre
Tricycle Theatre
The Tricycle Theatre is located on Kilburn High Road in Kilburn in the London Borough of Brent, England. During the last 30 years, the Tricycle has been presenting plays reflecting the cultural diversity of its community; in particular Black, Irish, Jewish, Asian and South African works, as well as...
in London in 2009, it had another 6 week run there before a tour of the USA. The cast included Michael Cochrane
Michael Cochrane
Michael Cochrane is an English actor who specialises in playing upper class characters, sometimes with a suaveness that hides their villainy....
and Jemma Redgrave
Jemma Redgrave
Jemma Redgrave is a fourth-generation English actress of the Redgrave family.-Early life/family:Born in London as Jemima Rebecca Redgrave, she is the daughter of the late actor Corin Redgrave and his first wife, the late Deirdre Hamilton-Hill, a former fashion model. They divorced when Jemma was...
and the directors were Nicolas Kent
Nicolas Kent
-Life:Attending Stowe School and studying English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, he directed his first play - Look Back in Anger by John Osbourne - whilst still at university before becoming a trainee director at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1967...
and Indhu Rubasingham. It was noted for the significant interest shown in the production by the Pentagon, as an educational tool for US soldiers and officials involved in the war in Afghanistan.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010900125.html
Invasions and Independence
This part covers the period from 1842 to 1929.- Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad by Stephen JeffreysStephen JeffreysStephen Jeffreys is a British playwright.His plays include Like Dolls or Angels ; Carmen 1936 ; Valued Friends ; The Clink ; The Libertine - also a screenplay filmed with Johnny Depp; A Going...
- Four buglers outside JalalabadJalalabadJalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
keep watch for survivors from the Massacre of Elphinstone's ArmyMassacre of Elphinstone's ArmyThe Massacre of Elphinstone's Army was the destruction by Afghan forces, led by Akbar Khan, the son of Dost Mohammad Khan, of a combined British and Indian force of the British East India Company, led by Major General William Elphinstone, in January 1842....
, while Lady Florentia SaleFlorentia SaleLady Florentia Sale was an Englishwoman who, whilst married to her husband, Sir Robert Henry Sale, a British army officer, travelled the world whilst stationed with him...
reads her diary. - Durand’s Line by Ron HutchinsonRon Hutchinson (screenwriter)Ron Hutchinson is an Emmy Award winning screenwriter, known for writing John Frankenheimer's Against the Wall, Robert M. Young's Slave of Dreams, John Frankenheimer's The Island of Dr...
- Amir Abdul RahmanAbdur Rahman KhanAbdur Rahman Khan was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901.The third son of Mohammad Afzal Khan, and grandson of Dost Mohammad Khan, Abdur Rahman Khan was considered a strong ruler who re-established the writ of the Afghan government in Kabul after the disarray that followed the second...
and Sir Mortimer DurandMortimer DurandSir Henry Mortimer Durand was a British diplomat and civil servant of colonial British India.-Background:Born at Sehore, Bhopal, India, he was the son of Sir Henry Marion Durand, the Resident of Baroda and he was educated at Blackheath Proprietary School, and Tonbridge School.-Career:Durand...
discuss the eponymous Durand LineDurand LineThe Durand Line refers to the porous international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has divided the ethnic Pashtuns . This poorly marked line is approximately long...
after the Second Anglo-Afghan WarSecond Anglo-Afghan WarThe Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the nation was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended in a manner...
. - Campaign by Amit GuptaAmit GuptaAmit Gupta is an Indian cricketer. Gupta is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium pace. He was born in Delhi, India....
- A British civil servant in the new UK coalition governmentUnited Kingdom coalition government (2010–present)The ConservativeLiberal Democrat coalition is the present Government of the United Kingdom, formed after the 2010 general election. The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats entered into discussions which culminated in the 2010 coalition agreement, setting out a programme for government...
tries to draw on the history of Mahmud TarziMahmud TarziMahmūd Bēg Tarzī was one of Afghanistan's greatest intellectuals. He is known as the father of Afghan journalism...
to produce a British withdrawal strategy in 2010. - Now is the Time by Joy Wilkinson - Amānullāh KhānAmanullah KhanAmanullah Khan was the King of the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1919 to 1929, first as Amir and after 1926 as Shah. He led Afghanistan to independence over its foreign affairs from the United Kingdom, and his rule was marked by dramatic political and social change...
, his wife Soraya TarziSoraya TarziSoraya Tarzi, known mostly as Queen Soraya, was the Queen of Afghanistan in the early 20th century and the wife of King Amanullah Khan. She is the only woman to appear on the list of rulers in Afghanistan, although wife of King Amanullah Khan...
and her father Mahmud TarziMahmud TarziMahmūd Bēg Tarzī was one of Afghanistan's greatest intellectuals. He is known as the father of Afghan journalism...
are stuck in a car stuck in the snow in their escape from Kabul in 1929.
Communism, the Mujahideen and the Taliban
This part covers the period from 1981 to 2001.- Black Tulips by David EdgarDavid Edgar (playwright)David Edgar is a British playwright and author who has had more than sixty of his plays published and performed on stage, radio and television around the world, making him one of the most prolific dramatists of the post-1960s generation in Great Britain.He was resident playwright at the Birmingham...
- Groups of Russian conscripts from 1987 back to 1981 are briefed for their role in the Soviet war in AfghanistanSoviet war in AfghanistanThe Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers... - Wood for the Fire by Lee BlessingLee Blessing-Biography:Blessing's best-known play is A Walk in the Woods, which depicts the developing relationship between two arms limitation negotiators, one Russian and one American, over years of negotiation...
- Two CIACentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
operatives deal differently with the growing power of Pakistan's Inter-Services IntelligenceInter-Services IntelligenceThe Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
to supply the MujahideenMujahideenMujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
for their war on the Soviets. (The original play in this slot in 2009 was JT Rogers' Blood and GiftsBlood and GiftsBlood and Gifts is a play by the American playwright J. T. Rogers. Its subject is the struggle for control of Afghanistan during the 1980s, from the American, Russian, British, Pakistani, and secular Afghan points of view. It premiered in September 2010 at the Lyttelton Theatre, starring Lloyd...
on a similar topic, but this was left out of the 2010 run, since it had been expanded into a full length play in the meantime to be produced at the Royal National TheatreRoyal National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in October 2010.) - Miniskirts of Kabul by David GreigDavid Greig (dramatist)David Greig is a Scottish playwright and theatre director.Greig was born in Edinburgh in 1969 and was brought up in Nigeria. He studied drama at Bristol University. He has been commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company amongst others.His...
- A Western journalist imagines a meeting with president Mohammad NajibullahMohammad NajibullahMohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai , originally merely Najibullah, was the fourth and last President of the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He is also considered the second President of the Republic of Afghanistan.-Early years:Najibullah was born in August 1947 to the Ahmadzai...
as the Taliban closes in on his refuge in the UN compound in Kabul in 1992. - The Lion of Kabul by Colin TeevanColin TeevanColin Teevan is an Irish playwright, radio dramatist, translator and academic.Teevan has premiered works in the National Theatres of Ireland, Scotland and the Royal National Theatre in London, He has been a regular collaborator of directors Hideki Noda, Sir Peter Hall, and actors Greg Hicks, Clare...
- Two men have killed UNUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
aid workers and the Taliban throw them to MarjanMarjan (lion)Marjan was the most famous resident of the rundown Kabul Zoo. The lion witnessed Afghanistan’s turbulent history, from the 1978 murder of King Zahir Shah’s brother-in-law, Sardar Mohammed Daoud and his entire family, to the arrival of the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan that...
, the one-eyed lion in Kabul ZooKabul ZooThe Kabul Zoo is located in Kabul, Afghanistan, on the bank of the Kabul River. The director of Kabul Zoo is Aziz Gul Saqeb.-History:The zoo was inaugurated in 1967 with a focus on Afghan fauna, being very popular with visitors and press. The zoo once had more than 500 animals with about 150,000...
, with the UN's unwilling collusion.
Enduring Freedom
Named after Operation Enduring Freedom, it covers the period from 2001 to the present day.- Honey by Ben Ockrent - A CIA man tries and fails to persuade Ahmad Shah Massoud to help resume American intervention in Afghanistan, just before Massoud's assassination in 2001.
- The Night is Darkest Before Dawn by Abi MorganAbi MorganAbi Morgan is a British playwright and screenwriter known for her works for television, such as Sex Traffic and The Hour, and the film Brick Lane...
- An Afghan widow attempts to re-open her husband's school in the wake of the September 11 attacks and American interventionWar in Afghanistan (2001–present)The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
. - On the Side of the Angels by Richard BeanRichard BeanRichard Bean, born in East Hull in 1956, is an English playwright.-Early years:Bean studied Social Psychology at Loughborough University of Science and Technology and graduated with a 2-1 BSc Hons, and went on to become an occupational psychologist, having previously worked in a bread plant for a...
- An aid worker gets involved in Afghan women's rights against her will, when two young girls are betrothed to older men to resolve a land rights dispute. - Canopy of Stars by Simon StephensSimon StephensSimon Stephens is an English playwright.Hailing originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester, he is now an increasingly significant voice in English theatre. His plays are often humane explorations of family life...
- Two British soldiers guarding the Kajaki Dam discuss military life and the justification for intervention.
Production history
- Tricycle Theatre, London - 17 April to 14 June 2009 (premiere)
- Tricycle Theatre, London - 23 July to 30 August 2010
- US Tour - 15 September to 19 December 2010:
- 15 - 26 September: Sidney Harman HallSidney Harman HallSidney Harman Hall is a theater located at Sixth and F Streets NW in Washington, D.C. It opened officially on October 1, 2007.Along with the existing Lansburgh Theatre, it comprises the new Harman Center for the Arts, the home of the Shakespeare Theatre Company...
, Shakespeare Theatre CompanyShakespeare Theatre CompanyThe Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. Their self professed mission "is to present classic theatre of scope and size in an imaginative, skillful and accessible American style that honors the playwrights’ language and intentions while viewing their...
, Harman Center for the ArtsHarman Center for the ArtsThe Harman Center for the Arts is a complex consisting ofthe Lansburgh Theatre at 450 7th Street NW in Washington, D.C. and Sidney Harman Hall at Sixth and F Streets NW. Harman Hall is the latest addition to the existing Lansburgh Theatre to create the new "Center For the Arts". Construction began...
, Washington DC - 29 September - 17 October: Guthrie Theater, McGuire Proscenium StageGuthrie TheaterThe Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the result of the desire of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler to create a resident acting company that would produce and perform the classics in...
, Minneapolis, MN - 22 October - 7 November: The Roda Theatre, Berkeley Repertory TheatreBerkeley Repertory TheatreBerkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1968, as the East Bay’s first resident professional theatre. Michael Leibert was the founding artistic director, who was then succeeded by Sharon Ott in 1984. The company runs seven...
, Berkeley CABerkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington... - 1 December - 19 December: The Public Theater, The SkirballSkirball Center for Performing ArtsThe Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is an 850-seat theater in Manhattan, New York owned by New York University. The Skirball Center is the largest performing arts facility south of 42nd Street. Recently, the Skirball Center hosted speeches on foreign policy by John Kerry and Al Gore...
, Washington SquareWashington Square ParkWashington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- 15 - 26 September: Sidney Harman Hall
- Two-hour radio adaptation of four plays (Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad, Miniskirts of Kabul, Honey and Canopy of Stars), with original cast and introduction by Robin LustigRobin LustigRobin Francis Lustig is a BBC journalist and radio broadcaster who presents programmes for the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4.- Early Career :...
, in the Drama on 3 strand, BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
, 8pm, 10 October 2010 - 10-11 February 2011: Sidney Harman HallSidney Harman HallSidney Harman Hall is a theater located at Sixth and F Streets NW in Washington, D.C. It opened officially on October 1, 2007.Along with the existing Lansburgh Theatre, it comprises the new Harman Center for the Arts, the home of the Shakespeare Theatre Company...
, Shakespeare Theatre CompanyShakespeare Theatre CompanyThe Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. Their self professed mission "is to present classic theatre of scope and size in an imaginative, skillful and accessible American style that honors the playwrights’ language and intentions while viewing their...
, Harman Center for the ArtsHarman Center for the ArtsThe Harman Center for the Arts is a complex consisting ofthe Lansburgh Theatre at 450 7th Street NW in Washington, D.C. and Sidney Harman Hall at Sixth and F Streets NW. Harman Hall is the latest addition to the existing Lansburgh Theatre to create the new "Center For the Arts". Construction began...
, Washington DC - Special encore performances offered free to soldiers, wounded veterans and government officials