The Great Game: Afghanistan
Opening Night: December 7, 2010
Closing: December 19, 2010
Theater: Skirball Center for the Performing Arts @ NYU
Through the eyes of twelve leading British and American playwrights and the voices of those actively involved in the war and on U.S. and NATO policy in Afghanistan, The Tricycle Theatre Company’s The Great Game: Afghanistan explores, in three separate thrilling and provocative evenings, the culture and history of Afghanistan since Western involvement in 1842 to the present day. This ambitious political and theatrical event was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement and unanimously awarded four stars (out of four) by eleven British newspapers. Part 1: Invasions & Independence – 1842-1930 begins with the first Anglo-Afghan War of 1842 and moves to Afghan independence in the 1920s. Part 2: Communism, The Mujahideen & The Taliban – 1979-1996 continues the story from the Russian invasion, through US/CIA arming of the Mujahideen to the coming of the Taliban. Part 3: Enduring Freedom – 1996-2010 starts with the events of September 9, 2001 in Northern Afghanistan, through to the overthrow of Taliban, the aid agencies working in the country and the current war against the insurgents. Parts 1, 2, and 3 can be seen separately and do not need to be experienced in chronological order. Trilogy days presenting each of the three parts will be held on weekends.
BUY TICKETSREAD THE REVIEWS:
December 8, 2010
Halfway through “The Great Game: Afghanistan” — the Tricycle Theater’s formidable seven-hour cycle of short plays about a formidable country — a British writer finds herself alone with Najibullah, the deposed Afghan president, now under house arrest in Kabul in 1996. Najibullah can’t figure out how this unannounced, very inquisitive visitor has made it past security. She admits she has used unorthodox means.
READ THE REVIEWDecember 7, 2010
On paper, "The Great Game: Afghanistan" sounds about as enticing as the prospect of a long day of homework. Seven hours in length, it consists of 12 one-act plays by as many writers, broken into three programs and interspersed with seven shorter pieces, all tracing the history of Afghanistan and the West’s involvement with it across the last 168 years. You can see it on successive nights, or on weekends in a daylong marathon with two meal breaks.
READ THE REVIEW
December 8, 2010
Running nearly seven and a half hours, Tricycle Theatre’s The Great Game: Afghanistan, presented by the Public Theater at the NYU Skirball Center, offers a fascinating series of snapshots of events — both public and private — in the country’s history over the course of nearly 170 years. And while the writing for the epic works proves uneven, there is a sweep to the event — which Nicholas Kent and Indhu Rubasingham have directed jointly with impressive economy — that proves to be unquestionably compelling. In part, the credit belongs to the superlative work of a company that switches between roles with the skill of human chameleons.
READ THE REVIEWDecember 7, 2010
In the past nine years, Afghanistan has loomed large over the national mood, not to mention the nightly news. Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad: we’re now familiar with these exotic sounding cities. If you think you’ve learned enough about the region, "The Great Game: Afghanistan" reminds us that we’ve barely scratched the surface.
READ THE REVIEWDecember 7, 2010
Under Oskar Eustis’ artistic leadership, the Public Theater increasingly has been offering a number of works dealing with current events and politics. The latest, which opened Tuesday at the Skirball Center, is "The Great Game: Afghanistan," an imported series of 12 new plays commissioned and staged by London’s Tricycle Theatre.
READ THE REVIEW