The Shakespeare Theatre Company is presenting a unique event from the Tricycle Theatre through Sept. 26. “The Great Game: Afghanistan” is a constellation of plays grouped into three parts. The plays — written by 14 playwrights — deal with the history and culture of Afghanistan beginning in 1842 and ending in the present.
The first group of plays, “Part One: 1842-1930, Invasions & Independence,” consists of seven works of different intention and character. Although the quality of the plays varies slightly, the acting and direction, by Nicolas Kent and Indhu Rubasingham, is superb throughout.
‘The Great Game: Afghanistan’
Where » The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NWWhen » Friday-Sunday, Sept. 22-26; see Web site for detailsInfo » $50 to $60; 202-547-1122; shakespeare-theatre.org
The structure of Part One includes some brief, as well as longer pieces. One of the shorter pieces, “Duologue,” is a moving tribute to an actual event that is so important in Afghan culture it has taken on quasi-mythical stature. In Siba Shakib’s dramatic poem, Vincent Ebrahim and Shereen Martineau effectively re-create the way the heroine Malalai (Martineau) inspired her fellow Afghan fighters to defeat the British in Maiwand during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
One of the finest pieces of Part One is “Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad,” based on a historical situation. Lady Sale (Jemma Redford), wife of British Brigadier Robert Sale, was one of the few remaining British citizens at the garrison at Jalalabad after 16,000 British soldiers retreated from Kabul in January 1842, resulting in a massacre: Only one man lived.
Stephen Jeffrey’s drama brings to light this moment of history, where there were a few buglers left to sound encouragement to any survivors. Redford plays the elegant Lady Sale as calm and resourceful, recording every horror in her journal. Daniel Betts, Tom McKay, Rick Warden and Karl Davies give insight into the feeling of the red-jacketed buglers, who gradually reveal why they are in the army.
“Durand’s Line,” by Ron Hutchinson, is one of the most accomplished and entertaining plays of Part One. Set in a guest house in Kabul owned by the emir in 1893, the play is a dramatic debate between Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, foreign minister of British India from 1885 to 1894 (Michael Cochrane) and Abdur Rahman, emir of Afghanistan (Raad Rawi).
In an effort to create a map for Afghanistan, Durand tries to convince Rahman how important geographical lines are against the onslaughts of Afghanistan’s foes. He argues that without the clear lines the Russians will be able to claim territory. The emir is skeptical; he has learned to trust no one. He doubts the ability of inked lines on a piece of paper to protect his people from the Russians — or the British.
Although most of the plays concern themselves with the past, there are glimpses of how that past has affected Afghanistan’s present: “Monologue” takes place in Herat in 1996; “Verbatim” features Gen. Stanley McChrystal (Daniel Betts); “Campaign” takes place in the present day in the office of James Kite (Tom McKay) in Great Britain’s Foreign Office.
The overall effect of “The Great Game” is stunning, educational without being didactic. A piece of thoughtful, well-written theater, it is more philosophical than political, demonstrating the way modern Afghanistan has never been free of foreign powers and how the conflicts of major empires have used and manipulated Afghanistan.
Pamela Howard’s design is pleasingly spare, offering just enough details — a desk, a Persian rug, an Afghan pillow — to set the scene. David Taylor’s lighting (original lighting by James Farncombe) creates a variety of effective environments.
Part I and the remaining segments (“Part Two: 1979-1996, Communism, the Mujahideen & the Taliban” and “Part Three: 1966-2010, Enduring Freedom”) can be seen singly or together.
