Review - Blood and Gifts & Private Lives
by Ben Peltz
- Nov 28, 2011
In The Book of Mormon, the young Ugandan ingénue sings of a fantasy world she imagines where all the warlords are friendly. And while in J.T. Rogers' intriguing drama of 1980s American foreign policy, Blood and Gifts, Afghan warlord Abdullah Kahn isn't exactly depicted as a saint, the author paints him as a man deeply dedicated to his family and the culture of his people who, like a typical American father, has job-related headaches (trying to secure weapons to defend his soil against the Soviets) and can't understand the music his son listens to (Rod Stewart's 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' and Tina Turner's 'What's Love Got to Do with It'). As played by Bernard White, he is a humble and patriotic man of dignity.
