Tricycle Theater Presents THE GREAT GAME: AFGHANISTAN

The Tricycle Theatre will present The Great Game: Afghanistan from 17 April - 14 June 2009, a festival exploring Afghan culture and history through fifteen plays, a ten day film programme, Qawali Sham Sufi Group concert, ceramic and photographic exhibitions, discussion sessions, writers' talks and play readings (in conjunction with The National Theatre Studio). Previews for The Great Game: Afghanistan begin on 17 April with a press day on 24 April. In addition, the Tricycle's Education Department will produce a series of projects to support the Festival.

Directed by the Tricycle's Artistic Director Nicolas Kent and Theatre Director Indhu Rubasingham, assisted by Rachel Grunwald, the world premieres of the Afghan plays by Stephen Jeffreys, Ron Hutchinson, Amit Gupta, Joy Wilkinson, David Edgar, J.T Rogers, David Greig, Colin Teevan, Ben Ockrent, Abi Morgan, Richard Bean and Simon Stephens will be presented in repertoire throughout the festival. Designs are by Pamela Howard and Miriam Nabarro, lighting is by James Farncombe, with sound by Tom Lishman. Full casting for all plays will be announced shortly.

"Afghanistan will be at the forefront of Western foreign policy for the next decade. We get daily reports on Afghanistan in the media - yet we know very little about how the foreign policy of Britain, America, Europe and Russia towards that country has evolved over the past 175 years."

"The Tricycle's Afghanistan Festival will offer the most comprehensive over-view of Afghanistan's history, culture and politics ever attempted in Britain. Within the Festival the Tricycle is proud to be premiering 15 specially commissioned plays by some of this country's and America's leading playwrights, 9 film premieres including some commissioned in Afghanistan by the Tricycle, three visual arts exhibitions by Afghan artists, as well as many talks and discussions from experts on and from Afghanistan."

"The aim of the Festival is to help audiences understand more about Afghanistan, and to open up debate, appreciation and discussion on Afghanistan's importance to Britain as we move into the second decade of the 21st century." Nicolas Kent
Artistic Director
Tricycle Theatre

Part One: Invasions & Independence 1842-1930

Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad by Stephen Jeffreys
In January 1842 a contingent of British soldiers, 16,000 strong, retreated from Kabul. Only a few stragglers were left alive in the British Army's worst defeat in history. The General's wife, Lady Sale, documents the battles in the Hindu Kush; whilst four buglers sound the advance at the Gates of Jalalabad as a signal to any survivors.

Stephen Jeffreys' plays include award-winning Like Dolls or Angels (National Student Drama Festival), adaptations of Hard Times (Pocket Theatre Cumbria) and Carmen 1936 (Tricycle), Returning Fire, The Garden of Eden and Valued Friends (Hampstead Theatre), the latter won the Evening Standard and Critics' Circle Most Promising Playwright Awards, The Clink (Paines Plough), A Jovial Crew for the Royal Shakespeare Company, A Going Concern (Hampstead Theatre), The Libertine (Royal Court) for which he also wrote a screenplay starring Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton and John Malkovich, and I Just Stopped By To See The Man (Royal Court). His most recent stage play, The Art of War, was commissioned and produced by the Sydney Theatre Company as part of their 2007 season.

Durand's Line by Ron Hutchinson
Amir Abdul Rahman has kept the Indian Foreign Secretary, Sir Mortimer Durand, cooped up in Kabul for weeks. Sir Mortimer is desperate to negotiate the division of Waziristan to avenge the humiliation of his father's name. Rahman fights to protect his country's borders from Imperialist map-making.

Ron Hutchinson's plays include Topless Mum and Moonlight and Magnolias (performed at the Tricycle Theatre 2007/2008), Says I Says He and Rat InThe Skull (Royal Court) and an adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's Flight (National Theatre). In Spring 2009 the University of Missouri, Kansas City will premiere his adaptation of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. He is an Emmy winning feature and television writer whose credits include Murderers Among Us, The Simon Wiesenthal Story, The Josephine Baker Story, The Burning Season, The Ten Commandments and Traffic (USA Network mini-series) and has taught screenwriting at the American Film Institute.

Campaign by Amit Gupta
Harry Hawk MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary needs to find a new approach to policy in Afghanistan. Hawk summons the expert, Professor Khan to advise on the potential success of the 'supplementary plan' conceived by the civil service. While Hawk hopes that history can repeat itself, Khan is not convinced that it will.

Amit Gupta read History before training at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. He wrote his first play, Touch, in 1998, which was a winner of the Royal Court Young Writers' Competition. Gupta has been a Writer in Residence at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre and was profiled as one of Screen International's Writer/Director "Stars of Tomorrow, 2005". Gupta now writes for stage, screen and radio. He has directed a number of plays, Loveless for Channel 4, and last year wrote and directed an award-winning short film, Love Story. He is currently working on a feature film adaptation of his Radio 4 play Jadoo as well as SomethingTown - a TV series for the BBC.

Now Is the Time by Joy Wilkinson
King Amanullah, his wife Soraya and his father-in-law, Tarzi are fleeing the capital. Their car is marooned in the snow, while Pashtun tribes and Tajik forces march towards Kabul. Will the Soviet Union help? Will the British interfere?

Joy Wilkinson's plays include Fair (Finborough Theatre), Felt Effects (Theatre 503) and The Aquatic Ape (Edinburgh Festival). She has recently completed an attachment at The National Theatre Studio and is currently writing a new play for the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. She also writes for radio and was a graduate of the BBC's inaugural Writers' Academy.

Part Two: Communism, The Mujahideen & The Taliban 1979-1996

Black Tulips by David Edgar
1979, an army of a super-power invaded Afghanistan. Soviet troops were sent to combat backwardness and banditry, to defend women's rights, to build hospitals and schools. They thought they would all be home in a few months.

David Edgar is one of England's foremost political playwrights and has long standing relationships with the Royal Shakespeare Company and The National Theatre. His most recent play, Testing The Echo for Out of Joint, played on tour and at the Tricycle Theatre in 2008. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Arts Council's John Whiting Award for Destiny, the Laurence Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Play for his adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, the Plays and Players' Best Play Award for Maydays and the Evening Standard Best Play Award for Pentecost.

Blood and Gifts by J T Rogers
Two Afghans have risked their lives crossing the Pakistan/Afghanistan border to meet with two Americans in a safehouse. The aim is to negotiate arms but the Americans' offer of Enfield rifles, radio equipment and medical supplies is considered by the Afghans insufficient to repel the Russians.

JT Rogers' plays include The Overwhelming (National Theatre/tour with Out of Joint), Madagascar (Summer Play Festival Off Broadway) which won the Pinter Review Prize for best play in the English language, and Murmuring in a Dead Tongue (Source Theatre Festival, Washington, D.C.). His play White People is currently running Off Broadway, and he is writing new plays for The National Theatre and Lincoln Centre.

Miniskirts of Kabul by David Greig
The Taliban are closing in on Kabul: shells and rockets are exploding around the capital. A woman is interviewing President Najibullah, who has sought refuge in the UN compound. He talks about fashion, communism, torture and whisky, but time is running out.

David Greig's play Damascus is currently running at the Tricycle Theatre until 7 March. His other plays include Midsummer, Outlying Islands and Europe (Traverse Theatre), The American Pilot (Royal Shakespeare Company and Soho Theatre), Ramallah (Royal Court), Pyrenees (Paines Plough), Caligula and The Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union (Donmar Warehouse). Greig's version of Euripides' The Bacchae, which premiered at the 2007 Edinburgh International Festival, subsequently transferred to the Lyric Hammersmith. His version of Strindberg's Creditors has recently completed a run at the Donmar Warehouse.

The Lion of Kabul by Colin Teevan
Two Afghan aid workers disappear while distributing rice. Rabia, their UN Director of Operations is determined to discover what has happened to them. The problem is her organisation does not recognise the Taliban, and the Taliban do not recognise her. She seeks justice, but who is to dispense it?

Colin Teevan's plays include How Many Miles to Basra? (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Amazonia (with Paul Heritage for the Young Vic), The Diver and The Bee (both with Hideki Noda for Soho Theatre), Monkey! (Young Vic and National Theatre), Missing Persons: Four Tragedies & Roy Keane (Assembly Rooms and Trafalgar Studios), Alcmaeon in Corinth (Live! Newcastle) and The Walls (National Theatre). His adaptations include Kafka's Monkey which premiered in March at the Young Vic, Don Quixote (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Peer Gynt (commissioned by The National Theatre of Scotland) and Svejk. His translations include Bacchai (National Theatre), Iph (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Cuckoos and Marathon (Gate Theatre). Teevan is an Artistic Associate of West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Part Three: Enduring Freedom 1996-2009

Honey by Ben Ockrent
While civil war rages, a lone CIA agent realises the dangers of American disengagement. He's found an 'in' to persuade Commander Masoud, the Lion of Panjshir, to help them get back into the game. But with the Taliban closing in on Kabul, will it be enough?

Ben Ockrent's first play, The Pleasure Principle, was produced at the Tristan Bates Theatre in October 2007. He is currently creating Khoa San, a new comedy drama series for World Productions, as well as Joe Mistry, a comedy series for Hartswood Film and Television and Kidnapped, a new drama series for Company Pictures. All three are under commission for the BBC. Ockrent is also currently writing an episode of Fashion for BBC1.

The Night Is Darkest Before the Dawn by Abi Morgan
The widowed Huma is trying to re-open her husband's school following the American bombing and 'liberation' of Afghanistan; however she needs to persuade six more girls to attend. But Behrukh's father is more concerned with his opium crop and who will harvest it.

Abi Morgan's plays include Skinned and Sleeping Around (Paines Plough), Tiny Dynamite (Traverse), Tender (Hampstead), Splendour - which won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival in 2000 and Fugee (National Theatre). Her television work includes My Fragile Heart, Murder, Tsunami - The Aftermath, White Girl and Sex Traffic, the multi award winning drama for Channel 4. Her film writing includes Brick Lane, an adaptation of Monica Ali's bestseller. She is currently developing films for BBC Films and FilmFour including The Invisible Woman, The Story of You and If The Spirit Moves You, as well as a six part serial for BBC2.

On the Side of the Angels by Richard Bean
Jackie and Graham are working for Direct Action World Poverty east of Herat. They are thrown together to work on a new project about land rights. In trying to help and settle local disputes, the results are not what they expected, as Bollywood, women's rights and tribal disputes create a toxic mix.

Richard Bean's most recent play, England People Very Nice, is currently playing at The National Theatre. His other writing credits include The English Game, produced by Headlong Theatre Company, In The Club (Hampstead Theatre), an adaptation of The Hypochondriac (Almeida), Harvest, Honeymoon Suite, Smack Family Robinson, Under The Whaleback and Toast (Royal Court), The God Botherers (Bush Theatre), Le Pub!, The Mentalists (Lyttelton Loft, National Theatre) and Mr England (Sheffield Crucible Theatre).

Canopy of Stars by Simon Stephens
In a bunker guarding the Kajaki Dam, two soldiers talk of chips and gravy, football, women and whether the British should start to negotiate with the Taliban insurgents. A searing insight into soldiers at war, and what happens when they go home.

Simon Stephens' plays for The Royal Court Theatre include Bluebird, Herons, Country Music, and Motortown. His other plays include Port (Royal Exchange Theatre), for which he won the Pearson Award for best play, One Minute (Traverse and Bush Theatre), On the Shore of the Wide World, which won the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2005, and Harper Regan (both National Theatre). His radio plays include Five Letters Home to Elizabeth and Digging, both for BBC Radio 4. Stephens has won many awards including the position of Arts Council Resident Dramatist at The Royal Court Theatre in 2000. Pornography was staged at the Edinburgh Festival 2008 and will transfer to the Tricycle in Summer 2009.

Directors Biographies

Nicolas Kent is Artistic Director of the Tricycle Theatre and has directed thirty six plays while at the theatre including The Great White Hope - which he also staged for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Trouble in Mind, Wine in the Wilderness, A Love Song for Ulster, Macbeth, 10 Rounds, the 20th Anniversary production of Mustapha Matura's Playboy of the West Indies, Walk Hard - Talk Loud, How Long Is Never?, Darfur A Response and the War Next Door. He has also directed all the Tricycle Tribunal Plays and 2007's controversial Called To Account in which Tony Blair was put on trial for crimes of aggression against Iraq. Television directing credits include The Workshop, Pentecost, Sharing Time, Colour of Justice, Justifying War and Half the Picture.

Indhu Rubasingham has previously directed Fabulation and Starstruck at the Tricycle Theatre. Her other directing credits include Another America: Fire - an opera presented as part of the PUSH04 Season, Wuthering Heights (Birmingham Rep), Free Outgoing (Royal Court), Pure Gold (Soho Theatre), Heartbreak House (Watford Palace Theatre), Yellowman (Hampstead Theatre), Romeo and Juliet, The Misanthrope and Secret Rapture (Chichester Festival Theatre) Tanika Gupta's Sugar Mummies and Roy Williams' Lift Off and Club Land (Royal Court), Ramayana and The Waiting Room by Tanika Gupta (both at The National Theatre).

Rachel Grunwald has directed new plays for companies including Company of Angels, SPID, HighTide and Footlights. She has been Assistant Director for the RSC and Almeida. Rachel first worked at the Tricycle in 2007 on the 11-hour arts and discussion festival Act for Darfur.

FILM FESTIVAL

There will be a 10 day film festival involving 9 film premieres shown in the Tricycle Cinema, and, in conjunction with Afghan Film, the restoration of some of the recently discovered Afghan film archive. The festival will run from 1-10 May.

Feature films:

Opium War - directed by Siddiq Barmak

Osama - directed Siddiq Barmak

Earth and Ashes - directed by Atiq Rahimi

In This World - directed by Michael Winterbottom

Kabuli Kid - directed by Barmak Akram

Kandahar - directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Stray Dogs - directed by Marziyeh Meshkini

Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame - directed by Hana Makhmalbaf

At Five in the Afternoon - directed by Samira Makhmalbaf

 

Documentaries

Beauty of Academy of Kabul - directed by Liz Mermin

View from a Grain of Sand - directed by Meena Nanji

The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan - directed by Phil Grabsky

Cabal in Kabul - directed by Dan Alexe

Joy of Madness - directed by Hana Makhmalbaf

Afghansti - directed by Peter Kosminsky

Voice of the Moon - directed by Richard Stanley and Immo Horn

This is My Destiny - directed by Lucy Gordon

Afghan Star - directed by Havana Marking

Short Film Programme:

The short film programme will present a selection of the best short films to come out of Afghanistan including the poignant Kabul Cinema directed by Mirwais Rekab and the insightful My Kabul by Waheed Nazir. There is also a rare chance to see films from the Afghan National Film archive which provide a unique insight into Afghanistan's past. Films include Richard Stern's The Noon Gun, Siddiq Barmak's The Stranger and Engineer Latif Ahmadi's Akhtar The Joker. There is also a rare chance to see Rabia Balkhi, Afghanistan's first ever feature length film.

CONCERT

Qawali Sham Sufi Group have been performing together for over 30 years. Featuring an array of instruments rarely heard outside of Afghanistan, they form part of a vibrant musical tradition that stretches back more than 700 years. They perform for two performances only on Bank Holiday Monday 4 May at 7.30pm and Tuesday 5 May at 9pm. Both run alongside the film programme.

EXHIBITIONS

Istalif Ceramics - 14 April - 11 May

For thousands of years Afghanistan has been producing beautifully decorated ceramic bowls and tiles. Istalif is a village near Kabul where there is a strong tradition of pottery made using locally sourced clay. Their ancient techniques have changed little over time.
Turquoise Mountain has been working with the potters in Istalif for three years, providing jobs and a regular income for local families. Three hundred bowls will be on sale from between £30 - £50.

Contemporary Afghan Photography - 12 - 31 May

Work by three outstanding, young and emerging photographers from Afghanistan: Imal Hashemi, Gulbuddin Elham and Wakil Kohsar. Their work shows the varied life in Afghanistan today, from harrowing suicide bombings to thundering hooves at a buskashi tournament. Their work goes beyond the persisting negative images of Afghanistan that appear in the international press, and will provide a fresh view of their country.

Afghan Artists in Britain - 1 June - 14 June

A rare and exciting opportunity to see work by artists and young people who were born in Afghanistan but who now live in Britain. The work will present art that celebrates the migration of Afghans to Britain and will give the viewer an insight into the creative visual art being made by Afghan people here and now. A series of workshops with young people will run alongside the exhibition culminating in a kite-making event for all.

DISCUSSIONS

A number of debates and discussions on British/NATO involvement in Afghanistan will be held on Tuesdays 12, 19 and 26 May at 8pm with panellists including Tony Benn, Clare Short, Sir Menzies Campbell, Matthew Leeming and Bijan Omrani (author of Companion Guide to Afghanistan), Dominic O'Reilly (Director of Afghan Aid), Matthew Waldman (Director of Oxfam Afghanistan) Jolyon Leslie (co-author of Afghanistan: Mirage of Peace) and Mohammed Asif. See www.tricycle.co.uk/afghanistan for further details and additional panellists.

Each discussion will be preceded by the premiere of No Such Cold Thing by Naomi Wallace. In a desert near Kabul, sisters Meena and Alya are finally reunited, an American soldier intrudes.

TALKS
There will be three evenings of talks during May and June by Ambassador Masood Khalili, David Loyn and Christina Lamb.

Ambassador Masood Khalili son of the famous poet, political advisor to Commander Massoud, currently Afghan Ambassador to Turkey. Tuesday 5 May at 7.15pm.

David Loyn is the BBC's Developing World Correspondent. He was the only journalist with the Taliban when they took Kabul, and is the author of Butcher and Bold. Monday 11 May at 8pm.

Christina Lamb is the best selling author of The Sewing Circles of Herat and the Sunday Times Foreign Affairs Correspondent. Monday 1 June at 8pm.

PLAYREADINGS IN ASSOCIATION WITH The National Theatre STUDIO
Two plays have been developed by the Tricycle in association with The National Theatre Studio. On Monday 18 May at 8pm the plays, by Paven Virk and Adam Brace will have readings at the Tricycle Theatre.

Borders by Paven Virk
Celebrations are in order - an ambitious General in Pakistan's ISI is promoted and his daughter gains a place at University.

Eristavi Reserve by Adam Brace
1988 the Afghan army are being retrained by Soviet forces. An Afghan officer suspects his Russian superiors are planning to withdraw, leaving him at the mercy of the Mujahideen.

EDUCATION PROGRAMME
There will be outreach education work organised in schools and with Afghan refugees. With over 35,000 Afghans living in London, there is a large Afghan community living within a five mile radius of the Tricycle Theatre.