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Henry Hitchings's rating
The Great Game is nourishing and demanding
By
Henry Hitchings
2 Aug 2010
This cycle of 19 pieces of drama — a dozen short plays and seven interludes — explores the conflict in Afghanistan from a range of perspectives. First staged in April last year, it now seems even more urgent and important.
Surveying 150 years in the history of a land often crudely characterised as a deathly muddle, this is theatre as crusading journalism, a cavalcade of vividly realised and informative studies that succeeds as both entertainment and instruction.
“This country is a deathtrap for foreign armies,” observes one of the soldiers in the opening segment, Stephen Jeffreys’s Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad. The pieces that follow expand on this idea and refine it, suggesting a spectrum of contexts for understanding the fragility of the region, its dangers and the travails of its people.
It’s fair to say that none of the plays here would satisfactorily be able to stand alone. Each has tensions and rewards but The Great Game draws its force from the interrelationships between its constituent parts and from the momentum that gradually develops.
Nicolas Kent and Indhu Rubasingham direct, assisted by Rachel Grunwald, and deftly convey the pieces’ different shades. One could cavil at the absence of Afghan writers but there is wit, insight and poignancy throughout, with the most prickly and rewarding contributions coming from David Edgar, Simon Stephens, Richard Bean, Abi Morgan and — a fresh addition this year — Lee Blessing.
Among the performers there’s a tremendous sense of ensemble — an intoxicating air of moral purpose that never strays into preachy piety. Particularly enjoyable are Jemma Redgrave, Daniel Betts, Tom McKay and Nabil Elouahabi.
But it’s the collective zest and the company’s versatility that impress most. While any of the three parts could be seen on its own — my tip would be to go for the second or third, not the first — it’s the cumulative impact that makes this epic undertaking so remarkable.
Nourishing and demanding, The Great Game cements the Tricycle’s status as Britain’s leading venue for political theatre.
Until August 29. Information: 020 7328 1000.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
