Central Asia is a hair-pulling mess. And as we see in “The Great Game: Afghanistan,” it’s been a mess for a long time. Covering the years 1842 to the present, this London import tracks a situation that’s been lurching from bad to worse to slightly less bad, and right back to worse.
Made up of 12 short plays grouped in three parts — they can be seen separately or in one 11-hour session, with breaks — “The Great Game” makes complex facts accessible. If you’ve been wondering how we ended up there, this will bring you up to speed. To complete the immersion, you can buy books and handmade Afghan jewelry, clothes and rugs in the lobby.
The show’s title refers to the 19th-century feud between Russia and Britain over Afghanistan. Since then, the parties in this crazed power play have included local tribes, neighboring Pakistan, the United States, the Taliban, the UN and aid groups. They fight over land, money, drugs, Communism, fundamentalist Islam and women’s rights — topics that all pop up here.
The play’s dozen writers went for different styles and different POVs. Some of the vignettes are impressionistic, others docu-realistic. We look at things from the perspective of rural women, Afghan royalty, British soldiers, CIA agents or tribal warriors.
This gives “The Great Game” a variety of tones and approaches, but also makes it uneven.
The best pieces create engaging dynamics, like Ron Hutchinson’s “Durand’s Line,” about the drawing of Afghanistan’s borders in 1893. A few didactic efforts land with a thud, as when a naive journalist interviews former President Najibullah via tedious point/counterpoint exchanges in David Greig’s “Miniskirts of Kabul.”
The skilled British cast smoothly goes from role to role, while directors Nicolas Kent and Indhu Rubasingham stage things with economical simplicity.
“The Great Game” is often gripping, but then it’d be hard to make this subject matter boring. Still, a few visually inspired scenes — like the swift, clever representation of the Twin Towers’ fall — make you wish for more. The show would have made the jump from very good to memorable if it had committed to theater as much as to education.