Putting The Great Game on stage

A London theatre is hosting a two-month festival aimed at giving audiences a better understanding of the culture and history of a country rising ever higher up the global news agenda - Afghanistan.The Great Game - taking its title from the nineteenth century power scramble for domination and influence in Afghanistan - brings plays, films, talks and exhibitions to London's Tricycle Theatre, a venue known for tackling for political issues.The Tricycle, under director Nicholas Kent, takes the view that Afghanistan is likely to be the most important focus of British, European and American foreign policy for at least the rest of this decade.It hopes audiences will learn more about how the policy has evolved and how lessons from the past could be used for more informed action in the future.The theatre has had advice from experts on Afghanistan - its contemporary politics, as well as its history - in devising the festival's offerings.One lesson from history, in Nicholas Kent's view, is the need to do more to empower ordinary people in Afghanistan.Jemima Rooper, one of the younger actors involved in the festival, says she has concluded from working on the plays that people jump too readily to cast Afghans into "the bad guys" and "the good guys".