Blood and Gifts
Encyclopedia
Blood and Gifts is a play by the American playwright J. T. Rogers
. Its subject is the struggle for control of Afghanistan during the 1980s, from the American, Russian, British, Pakistani, and secular Afghan points of view. It premiered in September 2010 at the Lyttelton Theatre
, starring Lloyd Owen
.
The play was originally shorter and in one act. That version, now withdrawn, was presented in 2009 as part of The Great Game: Afghanistan
.
operative Jim Warnock arrives in Peshawar
as station chief, accidentally meeting his Soviet counterpart Gromov at the airport. He and his MI6 opposite number Simon Craig liaise with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence
to supply weapons to Afghan warlords fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The Pakistanis insist on retaining control of the weapons supply and on prioritising Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
, a right-wing Islamist warlord unpalatable to both Warnock and Craig, though they both acquiesce to the deal. Warnock and the CIA have been banned from setting foot in Afghanistan personally, so he goes to a refugee camp on the Pakistan side of the border to meet with a relatively secular, non-right-wing warlord Abdullah and his western-pop-music-loving right-hand-man Saeed. He agrees to supply them both with weapons in return for information on the situation in Afghanistan. Warnock is also troubled by his absence from his wife and what he sees as his betrayal of his contacts in Iran after the Islamic Revolution there.
After four years Warnock returns to the USA, where his wife miscarries a long-hoped-for daughter before giving birth to a son. Warnock also coordinates a US visit and speech by Abdullah which convinces a wealthy senator to donate to the cause. Against the wishes of Warnock's superior Walter Barnes, who believes such a move might backfire in the future and removes all trace of deniability, a US committee votes to supply the Afghan warlords with Stinger missiles. Warnock returns to Afghanistan where he refuses Gromov's plea to let the Soviets retreat with dignity and alienates Craig by continuing to support Pakistan's backing of Hekmatyar. He meets Gromov as he departs Peshawar and then has a final meeting with Abdullah (this time in Afghanistan) before going back to the USA. He learns from Abdullah that Saeed has been killed by the Soviets and that Saeed was in fact Abdullah's son, a fact he had not previously revealed to Warnock. Warnock asks to buy back the Stinger missiles but learns Abdullah has sold them to Iran and allied himself with Hekmatyar until the Soviets are finally defeated. Abdullah then closes the play with a warning that the Mujahadeen will defeat the Soviets then "cross oceans" to spread Islamism.
criticised the writer's "advantage of hindsight which lends much of the action a self-conscious irony" but otherwise praised him for a "complex, demanding play", though Lara Pawson of the same newspaper criticised its "clomping cliches" and reiterated earlier criticisms of the play by John Simpson on Front Row
. Fiona Mountford gave the play 5 stars in her review in the Evening Standard and felt the play was "the most clear-eyed dramatic assessment to date of the current situation"
J. T. Rogers
J. T. Rogers is an internationally recognized American playwright who lives in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the professional actor-training program of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he was made an Honorary Doctor of Performing Arts in 2009.-Career:Rogers is...
. Its subject is the struggle for control of Afghanistan during the 1980s, from the American, Russian, British, Pakistani, and secular Afghan points of view. It premiered in September 2010 at the Lyttelton Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, starring Lloyd Owen
Lloyd Owen
Lloyd Owen is a British actor of Welsh descent. Trained at the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, he is probably best known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones's father Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr...
.
The play was originally shorter and in one act. That version, now withdrawn, was presented in 2009 as part of The Great Game: Afghanistan
The Great Game: Afghanistan
The Great Game: Afghanistan is a British series of short plays on the history of Afghanistan and foreign intervention there, from the First Anglo-Afghan War to the present day. It is organised into three sets of four plays and draws its name from the 19th and 20th century Great Game, a geopolitical...
.
Synopsis
In 1981 Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
operative Jim Warnock arrives in Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
as station chief, accidentally meeting his Soviet counterpart Gromov at the airport. He and his MI6 opposite number Simon Craig liaise with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
to supply weapons to Afghan warlords fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The Pakistanis insist on retaining control of the weapons supply and on prioritising Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is an Afghan Mujahideen leader who is the founder and leader of the Hezb-e Islami political party and paramilitary group. Hekmatyar was a rebel military commander during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan and was one of the key figures in the civil war that followed the...
, a right-wing Islamist warlord unpalatable to both Warnock and Craig, though they both acquiesce to the deal. Warnock and the CIA have been banned from setting foot in Afghanistan personally, so he goes to a refugee camp on the Pakistan side of the border to meet with a relatively secular, non-right-wing warlord Abdullah and his western-pop-music-loving right-hand-man Saeed. He agrees to supply them both with weapons in return for information on the situation in Afghanistan. Warnock is also troubled by his absence from his wife and what he sees as his betrayal of his contacts in Iran after the Islamic Revolution there.
After four years Warnock returns to the USA, where his wife miscarries a long-hoped-for daughter before giving birth to a son. Warnock also coordinates a US visit and speech by Abdullah which convinces a wealthy senator to donate to the cause. Against the wishes of Warnock's superior Walter Barnes, who believes such a move might backfire in the future and removes all trace of deniability, a US committee votes to supply the Afghan warlords with Stinger missiles. Warnock returns to Afghanistan where he refuses Gromov's plea to let the Soviets retreat with dignity and alienates Craig by continuing to support Pakistan's backing of Hekmatyar. He meets Gromov as he departs Peshawar and then has a final meeting with Abdullah (this time in Afghanistan) before going back to the USA. He learns from Abdullah that Saeed has been killed by the Soviets and that Saeed was in fact Abdullah's son, a fact he had not previously revealed to Warnock. Warnock asks to buy back the Stinger missiles but learns Abdullah has sold them to Iran and allied himself with Hekmatyar until the Soviets are finally defeated. Abdullah then closes the play with a warning that the Mujahadeen will defeat the Soviets then "cross oceans" to spread Islamism.
Principal cast (UK premiere)
- Saeed - Philip ArdittiPhilip ArdittiPhilip Arditti is a Geneva-born Italian-British Sephardic Jewish television actor most famous for his role as Uday Hussein in the four episode House of Saddam television docudrama. He also appeared in the British comedy drama film Happy-Go-Lucky...
- Military Clerk - Danny Ashok
- CIA Analyst - Nick Barber
- Senator Jefferson Birch - Duncan Bell
- Abdullah - Demosthenes Chrysan
- A Mujahid - Kammy Darweish
- Administrative Aide - Ian Drysdale
- A Soldier - Craige Els
- A Mujahid - Robert Gilbert
- Political Speechwriter - Mark Healy
- Simon Craig - Adam JamesAdam James (actor)Adam James is a British actor. His credits include Band of Brothers, The Mother of Tears, Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire, Bonekickers, Henry VIII: The Mind of a Tyrant and the Doctor Who episode Planet of the Dead, as well as an episode of ITV2 drama Secret Diary of a Call Girl...
- Walter Barnes - Simon Kunz
- Colonel Afridi - Gerald KydGerald KydGerald Kyd is a half-Greek, half-Scottish actor.-Films:-Television:-Theatre Credits:* The Seagull - Boris Trigorin Royal Shakespeare Company...
- Ensemble - Katie Lightfoot
- Gromov - Matthew MarshMatthew Marsh (actor)Matthew Marsh is an English actor. Matthew Marsh is the older brother of Jon Marsh of English dance band The Beloved. He has appeared in the films Alambrado, Spy Game, An American Haunting, Hawking and Bad Company, and guest-starred in the sixth series of the spy drama Spooks in 2007 and the...
- James 'Jim' Warnock - Lloyd OwenLloyd OwenLloyd Owen is a British actor of Welsh descent. Trained at the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, he is probably best known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones's father Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr...
- Staffer - Jessica Regan
- A Mujahid - Nabil Stuart
Reception
The full length play received mainly positive reviews. Charles Spencer of the Telegraph wrote that there was "plenty of sharp humour and political savvy in the dialogue" but felt the play had "little emotional depth" and would have preferred a play on the situation in Afghanistan in the present rather than the past Michael Billington of The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
criticised the writer's "advantage of hindsight which lends much of the action a self-conscious irony" but otherwise praised him for a "complex, demanding play", though Lara Pawson of the same newspaper criticised its "clomping cliches" and reiterated earlier criticisms of the play by John Simpson on Front Row
Front Row (radio)
Front Row is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. The BBC describes the programme as a "live magazine programme on the world of arts, literature, film, media and music." It is broadcast each week day between 7.15 and 7.45 and has a of highlights available for download. Shows usually include...
. Fiona Mountford gave the play 5 stars in her review in the Evening Standard and felt the play was "the most clear-eyed dramatic assessment to date of the current situation"