Observations of an Ignoramus: a word from your Co-Director.
April 25th, 2009
By Graig Russell
On the morning of September 11th, 2001, the world became shockingly aware of the importance of Afghanistan in global politics. Of course, every country plays its role on the political stage, and each, in it’s own way, contributes to the successes and failures of the show, but yet as witnesses of the posturing and gesticulation of our countries’ governments, we cannot help but single out a few central states as more worthy of our attention; the protagonists of this actual drama.
Of course, America, with it’s contradictions and surprising subtleties, it’s strong armed military and declarations of liberty, it’s long dominant economy and pervasive culture and it’s own complex amalgamations of peoples and creeds, has been since the close of the last World War, the single most prominent country in world affairs. For many years, America’s Eagle shared the limelight with the Bear of Russia, glaring at each other across the Bearing Straits, eager to assert their dominance. As Soviet Russia declined and splintered, China, the worlds oldest surviving civilisation, began stretching it’s legs and treading the boards of the global village. Even now, the startling rate at which this country adjusts to a free-market economy pits it as a near certain world Super Power. And lagging not too far behind, India, in a predominant supporting role, picks up what’s left of the slack in the labour and production work the West has all but abandoned.
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And yet, in the weeks after the fall of the Twin Towers, the spotlight of media frenzy and public interest lurched hard onto the West Asian state of Afghanistan. Why should that be, when the attacks seemed to be perpetrated not by an Afghan, but by the son of a rich Saudi construction tycoon? How did this Bin Laden come to be in the hills of a country once renowned for it’s poetry and rich culture? a culture whose distinctive and eclectic range was, much like that of the US, a result of the free interplay of many and varied peoples. What was the unfortunate course of history that channelled this bridge between East Asia, Europe, India and the Middle East, down the road to a cruel, extremist Totalitarian state? a state for whom the housing and support of Al Qaeda head-men was not only permissible, but sort-after.
I, like many, was all but completely ignorant of the answers to these questions. Despite the extension of our news programs to multi-channel 24-hour media giants, the viewing public seems still to be given a very tiny window of historical focus from which to gaze upon current affairs. It is this tight focus that led me to believe Afghanistan to be an Arabic nation. I am ashamed to admit that in the weeks following 9/11, I actually thought Al Qaeda was an Afghan organisation. And it was only last week I discovered that an Afghani was a unit of currency, not a person of Afghan descent. The shame my ignorance induces is somewhat alleviated by the knowledge that these, and other misconceptions were in no way challenged by the news outlets of the Western world, nor it’s governments.
However, I am a great believer in personal responsibility, and as such, I think it would be wrong to blame the news stations for not always pandering to my ignorance.
So where to search for the answers to the questions of ‘Why Afghanistan’, and ‘How did this Afghanistan come to’?
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Theatre may not be the first answer that springs to people minds. Of course, there has come to be a wealth of literature on the subject, much of which was consulted, in the production of The Crossroads Country. A great deal of art has been produced, and films and fiction have become prevalent. However, I can think of few artistic mediums that can bring the human immediacy of these events to their audience like theatre can. It comes as little surprise that art historians have traced the routes of theatre to the communal ceremonies of our ancestors, for, as any avid theatre goer will tell you, there is something other-worldly in the experience of actors, technicians, and audience gathered at one time to witness and produce live theatre. And yet for all its excitement and show, theatre also puts us in touch with the quiet truths of the real world.
Already, through my involvement in this project, I have learned more than I thought there was to learn on this fascinating chapter in world history – the chapter we are still writing! I hope that your hunger for context and impartiality implores you to join us for the performance of The Crossroads Country. Truly, it promises to be an eye opening experience.
Commander Massoud - Justin Berti - posses for photos with embassy officials.