Progressive Theatre Plays to Pentagon
bertoldt | 13.01.2011 18:22 | Culture | Terror War
Reported in London Evening Standard and on BBC Radio 4 news
Kilburn's Tricycle Theatre will give an extra special performance of their highly acclaimed The Great Game series of plays.
Kilburn's Tricycle Theatre will give an extra special performance of their highly acclaimed The Great Game series of plays.
The plays, which have been adapted for a variety of media and performed in many locations are on the theme of imperial invasion of Afganistan in the 1800s. Britain was heavily involved, as is probably fairly well known.
Though not perhaps in all walks of life, and there is of course a case for taking such works on tour. Ideally, to every community centre in the land and perhaps spontaneously in the street, opposite Army Recruitment Centres! But why is a custom performance, for the country which has still not ceased operations begun a decade ago, deemed at all neccessary ? Looking back over the woeful Soviet presence in the 1980s one hardly needs to go back to the days of the Pith Helmet and Roger of the Raj. Speaking on Radio 4 news last night, [Wednesday ] a director of the theatre seemed to think that US military were somewhat lacking in world history. Perhaps we could have some clarification about what possible use such 'enlightenment' could bring. All arts have an audience, but equally there is an anti-audience too.
[As it happens, the officer class at least are conversant enough with such things, they have to be and they will actually study these themes in such institutions as Westpoint and Sandhurst. For example, the late Admiral Stockdale, one time independent candidadte for the vice-presidency used to give lectures on Greek military historian Thyucidides, so don't dismiss too lightly !]
Though not perhaps in all walks of life, and there is of course a case for taking such works on tour. Ideally, to every community centre in the land and perhaps spontaneously in the street, opposite Army Recruitment Centres! But why is a custom performance, for the country which has still not ceased operations begun a decade ago, deemed at all neccessary ? Looking back over the woeful Soviet presence in the 1980s one hardly needs to go back to the days of the Pith Helmet and Roger of the Raj. Speaking on Radio 4 news last night, [Wednesday ] a director of the theatre seemed to think that US military were somewhat lacking in world history. Perhaps we could have some clarification about what possible use such 'enlightenment' could bring. All arts have an audience, but equally there is an anti-audience too.
[As it happens, the officer class at least are conversant enough with such things, they have to be and they will actually study these themes in such institutions as Westpoint and Sandhurst. For example, the late Admiral Stockdale, one time independent candidadte for the vice-presidency used to give lectures on Greek military historian Thyucidides, so don't dismiss too lightly !]
bertoldt