Qais Akbar Omar and Stephen Landrigan
A Night in the Emperor’s Garden by Qais Akbar Omar and Stephen Landrigan chronicles the true story of a production of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost in Afghanistan.
In 2005, with the Taliban temporarily weakened and a newly elected Afghan government in place, Afghanistan was experiencing a cultural renaissance. Corinne Jaber, a visiting actress from Paris, came up with a highly unusual proposition: to produce a Shakespeare play in Kabul with Afghan actors. With financial backing from the British Council, the Goethe Institute, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and various other entities, Corinne set about implementing her vision.
Shakespeare’s text was translated into the Dari language. With the help of an interpreter, Corinne conducted auditions and hired male and female actors to rehearse the parts. The challenges were enormous. Some of the actors had little to no experience with acting; most had no knowledge of theatre. There were language and cultural barriers to overcome. Several of the actors could not understand the lines they were reciting and were generally reluctant to interact with actors of the opposite sex. And then there was the actor who threw the occasional temper tantrum and marched off in a huff only to return later. Corinne persevered. Her interpreter was the cohesive force who undertook whatever task necessary to hold the troupe together. Eventually, the actors learned their lines, becoming increasingly comfortable with and adept at performance.
On opening night of August 31, 2005, the play was performed in front of an overflow crowd. It was a huge success. Several other performances followed in different cities in Afghanistan, including one in the emperor’s garden. The book concludes with a follow-up on the actors ten years after the final performance. By this time, the Taliban had begun to resurface. The actors suffered tragedy, threats, and accusations of immoral conduct. Some went into hiding and were forced to leave the country while others abandoned acting for fear of their lives.
The book chronicles the challenges of putting on a play with very limited resources in a country deprived of theatre for decades. It also provides a fascinating peak into the daily struggles of life in Afghanistan. The challenges were ubiquitous: navigating the streets, locating supplies, making sure the female actors were home before nightfall, contending with gossip, cultural objections to women on the stage, language and gender barriers, familial opposition, unreliable transportation, less than adequate accommodations, and the constant threat of violence. But this motely troupe of Afghan actors, with the help of an immortal playwright and a determined director, succeeded in temporarily shining a beacon of light and spreading joy in a country desperately in need of entertainment and laughter.
Recommended.