Afghanistan Is Not Funny

The extraordinary retelling of a real life journey to Afghanistan a couple of decades ago while Henry Naylor was researching a new play, ‘Finding Bin Laden’ that went on to become a Fringe sensation in 2003.  

Afghanistan Is Not Funny

When receiving the programme for the show, I internally groaned. Serious, heavy and deeply political are not the type of show that you want to see on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Edinburgh. And most of the audience was significantly older than me, suggesting that this show might not be made with someone like me in mind. But while my reservations seemed to be proven right in the very first moments, Henry Naylor’s engaging storytelling pulled me right back in. 

Years ago, Naylor travelled to Afghanistan for ‘Finding Bin Laden’. I personally didn’t know anything about the previous show… in fact, I was born in the year it was performed at the Fringe. Naylor’s trip was arranged with the help of his friend Phil, a war correspondent cameraman for the BBC, and he asked his friend Sam, a photographer, to come along in order to get photographs that could be used for a Fringe show that he was writing. Naylor recounts the details of landing in Kabul, searching the country for the ‘facts’ he needed to verify his play. But it’s nothing like he expected. 

Step by step during this show, Naylor gained my trust as well as the audiences. His performance was bursting full of energy and his skilled storytelling managed to not only capture our imaginations, but put us in his shoes. The pace was just right, giving us enough space to reflect during the show but with enough light relief to keep everyone engaged, although at times I was unsure of what the point of his whole story was. But Naylor definitely does have the gift of storytelling, making his story so heartfelt that it was impossible not to care about his tale. 

Naylor had created this entire show just so we could feel empathy for people who live half way across the world. He's right, Afghanistan is not funny. But his show manages to be without being condescending or disrespectful; I would recommend you watch with an open mind. 

Header Image Credit: Rosalind Furlong

Author

Sadhana Narayanan

Sadhana Narayanan Contributor

Reviewer. Creator. Soldier. Spy.

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