★★★★★
Henry Naylor and Holden Street Theatres. Holden Street Theatres. 16 February 2022
English playwright, comedian and actor Henry Naylor is back with a world premiere (that’s code for a trial run before Edinburgh) at Holden Street Theatres. If you haven’t yet seen a Henry Naylor play in the Fringe, you can’t be interested in theatre. Since 2016, Naylor has brought us Echoes, Angel, Borders, Games and The Nights by Henry Naylor (very clever putting your name in the title). These have earned eight Adelaide Critics’ Circle awards, four Fringe awards for best theatre, a Pick of the Fringe award, and a fistful of Edinburgh Fringe awards. And let’s add Finding Bin Laden to the list.
There is a strong thematic link between most of these plays. They are compelling, hour-long action-packed thrillers often set in the miasma of the Middle East from Afghanistan to Syria to Mediterranean refugees, focusing on local heroes and hapless victims under a Western gaze. And when they are not, there is still a combative or martial theme comparing past with current events. But where did all this stuff come from?
AFGHANISTAN IS NOT FUNNY… is an autobiographical prequel to Naylor’s playwriting and a peek behind the curtain of theatrical creation. Naylor is a formidable storyteller in composition, oration, expression and compelling vocalisation.
It begins with 9/11. Naylor wants some photos as a backdrop to the first play on the theme, so he and Sam the photographer fly Kazakhstan Airlines to Kabul to meet a fixer organised by Phil, a friend at the BBC. As you do. What these guys do and see, and the risks they take, makes this the trip of a lifetime! It’s post-US invasion and after Kabul is “secured,” but the Taliban are still hanging around like ghosts. Our trio befriend some and steer clear of others. They visit hospitals, refugee camps, bombed-out neighbourhoods and a tank graveyard. Without a hint of irony, Naylor recounts how they drove up to the gates of Bagram air base and simply announce they want to take some pictures. As if, “they’re for our play. What’s the problem?”
In performance, Naylor expounds in a clear and commanding voice while Sam’s sepia-toned photos are displayed on an ample backscreen. The pics are a fascinating record of 20 years ago when this whole catastrophe was still fresh.
Naylor organises the anecdotes of his adventure through brief dialogues with his therapist who identifies four stages of project management maturation: unconscious incompetency, conscious incompetency, unconscious competency and conscious competency. Thankfully, Naylor flashes these labels on a screen because even he gets them muddled in monologue. These stages give structure to judgements like foolhardy, brave, naïve, conceited and dedicated. Director Martha Lott has Naylor moving between two desks with chairs and pub scenes, which establish some sense of place, but it’s the remarkable photos that leave you incredulous.
Back in London, Finding Bin Laden is re-written with new-found veracity and it’s a hit! The praise is noticed by Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, My Beautiful Laundrette, The Grifters, etc) and Hugh Grant, and the to-and-fro of nearly getting a movie underway is hysterically funny but ends with palpable disappointment. But with 34 international awards and off-Broadway runs in the bag, the Naylor juggernaut found its way.
Among all the things that happened to the tourists is a story of a girl rushing towards them with a bundle in her arms of unknown content at a hospital or camp. At the conclusion of the play and after lights out, Sam’s photo of this girl is shown. The image is far more horrific than the telling, and there is an uncomfortable juxtaposition of applause, Naylor’s curtain call and the photo. I recalled a scene from the play where Henry’s mate Sam says, “…you’re just interested in your story, not their story.” It’s all out there, honestly.
Bravo!
David Grybowski
When: 15 to 27 Feb
Where: Holden Street Theatres
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
