Pamela Howard

The Great Game

The Great Game, 12 new 1/2 hour plays commissioned for the Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn, London NW6 : First produced April 2009 : Revival Tricycle Theatre July 2010 prior to USA tour September - December 2010
Directors Nicholas Kent and Indhu Rubasingham
Project Designer Pamela Howard
Associate Designer Miriam Nabarro

“At its best, it demonstrates dramatically rather than explaining. Pamela Howard's vivid painted backdrop shows honey-coloured rock, a vestigially monumental Bhudda statue and beards floating among clouds, The painting is first Talibanned : denounced and daubed over with whitewash with disconcerting realism ( the mural does in fact have to be recovered at the end of every performance ) Later, as the Twin Towers fall, it topples down, giving way to a technicolour cerulean sky and poppyfield....” - Susanna Clapp : The Observer

“ ..Directors (Nicholas ) Kent and Indhu Rubasingham continue to imbue each piece with fierce,coherent life and, most movingly of all, Pamela Howard's beautiful painted mural backdrop is whitewashed by Taliban henchmen, then collapses to give way to an uninterrupted vista of poppy fields.. ” - Fiona Mountford : Evening Standard

“... and Pamela Howard's design evokes , to stunning effect. The Twin Towers crumbling as a drawbridge of white opium poppies is lowered into place....”

“And I can only salute the entire cast...., and the design of Pamela Howard and Miriam Nabarro. Something remarkable is happening at the Tricycle, where Afghan history and culture are being made in a uniquely challenging, theatrically exciting way” - Michael Billington : The Guardian.

Prologue: Painting the Mural
Prologue: Painting the Mural
Taliban whitewash the mural
Taliban whitewash the mural
Taliban complete the whitewash
Taliban complete the whitewash
Monologue The Queen of Herat
Monologue The Queen of Herat
The Lion of Kabul
The Lion of Kabul

Photography by ©John Haynes

Sequence of plays : Photography : Miriam Nabarro

Painting the mural

Painting the mural

Campaign

Campaign

Blood and Gifts

Blood and Gifts

The Lion of Kabul

The Lion of Kabul

Night is Darkest before the Dawn

Night is Darkest before the Dawn

Canopy of Stars

Canopy of Stars

Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad

Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad

Now is the Time

Now is the Time

Miniskirts of Kabul

Miniskirts of Kabul

Honey

Honey

On the Side of the Angels

On the Side of the Angels

Durand's Line

Durand's Line

Black Tulips

Black Tulips

Taliban white washing the mural

Taliban white washing the mural

Twin Towers sequence

Twin Towers sequence

Canopy of Stars

Canopy of Stars

Photography by Miriam Nabarro, Associate Designer