Playing The Great Game at Duke
British and Indian history buffs know "the Great Game" as a term coined in the nineteenth century to describe the cat and mouse conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia.
Now Theater Previews at Duke, the professional producing arm of the Theater Department, brings to campus a play called The Great Game that uses that conflict as the backdrop for a story filled with politics, romance, mystery and espionage. It will have its world premiere in Reynolds Theater February 14 - March 4, 2007.
The play was written by D. Tucker Smith, who will be on campus watching the words of her script come to life for the first time on stage under the direction of Tony-nominated Broadway director Wilson Milam.
Smith says she has always been fascinated by India and was quite taken with a book by Rudyard Kipling set during the Great Game. She became further interested in this period when she read the work of British journalist Peter Hopkirk, who wrote a book called The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia.
Smith learned that as Imperial Russia threatened expansion, Britain feared for its hold on the "jewel in the crown" of the British Empire, India. She sets her fictional play within this historical context, and takes a real person, Royal Geographic Society explorer George Hayward, as one of her central characters.
Smith describes her play, "Set in the spring of 1870, The Great Game is an epic story of love, betrayal, and intrigue played out in the drawing rooms of London and the snow-capped peaks of Central Asia. When the aristocratic Hayward family meets their adventurous son George's new wife, their entire world is thrown off-kilter as they discover that she is an Indian girl named Safia.
"While the family copes with the culture clash, Safia uses cunning, wit and help from unexpected allies in her quest to help George during his perilous expedition. As she maneuvers her way around the unfamiliar minefield of London aristocracy, Safia plays a game of suspense, creating a whirlwind of intrigue that leaves a life-altering mark on each of the Haywards."
The cast of The Great Game is made up of veteran professional actors and actresses with impressive Broadway, film and television resumes. They arrived in Durham to begin rehearsals in mid-January and live in local apartments. Professional lighting, sound and costume designers from New York joined the playwright, director and actors in Durham to create the look and feel of the play.
Duke students will have a special opportunity to intern with the visiting theater professionals, adding a unique dimension to their education. They have chosen from directing, marketing, producing, stage-managing and designing, and they are working closely with the visiting artist in that field.
"The students don't just file papers and get coffee for the guest artists," says Duke's producing director, Zannie Giraud Voss. "We give them meaningful projects. They work hand in hand with the professionals. Sometimes the pros aren't used to this system, but it is always a great source of pride for us at Duke when our guest artists leave here impressed with the intellect and talent and commitment of our students."
Voss is also pleased that this play lends itself to substantial discussions suitable for a rigorous academic environment. "The Great Game is a play whose universal themes of imperialism, racism, greed and forbidden love resonate now more than ever," says Voss.
During its run, Voss will be making sure the play fulfills the mission of Theater Previews at Duke--to serve as a breeding ground for professional, innovative and high quality new plays and musicals and to offer audiences the opportunity to engage in productions in a variety of stages of development.
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