Hebrides News

A special performance of an award winning play Afghanistan Is Not Funny takes place in An Lanntair on Thursday evening to raise funds for the Linda Norgrove Foundation.

In 2003, the war in Afghanistan had just ended, but the terrible collateral damage of the liberation went largely unreported. In a snap decision that could easily have ended in tragedy, comedian Henry Naylor and photographer Sam Maynard decided to go to Afghanistan and see for themselves what the situation really was. At the time, Henry was a well-known for performing with Rowan Atkinson, writing for Spitting Image and co-hosting a Radio 2 comedy show with Andy Parsons.  Sam had worked in Lewis for twenty years as a photographer and film maker; neither of them had any experience of working in war zones.  

Despite this, the duo somehow survived close shaves with landmines, being abducted by the Mujahideen and nearly shot at by the Americans. Three months after they returned Finding Bin Laden - the play they produced - opened at the Edinburgh Fringe to five-star reviews and talks with Hugh Grant about a feature film.

The experience would change the course of their lives. Henry went on to become a fulltime award-winning playwright while Sam became a partner in an Emmy and Bafta winning TV production company making hit shows for the US.

But even as their careers progressed, the friends often talked about their madcap adventure and what led them to take such risks. In 2022, nearly twenty years after their hair-raising adventure, Henry had a very different perspective on their motives, relationship and message and decided to put on a new play for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Afghanistan Is Not Funny dug deeper into the reality of their naïve adventure and became a five-star hit. Subsequently touring the UK, India, Australia and the USA, it was voted the world’s top fringe show in 2023.

So why is this benefit event being staged in An Lanntair now? Forty years ago, Sam co-founded An Lanntair and still maintains strong ties with Lewis. He was deeply upset by the death of Uig aid worker, Linda Norgrove, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. Many in the islands will be familiar with this tragic story and the important work of the Linda Norgrove Foundation which was established to help the women and children of Afghanistan and celebrate Linda’s extraordinary life.

With such strong island connections between Sam, the foundation, the play and An Lanntair, it seemed fitting to in some way bring the event home. The proceeds of the sale of the tickets for the performance will be donated to the Linda Norgrove Foundation.

LNF continues Linda’s work, helping women and children in Afghanistan, primarily focusing on health and women’s education.  Currently, LNF is working to bring twenty female Afghan medical students to Scotland to complete their studies, after having been forced to abandon their education following the Taliban taking power in 2021. 

The proceeds of the sale of the tickets for this homecoming performance will be donated to the Linda Norgrove Foundation.  

To find out more about Linda’s life and how you can support the Foundation’s work, head to www.indanorgrovefoundation.org.

Award winning one-man play Afghanistan Is Not Funny  performs in Stornoway

22 May 2024