'Today in Afghanistan there are many important issues that we are facing in our country, and I want us to look at some of these issues. So I am asking you, the audience, to help answer a very important question. Britney or Shakira?'

Afghanistan. It's 2004. Farook and Samia broadcast live every day to the whole of Kabul, delivering ninety minutes of musical bliss: Britney, Backstreet Boys and Enrique Iglesias. But when their show starts to make waves, the two young friends must take on repressive forces to build a new Afghanistan.

Inspired by the true story of Afghanistan's first youth music programme, Waleed Akhtar's play Kabul Goes Pop: Music Television Afghanistan explores a world following the US invasion that is complex, contradictory and shocking - all to a soundtrack of early noughties' pop.

The play premiered at Brixton House, London, in 2022, directed by Anna Himali Howard, before touring the UK. It was presented with HighTide, in association with Mercury Theatre Colchester.

Waleed Akhtar was later named Most Promising New Playwright at the 2023 OffWestEnd Awards, for Kabul Goes Pop and The P Word.

About the Author

Waleed Akhtar is an actor, writer and director. His other plays include The P Word (Bush Theatre, London).

Reviews

'A fizzing tribute to bubblegum songs of hope'

* Guardian *

'A cracker... pulses with energy... powerful and compelling... heartbreaking'

* The Stage *

'An elegantly written, often very funny, piece that works precisely because it takes a moral position on Afghanistan... underlying every word, there is a raw and admirable fury'

* New European *


Awards
Winner of Most Promising New Playwright, OffWestEnd Awards 2023.



Book Information
ISBN 9781839040931
Author Waleed Akhtar
Format Paperback
Page Count 80
Imprint Nick Hern Books
Publisher Nick Hern Books
Weight(grams) 98g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 6mm