London ( CNN ) -- As Iraq 's insurgency was peaking , and American soldiers were dying at a dizzying rate from roadside bombs , a theater director in London was having an epiphany . Plenty of plays about the Iraqi carnage were piling up on his desk , but there were none about the the calamities befalling Afghanistan . It was then that Nicholas Kent , director of the tiny Tricycle Theatre -- far from the glitz and glamour of London 's fabled West End playhouses -- decided to act . `` I became aware in 2007-2008 how it was all going wrong in Afghanistan , '' he said . `` It was n't being reported in the media and certainly there was no artistic response to it . '' He commissioned a dozen writers to produce a dozen short plays on Afghan history . The result , `` The Great Game , '' changed the Afghan debate in the United Kingdom at a stroke . When the Chief of Britain 's Defence Staff , Sir David Richards , saw the performance , he said , `` I wish I 'd seen it before I first deployed to Afghanistan in 2005 . It would have made me a much better commander . '' And the performance is now on its way to the Pentagon . Kent says Gen. Richards has been a significant driving force in bringing the performance to his American counterparts . `` The Great Game '' is usually performed over three days , with four half-hour plays performed back-to-back each day . Part one `` traces the history of foreign and Western involvement in Afghanistan since the defeat of the British in 1842 , '' Kent said . The second installment of the trilogy `` is more or less a reflection of now , '' he said : `` The Soviet surge that fails over a decade , through the coming of the Taliban and the arrival of U.S . troops . '' The final four plays highlight the problems facing aid workers , Afghans and troops today . The British and American military are getting special performances , playing the whole cycle out in one day rather than three . Kent wanted to stimulate debate and discussion on a conflict he felt was wrong . `` You are putting yourself in some one else 's boots , '' he said of what happens to the audience . `` You are empathizing , you are sympathizing with people , thinking what you would do in their situation . '' He is thrilled that both the British and now the American military have taken such a significant interest in the production , saying there can be no better way to grapple with the complexities of Afghanistan . `` If you read a book you can put it down . If you read a newspaper you can turn the page . If you see some television you can switch channels , '' he said . `` With a play , you are stuck there for some time , and in this case for a whole day . You have to really think about the challenges . '' But it 's not just his audiences who have been challenged . `` The Great Game '' has changed Kent 's own views . He now thinks pulling troops out precipitously would be a disaster and is increasingly concerned about instability over the border in nuclear-armed Pakistan -- so much so that he 's considering a play on non-proliferation . Kent is a product of his own ethos , learning from his experiences . `` If people start to think outside the box and look at these issues through a different form , rather than in a lecture hall but maybe through an art form , they may learn quite a lot , '' he said .
A London theatre company commissions a cycle of plays about it . Britain 's top general says seeing it sooner would have made him a better man there . He has been instrumental in getting America 's top brass to watch it . The theatre director says the plays have changed his own mind about the war too .