Henry Naylor's one-act, one-man play, Afghanistan is Not Funny, delivers a taste of war without using humour as anything more than a spice. Afghanistan is a devastating affair to cover for a comedy, and that's why calling this play a comedy is a bit difficult. As the title suggests, Afghanistan is certainly not a funny topic.

Henry Naylor spends the whole of the play monologuing. He provides a narrative recount of his time visiting Afghanistan after the 911 attacks. He spends his time in Kabul taking photographs of the various battlegrounds, arsenal, and ruins. The photos are shown on a screen at the back of a stage.

The performance leaves the audience with a refreshing look at the early years of the war in Afghanistan. The audience are shown images of warfare and the span of destruction it creates. Through this, they are encouraged to look upon the past war with empathy for the disenfranchised and disadvantaged Afghan people.

The play treats this conflict with a build-up of empathy in its characters.

I studied the history of warfare while I was doing my undergraduate degree. Working as a history student focussed on analysis and the need to engage with the material from an empathetic position were sometimes at odds with each other. I'm sure many other audience members might think the same way about a number of conflicts once they become history. To me, Afghanistan is Not Funny is a stark revelation of that change in perception. It challenges it's audience to look at the war in Afghanistan and the losses it caused as a current and defining event in the present-day world. The war may now be over but plays like Naylor's are quick to remind us that they're still in living memory and still causing harm.

Is this a good Fringe show? It is, but I issue a warning to potential audience members. Some of the material is genuinely upsetting. There’s no easy way to digest the war in Afghanistan and not even the comedy can help that (and there’s never an intention to make that so). In short, I’m giving this play a good rating and a recommendation with the caution that it will cause upset in some audience members.

5/5 stars.