Tues, Jan 31@ 6:00 p.m: J. T. Rogers: performance from and signing of Blood and Gifts (FREE) at The Drama Book Shop

The cast of Lincoln Center Theater’s celebrated production of Blood and Gifts perform excerpts from the play, followed by a Q&A with and book signing by playwright J. T. Rogers.

“My God, Russian soldiers being shot by Chinese bullets. Sometimes the world is so beautiful.”

1981. The Soviet army burns its way through Afghanistan, CIA operative Jim Warnock is sent to try and halt its bloody progress, and a secret spy war behind the official Soviet-Afghan war begins. The ground constantly shifts for Jim and his counterparts in the KGB and British and Pakistani secret service as the men wrestle with their shifting personal and political loyalties, and their friendships with—and betrayals of—each other. As the outcome of the entire Cold War comes into play, Jim and a larger-than-life Afghan warlord find the only person they can trust is each other. Spanning a decade and playing out in Washington DC, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, Blood and Gifts is a sweeping, often shockingly funny, epic set against one of the greatest historical events of recent history.

Blood and Gifts: Top Ten Play of the Year from The New York Times, Time Out NY, Bloomberg News

“Superb! Engrossing and illuminating. A first-rate production with the taut grip of a spy novel. J.T. Rogers's knowledge of the hearts and minds of his characters is as deep as his grasp of the geopolitical games being played.”-- New York Times

“A gripping, sensational spy tale!” -- Time Out New York

“A smart, stimulating and just-plain entertaining spy thriller!”-- Entertainment Weekly

“An espionage thriller and dark comedy with fascinating characters.”-- New York Post

“J.T. Rogers asserts a unique voice in this gripping and absorbing drama.”-- Backstage

J. T. Rogers’s plays include Blood and Gifts (National Theater, London; Lincoln Center Theater), The Overwhelming (National Theatre, followed by UK tour with Out of Joint and BBC Radio; Roundabout Theatre); Madagascar (Theatre 503, London; Melbourne Theatre Company) and White People (Off Broadway with Starry Night Productions). As one of the original playwrights for the Tricycle Theatre of London’s Great Game: Afghanistan, he was nominated for 2009 Olivier Award. His works have been staged throughout the United States and in Germany, Canada, and Israel, and are published by Faber and Faber and Dramatists Play Service. Rogers’s essays have appeared in American Theatre and in London’s Independent and The New Statesman. He is a member of New Dramatists and the Dramatist Guild and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Blood and Gifts: A Play
By J. T. Rogers
Paperback. $14.00