The Jungle, Shakespeare Theatre Company/Woolly Mammoth, Sidney Harman Hall, Washington, DC
The cast of the 2023 St. Ann's Warehouse production of The Jungle. Photo credit: Teddy Wolff.
The arts transport us to different times and different places. Most of the time we can be somewhat objective about our experiences, because we know we are standing in a museum or sitting in a concert hall or theatre. Sometimes, though, theatre can take us to locations that, even though we know we are seated in a (hopefully) comfortable seat in a theatre, we feel a part of what is (supposedly) actually happening.
Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company and Woolly Mammoth
have joined forces to bring the St. Ann’s Warehouse and Good Chance production
of The Jungle to Washington. Written by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson (based
on their own experiences as volunteers at the real “Jungle”) and directed by
Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, The Jungle takes its audience to a
different place and time in which we become witnesses to the events that unfold,
rather than spectators at a play.
When my ticket indicated that my seat was “Eritrea 7,” I had no real idea what to expect. (Although I had received the “press packet” for the show beforehand, I wanted to see the play as much as a first-time experience as possible.) In the lobby, signs delineated which entrance we could use, based on our seating assignments. Those seated in Eritrea, along with Sudan, Kuwait, Ethiopia, Egypt, Somalia, and Syria were directed to the stairway at the left side of the lobby; those with other assignments such as Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Afghanistan were directed to the right. Each seating area represented the homeland of a group of refugees.
View in the first floor lobby at Sidney Harman Hall, signs directing audience members to their seats. Photo by the author.
Some of the audience members seated at the edge of the
platforms were often within inches of the actors. This is “immersive” theatre.
At one point, an actor brought an Afghan flag into the space. Before mounting
it on the wall, it touched the heads of audience members seated next to the
platform. At other times, action in the play came dangerously close to theatre
patrons. The closest the action came to me was perhaps a yard away – even so,
this is the closest I have been to stage performers than when I was a stage
performer myself.
The play begins with the final actions of the story, when
the French authorities decide to destroy the southern half of the camp
(referred to as “the Jungle”) – which has, for all intents and purposes, become
its own city. Even though we know the ultimate outcome, we are taken back in
time, when this disparate (and desperate) group of immigrants from a wide
variety of countries builds a community and works together to try to thwart
the destruction of their community by the French. We learn that the most
important word for these displaced people is “try.” They will be undeterred by
failures to make the trip, but will continue to try until they succeed.
This community, comprised of many nationalities,
ethnicities, religions, and races, existed before the introduction of a number
of British do-gooders who join the fray. Are the Brits there to assist the
refugees in entering the U.K., or are they there to improve conditions so that
the refugees will no longer have a reason to leave? Are they just atoning for
some of their collective guilt? As noble as the Brits’ desire to help is, their
good intentions are not enough.
The best acting is a kind of being, acting that is so “real” that it does not appear to be acting at all. That is exactly what is experienced by the audience of The Jungle. The actors so thoroughly embody their characters that we forget, for a while, that they are a company of international (mostly British) actors with impressive credentials, and accept them as the distressed characters they appear to be.
Ahmar Haj Ahmad as Safi in the 2023 St. Ann's Warehouse production of The Jungle. Photo credit: Teddy Wolff.
It is challenging to choose individual actors for praise among this cast of 23. The leaders of three factions are Syrian refugee Safi (played by Ammar Haj Ahmad), the Afghan refugee/restaurateur Salar (Ben Turner), and Mohamed, a Nigerian Muslim (Jonathan Nysti). Each gives a performance that is strong and singular. Safi serves as a kind of tour guide in a manner somewhat similar to the Mysterious Man of Into the Woods and the Reciter in Pacific Overtures. His cool control may make him the most sympathetic of the characters, though some may question his decision to accept a smuggler’s aid in making his way to the U.K. Turner’s portrayal of the Afghan restaurateur is at times defiant but always proud, a character of unquestionable dignity and independence. Nysti represents his countrymen (and the other African refugees) with an ironclad moral center. His constituency is smaller than the others, but he ensures that they are included.
Twana Omer is young Norullah, eager to join the fray and fiercely proud of his heritage. Omer proved to be an audience favorite, whether because of his character or his commitment to its portrayal, or both. Of the non-refugees, Julia Hesmondhaigh as British do-gooder Paula, is the most sympathetic of the group, selflessly working to ensure that the unaccompanied children among the refugees receive aid and fed up with the bureaucracy preventing it. Hers is a feisty, frank, and honest performance.
Twana Omer as Norullah in the 2023 St. Ann's warehouse production of The Jungle. Photo credit: Teddy Wolff.
Then, again, there is not a dishonest performance in the company. I expect that, after the performance, I could have questioned any of the actors about their experiences leaving their homelands, and would have received an answer every bit as real as those of the characters they portrayed.
The transformation of the Sidney Harman Hall stage to the
Calais refugee camp is much more extreme than its transformation to an arena
theatre for last year’s Our Town. Kudos to Miriam Buether, whose program
credit is “scene design,” but whose actual function was “theatre transformation
design,” even “raising the roof” at a climactic moment. The attention to detail
is impressive, down to the canned goods on the makeshift shelves in the pantry.
Costumes are by Catherine Kodicek and lighting by Jon Clark. At several points
in the play, the only light appears to be coming from flashlights held by the
actors, creating an immediacy, intimacy, and reality that is haunting.
Rudolphe Mdlongwa (in shadow), Liv Hill, and Ammar Haj Ahmad in the 2023 St. Ann's Warehouse production of The Jungle. Photo credit: Teddy Wolff.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), 117.2 million people will be forcibly displaced or stateless in 2023. Until I looked it up, I was thinking in terms of tens of thousands of people. Think of it this way: 117.2 million worldwide is the equivalent of more than a third of the people in the United States, estimated at 336.4 million in 2023 (34.8%). I think it's safe to say that most of us think of them (if we think about them at all) as numbers, not as people. It is too easy to look the other way. “The Jungle” may have been demolished, but other refugee camps were and continue to be created where there are real people, individuals like these characters, some of whom have escaped unimaginable circumstances and endured great hardships en route. The Jungle forces us to confront the tragic reality of a problem the world has not yet solved.
I hope that neither you nor I will ever have to spend time
in a refugee camp, in Calais or anywhere else. But because of this production
of The Jungle, I have a vision of what it might be like. This is a
challenging play about important issues in a memorable staging. It is not easy
to watch, but it should be seen. Performances continue through April 16.
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