The Jungle
A play by Joe Murphy & Joe Robertson Directed by Stephen Daldry & Justin Martin
Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Ave, WC2N 5DE
16 JUNE - 3 NOVEMBER
£10.00 - £69.50
After a stellar, sell-out performance at the Young Vic, The Jungle was promptly moved to the West End to carry on sharing greatness with the London masses until November. The Jungle is based in the Calais refugee camps which quickly gained fame due to the cramped, inhumane conditions, but also due to the hope and community present within. It tells a story of resilience in the face of adversity, of struggle, pain and loss, but also of unlikely friendships, strength and hope. The overall effect is a moving masterpiece which will make you both laugh and cry: a true sign of any spectacular piece of theatre.
Miriam Buether's critically-acclaimed set design see's audience members being sat at the Afghan café - social hub and epicentre of the Calais Jungle. Intimate in-the-round staging not only creates an open, accepting and friendly atmosphere, but also helps other audience members to truly visualise the cramped conditions of the Jungle. Despite the fact there are not many cast members, the small but long set design really does bring everyone together, whilst the additional audience members help add to a feeling of being enclosed and confined.
Our seats, at the very back of the dress circle (£15) were actually fantastic: we could see pretty much everything, and for moments we could not see/times when a cast members back was turned, the action was portrayed on several screens. The screens were not just to aid visuals, but also played a central role within the play of setting the scene. To open, they displayed footage of the crossing from Calais to the UK: the journey so many tried, failed and yearned to embark on. Following this, real life footage of the famous Syrian drowned boy, as well as police brutality footage was shown. The screens were also used for facial close ups and to depict detail some audience members may not be able to see, such as brutal scarring on characters bodies due to previous abuse and hardship.
Upon opening, I must admit I found the play fairly disjointed and scrambled, but I completely empathise with the fact that this was probably purposeful as the conditions and setting of the time were just that. As it progressed it grew on me and I began to become extremely attached to the characters, their stories and their futures. Personal monologues delivered by a couple of the characters were incredibly effective; discussing real life cases of extreme hardship with sincerity and passion. The play as a whole was remarkably informative and worked as not only a brilliant work of entertainment, but a fantastic education also.
Other areas where the play particularly shone were in its depictions of community and friendship. When you have a small area with so many different nationalities, religions and beliefs, you will more than expect serious disagreements and confrontations. Whilst of course these are unavoidable, The Jungle merely displayed them as small comic scuffs and instead focused on the undeniable sense of companionship and togetherness these chalk and cheese individuals experienced. Some of the performance acts within the carnival-esque celebration scenes were marvellous: gymnastics, live music and circus skills were all incorporated, further emphasising the diversity of these people and their respective cultures.
My personal favourite would have to be the lovable Geordie - Boxer, played by Trevor Fox, who delivered comical yet moving rhymes on his guitar about the current state of our country (UK) and how ignorant we were (and still are...) Another character who stood out was Jo Mcinnes' interpretation of a ballsy female Brit, who's every other word was 'fuck'. Whilst this was funny to some degree, and you could see exactly what kind of person they were trying to portray, I did find the swearing to be gratuitous on more than one occasion.
At the end of the play you feel as though you have just been on a journey with these people, shared their most intimate moments and become invested in their fate. Just as a police raid comes crashing in and you are given the devastating news of what happened next (eventual evictions of the whole camp, over 150 children going missing), your hope, like theirs, is lost. It is at this moment that you realise the unsanitary, cramped and stressful microcosm created was actually the last pinnacle of hope for some people: a place where relationships were formed and memories created.
The play ends with an up to date clip of charity worker Holly, detailing the situation in Calais today. It is shocking to see how much homelessness and devastation remains in a place long forgotten from both our news stories and our hearts. It reminds us how easily we neglect things once they have been spoken about, and how we must continue the fight to help these people who deserve so much more than just a mere chance at survival.
The Jungle is a current, vital and stunning masterpiece, detailing a significant and non-fiction occurrence which has never been brought to the theatre. Hopefully now this play has a position in the West End it will do no ends for the advertisement of these particular struggles and remind us never to stop helping, and never to forget.
P.S. We didn't need the binoculars...
OVERALL RATING: *****
http://thejungleplay.co.uk/
