REVIEW: The Jungle (Shakespeare Theatre Company/Woolly Mammoth)
Preview: Did you know the word “jungle” would come from the Persian “zangar”, likely via Indo-European “jangal”, meaning thick forest?. For a wannabe linguist like me, this was a fun etymological treat given early in the first act of The Jungle, the STC-Wooly Mammoth co-production which opened recently at Sidney Harman Hall. But that was merely an exception: one happy sprinkle within this intense, rough, and heartbreaking rollercoaster of a production. At last making its DC debut after acclaimed runs off-Broadway and on the West End, the play follows the adventures of many a migrant’s journey through the titular encampment that was located in Calais, France between 2015-2016, at the zenith of the European Migrant Crisis. I will say from a place of great privilege in this scenario, it was hard to wrap my head around the true magnitude of the exodus. Unlike the comparatively basic geography of the US-Mexico border (which I’m generally pretty familiar with), many of these migrants would have had to cross an entire sea to get to Europe, a place known for robust welfare systems at that. Thus, I asked myself, why was this considered such a crisis? Why weren’t European countries relying on this welfare system they’ve so proudly built? This sounded like a particularly American problem to have, given this country’s vastly undeserved and misplaced hostility towards immigrants. I was admittedly, quite naïve. It just wasn’t adding up from this perspective, and I’ve long sought to answer these questions myself. The Jungle does this, and then some.
Acting: Ensemble acting at its finest. In fact, you could make a comparison on multiple fronts of this to Come From Away, the hit musical about a small town suddenly having thousands of foreigners show up at their front door in wake of peril. Of course, the handling of this is much different: there’s no violence, no animosity, no aggressive desperation found in Gander, Newfoundland, and nor in The Jungle do the cast play multiple roles. This makes each performance that much stronger, with even the roles with relatively minimal stage time being someone to root for and care about. Elevating it to another level is Julia Horan’s casting, bringing in an entire cast of migrant actors that being so much of their own trauma from their journeys into the role (this includes some who literally were living in the actual Calais Jungle while this show was being written). In the talkback I attended after my performance, I got to speak with some cast members about how they cope with their trauma of the experience via this show, and how many of them had their work visas denied by the Biden administration and couldn’t even be a part of the US debut in New York. They’re a big, complicated family with a trauma-bonded chemistry that really takes this production to the next level. 9/10
Production: The Harman is reinvented as a shanty town spectacularly. The normal staging is completely redone — in sacrifice of the usual amounts of seats, the stage is a series of interconnected catwalks flanked by makeshift seating of all kinds. Lion pillows from ikea? Check. Picnic tables and benches? Check. Standard seats on a dirt floor? Check. The walls and cieling are all done up as if it were a shanty town, with makeshift signs and maps of the jungle plastering them. Cast members enter from every entrance to the theatre, making it feel like a living, breathing city. I love immersive shows, and Miram Buether puts the cherry on top by organizing the seats by country. Literally, your ticket row is a country and you sit under their flag (I was Eritrean). This inclusion of the audience isn’t surface level, either. Many scenes take place in a restaurant in the Jungle, meaning food is present for everyone in the tent. That includes you, audience member! Characters would routinely walk through the stalls of seats to delve out chai and naan bread as if we were migrants there with them. One even through a slice to me from a few rows up — I did not catch it, and he was upset with me. He later came back to sneak me a new slice, in-character. Immersive, food-oriented theatre is so much fun. Between The Great Comet (perogies), Sweeney Todd (pies), Oklahoma! (cornbread and chili), and now this, I can’t get enough. The absolute peak of the immersion hits during the climax of Act II. At this point, the show transforms from theatre to pure experience, in a way that I haven’t seen in a long, long time. (SPOILER: the roof of the stage lifts off as bulldozers arrive to violently evict everyone from the Jungle). This moment left me in pure awe, and reminded me how invested this staging left me in the entire universe of The Jungle — but also reminded me that this universe was, unfortunately, the one I live in. 10/10
Book: Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson’s plot generally follows the rise and fall of the real-life Calais Jungle, from its origins as a makeshift campsite at a landfill by the beach to its eventual destruction by UK-backed French authorities. The goal: enter the UK by any means necessary. Each character, as it is put early on, “is running away from something”. Most are running away from terrible conditions in their homelands - Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea, Syria, you name it. Nobody would try to cross an ocean and a desert if they didn’t have to. Some, however, are running from the UK, for their own reasons. Five British characters appear as supporting roles in the book, each from a different strata of class within British society, indicated from their clothes and behaviors to the accent (a great detail). The plot succinctly interweaves several of these stories, most having the same ending, save for a few. The most prominent being Safi, the narrator (Syria), Okot (Darfur), and restauranteur Salar (Afghanistan). Some are introduced with interesting stories yet frustratingly left unresolved, such as the interaction between a british drifter to the Jungle named Boxer and a young girl named Amal. These ups and downs work really well overall despite some loose ends. There are some amazing twists as the plot unfurls, between the bulldozing of the camp and the sacrifice made by Safi at the end, and it really begs viewer empathy. What would you do in their shoes? 8/10
VisDev: Pre-show staging is well-documented in the production section above, but I’ll re-emphasize. It’s a slam dunk. From the minute you enter the lobby if the Harman, cardboard and makeshift posters decorate the coat check and ticket booth. Hand painted wayfinding boards are set up by each entrane, directing where audience members should go based on which country their ticket has placed them. While waiting for the show to begin, the cast dilly-dallys around you like they’re just hanging out in real life. Preparing, sitting around, chatting. It sets up the immersion beautifully, to the point where it takes you by surprise when it actually starts, because you’re already so used to their presence. I really wish the marketing behing the show utilized this unique setup, though. I feel like the idea of being a part of the show instead of a viewer is an enticing draw to people who are used to, or even tired of, what they think of usual “theatre”. The program and ad materials simply utilize a cropped version of this frame of an early-act I scene where in media res the migrants fight against the French. What does this tell me? The only thing remotely indicating a story of hardship is the “TO UK” sign barely visible above the doorway. It does leave some to the imagination, which is okay! But the crumbs of inquisition end short of something satisfying. 5/10
Verdict: The Jungle pulls viewers into its makeshift mangroves by the heartstrings and doesn’t let go, creating a tear-jerking tale of trauma and connection.
