On Wednesday, December 5th at 7:30 pm, I witnessed one of the most dramatic and moving performances I have ever seen. I don’t know if it was from the way the stage was right in the audience’s face, so you could see the acting up close and personal. I don’t know if it was because it was in an old factory building in my hometown borough of Brooklyn. It might have even been because the stage and setting included real video recordings, moving ceilings, and props that caused you to jump out of your seat. No, the most moving part of the entire performance was the determination that the different countries in the camp had to keep on living, and how the French government pushed them out regardless.
When Sam first read them the government’s eviction notice, and how they would need to relocate an entire half of the camp. 800 homes. Over 2,000 people had to uproot their lives and move to the other side of the camp and live uncomfortably with others way too close for comfort. They basically lived on top of each other and were unable to properly relieve themselves. Still, they were able to uproot their lives in just three days. They were able to conform to the government’s requests and not six weeks later, they were not only evicted again, but forcibly removed.
This was extremely moving to me not only because the actors were extremely convincing, but because of the way the entire play was formulated. They play included so many different emotionally capturing moments. For example, they included actual footage from the events in 2016 such as a baby dead on a beach shore, or news coverage of what was happening in the camp. The use of actual footage strengthened how far the refugees had come to freedom and how willing they were to listen to the French government. As well as the stories told by different refugees such as Okult about how they were tortured by the police officers, but still they persevered and tried to get into the U.K. All of these stories and footage and “in your face” acting built up my feelings for each of the characters. And after all they did, after making it as far as the refugee camp, after relocating half of the camp so that the government would not evict them, they still were targeted and evicted. Their stories were so memorable and the fact that this was an actual event that took place and is still taking place, is the reason why I remembered this part the most.
Hi Andrew,
I completely agree with your opinions on the show. I love how you pointed out the video recordings, moving ceilings, and realistic props that were used in order to make the play feel more real, because I too was blown away by these things. When you mention the realistic props the first thing that comes to mind for me is the wrapped up body of the young boy who was killed. By presenting this prop, his death was much more real than if they would have only said that he died. I also agree with you about the play emotionally capturing moments. They definitely used techniques like the real life videos playing in order to capture an emotional appeal to the play and to the real life situation. I am glad we got to experience this jaw dropping performance together as classmates!