The Jungle by Upton Sinclair may ring a bell to the average New Yorker as the piece of literature that spurred reform in the food and meat industries during the late 1900s; this ‘Jungle’ however is much more different and tests the strength of human perseverance for freedom and identity. The Jungle is a fabricated name for a refugee camp that was located in Calais, France. The population of the refugee camp at its peak was around 8,00 people. The performance that we watched at St. Anne’s warehouse was an enticing performance about how social and political situations affect the way communities function with each other. Throughout the play, there were moments that represented the democracy of human nature, and the need for order as the refugees set up their own communal government based on their cultural and traditional beliefs, but at the same time remained unified in times of distress, despite the differences of languange and culture between them. The play did an excellent job at portraying the real emotional and physical struggles of refugees in France.  Although the play had many captivating moments that left me, and others in the audience on the edge of their seats, it was unfortunate that it took a play to showcase the harsh realities that occur in the world around us. An eyeopening moment for me, or the punctum of the play, as one would say through a Barhtean lens, was the footage shown on the side television screen during moments of the play. One specific video that left me both speechless and grief-stricken was that of a young Syrian boy that was lying on the shore of a beach dead. I had personally seen the picture before on the news, internet, and other mediums of social media but it was different at ‘The Jungle’. The screens were black and then suddenly there was a picture of a young boy face down, Alan Kurdi. Although the picture wasn’t taken in France the silence in the theater, complemented by the gentle caressing of waves around the young boy’s lifeless body let everybody know that this wasn’t just a play but rather a public service announcement of the realities in the lives of refugees.

 

Alan Kurdi, 3 Years of age, Syrian

Alan Kurdi, Shore of Turkey

 

I personally think this part of the performance was the most eye-opening for me because I had seen this picture numerous times over the internet and through news coverage, and when I had first seen it it was just as shocking to see young children the age of three be affected over an international refugee crisis. When I saw the picture at St. Annes, I cried. I think the picture was more moving when I witnessed it at the theater because the producers had presented the image as gifset, or maybe even the original video. Viewing the photo as a motion picture was more moving because you saw life continue around Alan. The waves would hit the top of his head, retreat, then go past his nose, then retreat, then to his chin. Each wave that washed over Alan’s petite body, made witnessing the moment too vivid and the truth about the international refugee crisis too real.

The play does a great job of giving each of the characters from each refugee country a story, and a goal. In the performance, the characters explain that there is the common goal of the “good chance” (which reflected on their luck of making it out of The Jungle) but at the same time directors and writers managed to give each person a post-camp goal. Some wanted to open up restaurants, while others wanted to work with family, or study and gain an education to make a better life for their succeeding generations. This addition of detail in the play allows us as the audience to really understand that the people in the shows represent others who have goals and achievements that they strive for, and the striking difference is what goals each person has. For many people goals, in their life could drinking 8 cups of water everyday, or leading a healthy lifestyle by going to the gym everyday. For the refugees of Calais, their goal of getting out overshadowed any other small feat that we may consider hard to abide by. This resilience shows the true nature of the human spirit when faced with hardships. Towards the end of the performance, as part of the camp was about to get destroyed citizens of Jungal overturned their unanimous decision of peace, for resistance. Resistance, for a cause. The play highlights a great deal about how humans deal with situations together and alone, rather than the situation itself. Often times we take what is around us for granted, The Jungle does a fantastic job at provoking legitimate empathy towards the emotions, situations, and struggles of how the refugees of Calais live on a day to day basis.