KenYatta Rogers
THET 201
Clare Bayler, author of The Container, tells the story of five refugees, fleeing their, in war, country inside a container across Europe. Tom Wright directed the piece for an audience of 28 people inside of a container parked outside of London’s Young Vic Theatre. “A fine production of a gripping play that puts the audience in the middle of a harrowing journey to freedom, as they sit in a 20 foot shipping container with refugees desperate to escape their countries.” Lynn Slotkin
The plot, Five refugees, Ahmad, a businessman from Afghanistan, Mariam, a widow also from afghanistan, Fatima and her niece Asha, 15, from Somalia and Jemal from Turkey that grew up in London but was deported, leaving his girlfriend and a baby in England. There is another Tukey, the agent who is coordinating the journey with the truck driver, and he comes and goes by the door. The stage is all dark and the only source of light is the flashlights the refugies hold, illuminating one another when they talk. Wright says, “only the torches the asylum seekers have. It is much more intense without lights.” The door and the light that comes inside when it’s open, represents the future, the freedom and literally the light on these people’s lives. We don’t know much about the characters and the impression they make is that they don’t want to share much, because it could be dangerous. As a member of the audience it feels like you are another refugie and you connect with the characters. Being inside of the container amplifies points at which violence erupts or emotions can no longer be contained. There is always a fear present, always the question of will they/us get caught?
The production also explored the struggles the refugees go through during this journey, for instance having to go to the bathroom which is a corner of the container with a blanket hung for privacy, but we could hear everything. They don’t have food or water so for instance when Mariam comes in, having a little bit of food, she shares with everybody, showing how compassionate they are with each other because they understand each other’s situation. The sound design by Adrienne Quartley is pretty much the container’s noise and the truck stopping/accelerating. The loud noise of the door when opened brings the fear of who is opening that door. Director Tom Wright puts the action around that small space for maximum dramatic effect without compromising the audience, even though they are right in the middle of the action. Wright says “recreating the smell of excrement would have been too overwhelming, but the heat, darkness, smell of sweaty bodies and claustrophobia will make the experience real enough.”
The Major conflict occurs when the agente comes inside to collect money from the refugees, threatening them saying if they don’t pay they have to get out in France. Miriam doesn’t have money, and the other refugees try to help but the agente ends up getting her out of the container and we are not sure what happens to her.
The costumes reflect the culture and the background of the characters. Fatima and Asha wear long flowing robes. Their heads are covered but not their faces. Jemal is in well-worn jeans. Ahmad is in traditional tanned coloured pants, top and sandals. Miriam also dresses in a flowing robe with her head covered. The Agent wears pants, trainers, a zipped top and many, many bracelets, which represents his power compared to the others. According to the Financial Times “the cast is very strong, drawing you into their characters’ plights.”
The Container shows that we have indeed dehumanised refugies. Tom Atkins says “We don’t care, because we have no concept of what they have been through. This important, award-winning piece provides the concept. It is up to the audience what they do with that.” Even watching online I felt claustrophobic and very touched by this piece, thinking what those people have been through. They do not deserve that, they don’t have chances and opportunities as us. Everyone after watching this piece definitely have a lot of questions in their head, questions like, what we can do about that? Is there any way to help? And the major dramatic question stands unanswered because we can apply it for real life. Will refugees overcome these traumas and all the difficulties and be able to have a better life?
Work cited
Atkins, Tom. Reviews The Container. July 17th 2009. https://www.whatsonstage.com/
west-end-theatre/reviews/the-container_16370.html
https://www.digitaltheatreplus.com/education/collections/digital-theatre/the-container
Lynn. Review: The container. September 11th, 2016 https://slotkinletter.com/2016 /09/review-the-container
Moss, Stephen. The container. The Guardian. July 7th, 2009. https://www.theguardian.
com/stage/2009/jul/07/the-container
Mahony, Elisabeth. Container Theatre review. June 22nd, 2011 https://www.theguardian.com /stage/2011/jun/22/container-theatre-review