The Jungle
Page 1
JOE MURPHY
and
JOE ROBERTSON
The Jungle
For Sonia and Stephen
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Premiere Productions
Characters
Epigraph
Note on the Text
The Jungle
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
About the Authors
Copyright
Programme Pages
The Jungle, a co-production between Young Vic and the National Theatre with Good Chance Theatre, commissioned by the National Theatre, opened at the Young Vic on 7 December 2017. The cast, in alphabetical order, was as follows:
Henri/Yasin Raphael Acloque
Amal Aliya Ali, Alyssa Denise D’Souza
Norullah Mohammad Amiri
Muzamil Elham Ehsas
Boxer Trevor Fox
Omid Moein Ghobsheh
Derek Michael Gould
Safi Ammar Haj Ahmad
Mohammed Ansu Kabia
Yohannes Bruk Kumelay
Sam Alex Lawther
Paula Jo McInnes
Okot John Pfumojena
Beth Rachel Redford
Ali Rachid Sabitri
Omar Mohamed Sarrar
Salar Ben Turner
Helene Nahel Tzegai
Direction Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin
Design Miriam Buether
Costume Catherine Kodicek
Light Jon Clark
Sound Paul Arditti
Composer and Musical Direction John Pfumojena
Video Tristan Shepherd
Casting Julia Horan, CDG
Fights Terry King
Voice Jeannette Nelson
Creative Consultant Amy Reade
Assistant Director Nicole Charles
Design Assistant Joana Dias
Video Producer Tamara Moore
Archive Research Belinda Harris
Characters
Ali
thirties, Kurdistan
Beth
eighteen, UK
Boxer
forties, UK
CRS Officer
France
Derek
fifties, UK
Helene
twenty-eight, Eritrea
Henri
twenties, France
Little Amal
six, Syria
Maz
twenty, Afghanistan
Mohammed
thirty-five, Sudan
Norullah
fifteen, Afghanistan
Okot
seventeen, Sudan
Omar
twenty-five, Sudan
Omid
twenty-one, Iran
Paula
fifties, UK
Safi
thirty-five, Syria
Salar
thirty-two, Afghanistan
Sam
eighteen, UK
Yasin
twenty-four, Iraq
Yohannes
twenty-one, Ethiopia
‘The desperate desire of everyone is that this is a temporary stop. A brief, cold and trying moment. But despite the best intentions, the Jungle is beginning to become a place, with churches and theatres and art and restaurants. It is germinating into that collective home. But then, isn’t this how all places once began? With refugees stopping at a river, a beach, a crossroads, and saying, we’ll just pause here for a bit. Put on the kettle, kill a chicken.’
A.A. Gill
This version of the text went to press while rehearsals were still in progress, and may differ slightly from the play as performed.
THE JUNGLE
ONE
THE JUDGEMENT
February 2016.
An emergency meeting of residents and volunteers inside a makeshift Afghan restaurant in the Jungle refugee and migrant camp in Calais, France.
It is late at night, freezing cold. The restaurant is restless and busy. More and more people congregate, meeting, embracing, exchanging. People wait, smoke, talk, sip sweet milky chai. Hot naan bake in an oven and are passed around.
Paula is recording the names and details of residents. Little Amal, a young girl, is always by her side.
Everyone is dirty, exhausted, wide-eyed on energy drinks, emotional, frightened, cold. Deep, rattling coughs punctuate the noise of talk in many languages and multiple generators growling all around.
Everything happens quickly in the Jungle, all at once, everyone on top of each other and always present.
Derek addresses the room.
Derek Right. Can I have everyone’s attention, please? I know there have been a lot of rumours going around. People are frightened. I’m going to explain as clearly as I can the facts as we know them. Can you translate that, please?
Mohammed Arabic. (Translates.)
Salar Pashto. (Translates.)
Helene Tigrinya. (Translates.)
Ali Kurdish. (Translates.)
Paula Salar, I need your information.
Salar Salar Malikzai. Thirty-two. Afghanistan. Eleven months.
Derek Another eviction notice was posted this morning. It gives police the authority to clear all the southern half of the Jungle. That includes the school, the mosques, the churches. Most of the shops …
Salar My restaurant?
Derek Yes, it includes the restaurants. Translators.
Translations.
Paula Mohammed.
Mohammed Mohammed Abboud. Thirty-five. Sudan. Eleven months.
Derek The Judge has said it must be an expulsion –
Sam An expulsion humanitaire –
Derek A soft eviction, which means no bulldozers. We’ve heard that the police –
Beth enters.
Beth Sorry, everyone. Sorry, Derek. A boy has gone missing.
Derek Beth –
Beth Norullah, he’s fifteen, from Afghanistan. You all know him.
Derek Beth, not now –
Beth If anyone sees him, tell me, tell Paula, tell Salar.
She exits.
Derek We’ve heard that maybe the police will start doing something tomorrow. So it’s likely, if that happens, they will just be asking people to leave.
Paula Helene.
Helene Helene Gebrekidane. Twenty-eight. Eritrea. Eleven months.
Mohammed How can this be legal? They cannot evict us in the middle of winter!
Derek They can’t. That’s why we’re mounting an appeal, Sam.
Salar Oh, here he is.
Sam The notice is legal because the government has said it will rehouse everyone, in accommodation centres around France.
Salar Your friends?
Derek Salar, please.
Salar He is a collaborator.
Sam Which would be fine, but they are only providing fifteen hundred spaces.
Helene This is joke!
Sam Obviously, it’s completely wrong.
Salar How can we trust a word you say?
Derek Salar –
Salar No, no, no, this boy is a liar!
Derek Calm, please –
Sam Unless we can prove, prove to the courts there are many, many more people –
Salar No more evictions. That’s what you said!
Sam And clearly they’ve fucked us.
Salar goes for Sam. He is held back.
Paula The police are lining up out there and we’re fighting each other!
Derek Sam, let’s go.
Derek pulls Sam away.
Paula We are conducting a census. A record of every man, woman and child living in the Jungle today. Age. Country.
Time you’ve been here. I need this from everyone.
Omar (Arabic) What does she want our information for? She’s police!
Mohammed The census is not for France asylum. Not for deporting. Trust the lady.
Paula Thank you, Mohammed. This is how we are going to fight. Legally. Peacefully. Omar.
Omar Omar Sarrah. Twenty-five. Sudan. Seven months.
Beth enters.
Beth Paula, have you seen him?
Paula No.
Beth His name must be on here.
Paula I haven’t seen him.
Beth Norullah Abdul!
Paula Beth –
Beth Where the hell is he?
She exits.
Paula Omid.
Omid Omid Torkan. Twenty-one. Iran. Four months.
Derek hands out forms.
Derek If you run a business, fill out a form. What you do. How many people you serve. Cafés, shops, restaurants, Salar. Hairdressers, mosques, churches …
Paula’s phone rings.
Sam Volunteers, Derek.
Derek Volunteers, if you run a kitchen, distribution point, women and children’s centre, anything. Fill it in.
Paula (ending the call) Fuck’s sake. Boxer, are you sober?
Boxer All things considered.
Paula Can I trust you with something?
Boxer What do I say to that?
Paula Yes, Paula. You can.
Boxer Yes, Paula. Course you bloody can.
Paula Look after Amal. (To Amal.) I’ll be back soon, love. Stay with Uncle Boxer.
Boxer Howay, pet.
Paula Don’t let her out of your sight. (Handing the census to Derek.) Derek, finish this off. A boy’s been killed on the motorway.
Derek I heard.
Salar Who?
Paula I’m going to identify the body.
She leaves.
Mohammed is filling in a form for Salar.
Mohammed Salar, how many people come here?
Salar Everyone.
Mohammed What service do you provide?
Salar Have you tasted my rice and beans?
Mohammed Why is your restaurant vital to life in the Jungle?
Salar (taking a framed review off the wall) Give them that.
Mohammed We need to do this, Salar.
Salar Jungle finished. We have said it for months. Now it’s true.
Henri (to Sam) Let’s speak honestly. As friends. There isn’t any more you can do here. I know you built houses. I know you helped. Now they will be destroyed and that’s difficult for you, I understand.
Sam No more evictions. You promised me.
Henri Come on, you can’t have thought it would last for ever. Go home and rest. Be with your family. And then do something great with your life.
Sam The Judge will rule in our favour.
Henri Here is the contact of my successor.
Sam You’re leaving?
Henri For Paris. I would be very sad if our relationship were to end this way.
Sam The whole camp hates me. They’re calling me a collaborator. Would this be happening if I hadn’t helped you?
Henri A piece of advice. Don’t stay here. It isn’t safe.
Derek addresses the room.
Derek The census is complete! We have the results! Translators? 5,497 people live in the Jungle. 3,455 in the eviction zone. 445 of those are children. 305 unaccompanied. Now we know who we are. This eviction is illegal.
Cheers, as Paula enters.
Paula Please, please, give me good news.
Derek Court’s adjourned.
Sam Their figures are wrong. We have a case.
Derek Was it him?
Paula Yes.
Derek Are you sure?
They look to Salar.
Paula Salar. The boy on the motorway. It was Norullah.
Pause.
I’m sorry.
He leaves.
Mohammed Ali, Omar, Omid.
They leave, as Beth enters.
Beth What’s going on?
Sam There was a death on the motorway this morning.
Beth I heard.
Sam A young boy.
Beth Right …
Sam An Afghan.
Beth What are you saying?
Sam You know what I’m saying.
Beth You’re wrong.
Sam Paula identified the body.
Beth Don’t call it that.
Paula They’re burying him in the cemetery. Angel’s corner.
Beth How can they bury him in the mud in Calais?
Derek The Judge is giving her verdict. Sam.
He passes his phone to Sam, who translates from French.
Sam She has considered the case carefully … she recognises that the bidonville represents a serious risk to public safety and decency …
Boxer Bidon – what?
Derek Slum.
Sam She … also recognises the significant infrastructure within the bidonville –
Boxer That’s a slum, that is.
Sam – les lieux de vie, the places of life … she recognises a difference between the official population figures and those presented by organisations working within the bidonville …
Derek We won!
Sam However …
Derek However?
Sam She … has not been convinced that this evidence is sufficient to change her first verdict … consequently … she upholds the notice and gives legal authorisation for the eviction to begin.
Numbed silence.
Derek No …
Boxer Bugger that.
Paula What more do they fucking want?
The body of a boy is carried on, shrouded in white, raised into the air, bathed in light, then buried. The following Surah is spoken in Arabic.
Omar In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful. All types of perfect praise belong to Allah alone, the Lord of all the worlds, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgement. Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore for help …
Guide us along the straight path – the path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy favours, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray.
Okot enters slowly.
Beth Okot, what are you doing here?
Okot (Arabic) Who is it?
Beth Okot!
Ali (Arabic) What the fuck are you doing here? (English.) You should be in Dunkirk.
Beth Dunkirk? You told me he was in the UK.
Ali You know nothing about this.
Beth We had an agreement, you promised to keep him safe.
Ali Omid!
He calls someone on his phone.
Okot This is not good man. This is bad man.
Ali Omid, grab him …
Beth Okot, come here.
Okot No good man here. I’m sorry, Beth. I’m so sorry I make problem. Sorry I make him dead. Sorry for everything.
He runs.
Beth Okot!
Beth is restrained by Paula.
Paula What have you done?
Mohammed Get out of here, Ali. Go!
Ali leaves.
Salar Oh! Allah, make him, this child, our means of preservation, and make him a source of reward and treasure for us, and make him a pleader for us, and one whose pleading is accepted.
Mohammed You were close to him.
Salar Like my son.
Mohammed Did he have parents?
Salar His mother in Kabul. He phoned her every week, told her he was in UK. In London, with his friends. He was in a house. A family had taken him in. He had made photographs in front of Big Ben. He was starting at a school. He was learning English.
Paula And he was. Here.
Salar Yes. He told her he was happy. I have to tell her he didn’t even make it out of France.
Derek This isn’t your fault.
Salar I kept him here.
Paula (to a TV camera) Four hundred and fifty kids. Three hundred alone. Tha
t’s more than at my daughter’s school. Kids riding bikes through mud. Surviving winter in tents. Wind off the sea. Cold. Angel’s corner. That’s the muddy patch at the edge of a graveyard full of little wooden crosses.
Fucking dump. Fucking hell on earth. Built some cardboard boxes and painted pictures for a bit of fucking hope. Yeah, knock it down. Knock it down and never let it happen again. But not like this. Not when they have nowhere to go. Kids will disappear, mark my word. Hundreds of them. They’ll run, or be taken, we’ll never see them again. And you’ll be the ones asking what happened. Mark my word.
She leaves.
Boxer looks around. Only he and Amal are left in the restaurant.
Boxer (to Amal as he dresses her in warm clothes) Y’alright, pet. Has anyone ever told you about England? Because it’s a land full of green fields and great, long rivers. Tiny island out on its own. And because it’s so small, everyone has to be kind. They have to get on and make things work. There’s parks with slides, big swings. Beautiful, old schools –
Amal School.
Boxer Ay, that’s right. Teachers who love you. And anywhere you go, any time of day, you’re always welcome. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Now, it’s all getting a bit messy here, so you’re going to come with me. Arms up. This jumper belongs to a very special girl. She’s called Lottie. You’ll meet her soon. She’s going to be your big sister.
We’re going to go for a little drive now, and you have to be nice and quiet. It’s like hide and seek. And I promise you. You’ll forget all about this place.
If there’s one thing I know, I’ve been a shit dad. All that’s going to change.
Boxer and Amal exit.
Derek (to the room, as he hands out scarves) When the police arrive they will arrive with orders. They will use tear gas, which is banned by the Geneva Convention for use in warfare, but there are no laws against it here. Tear gas is a nerve agent. It acts by irritating mucus membranes in the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs. When they shoot, you need to cover your face. If you are exposed, use milk or Coke to wash it off, not water. Do not wear gas masks, the police consider them weapons. They themselves will be heavily armed and wearing body armour. This dehumanises them. But they are human beings like us. It is our job to re-humanise the situation. They cannot be violent if they see that you are a person, a human being like them.