From the moment you walk into the theatre, and the sounds of the waves surround you as you wait for the performance to start, you are no longer yourself. You’ve become a refugee attempting to flee your home country for a better life. The Boss is going to make sure you get there, too. Matei Visniec’s Migraaaants (translated by Nice Awde) thrusts the audience into all kinds of unfamiliar yet all too common situations as we hear several stories of migration and its impact. Expertly directed by Two Thousand Feet Up Theatre Company’s founder Siavash Shabanpour, Migraaaants is a harrowing exploration through the challenges of migration, even in our modern, globalized world.
Migraaaants is told through a series of repeating or parallel vignettes, each one telling a little more of the story as we cycle through them. The more immersive plot, which I mentioned previously, has the audience as a group of migrants in the bottom of a ship, where a man simply called Boss, ferries them towards asylum. In others, we see presenters selling the latest in anti-immigrant technology like heartbeat detectors and barbed wire fashion. Another shows a lovely couple in Eastern Europe who choose to build a bigger table (or rather another door) rather than keeping out the youth migrants who turn to them for help. Full of devastation, but also glimpses of hope, Migraaaants simultaneously opened my eyes while also confirming my worst fears about how we treat one another.
The immersive nature of this production is very well-suited to the subjects it tackles; making use of every nook and cranny of the space, along with planted actors in the audience and plenty of direct address, it gives the inescapable feeling that these migrants must be feeling as well. Some of the sections are scary as you’re being barked orders or told that you’ve just listened to someone’s last heartbeats. It gives the images and stories we see on the news and online a new level of gravitas, along with the understanding that the realities migrants face in this world are unfathomable to most of us.
However, this is what makes a play like Migraaaants so important; it asks us to look past our privilege and open ourselves up to a mere taste of what the lives are like of others around us. I think it also asks us to help be the glimmer of hope that we see in the Balkan couple who help the younger migrants upon their arrival. They don’t have much, but instead of building a bigger fence (or a barbed wire one as the husband will be doing for his job) they make more ways to welcome more people into their lives and their home.
Migraaaants makes use of the entire main space at Theatre Passe Muraille; the balcony area, stage space, and where the audience is sat are all used throughout the performance. Kadi Badiou’s addition of a small catwalk allows for the performers to more easily enter the audience while also providing a space for the barbed wire fashion show. Tessa Bourchier’s costumes are brilliant throughout the production, but I particularly loved the high-fashion moments delivered during that vignette.
Shabanpour has assembled a stellar cast to bring Migraaaants to life. Ahmad Meree is terrifying as Boss; his mix of charm and anger is the perfect way to have us all hanging on every word. Jamar Adams-Thompson and Daniel Motarzadeh give impressive performances as Boss’ right hand men. Adams-Thompson delivers an incredibly emotional scene in his final vignette as Fehed, while Motarzadeh was perfectly intimidating throughout the performance. Andrew Chown and Mahsa Ershadifar play the Balkan couple and I love their dynamic together; they create some of the few light moments during the production. Another performance of note is Parastoo Amanzadeh as Elihu. They give Elihu such innocence and sweetness, that your heart bleeds for what the bad people are trying to do to them. One of the most amusing vignettes features Garrett Mallory Scott and Henry Oswald Pierson as a president and their coach. The tone of their scenes is totally different, and yet provides the much needed levity their comedic timing brings. Keely Krall and Shannon Pitre give charming performances as the presenters; their vivacity shining through in their scenes as well. Supported by an impressive ensemble, you could feel the passion with which this cast has come together to bring this story to the stage.
Migraaaants is the kind of work that makes me really thankful for what I do; it gives me the opportunity to learn about others experiences through their art and help me change my thoughts and feelings about the world around me. This is the kind of play that everyone needs to see. Which you can do at Theatre Passe Muraille until January 28th. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.2000feetup.com/copy-of-death-gardener-2020-onlin-3
Cover Photo: Ahmad Meree & ensemble. Photo by Zahra Saleki.
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