Occasionally, it’s good to be challenged. Theatre and film has become better and more effective at challenging people’s perceptions of the world and what goes on in it. The Container is a show that facilitates the necessary conversations about the world that can be hard to have. It was revered at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007, then captured by Digital Theatre in 2009 outside of the Young Vic. What’s most intriguing, is that the entire show was staged inside of a shipping container with the audience in it as well. Clare Bayley’s play was a challenge not just figuratively, but literally.
The Container is a show that refuses to shield the hardships of the less fortunate from the eyes of the public, but instead faces it head on
The actors and twenty-eight audience members were packed into confinement, everyone meant to experience the story together. The show follows five refugees from Somalia, Afghanistan, and Turkey. All are stuck inside a shipping container bound for the United Kingdom, each passenger having a different background but all with the same goal: starting a new life in a civilized country. Their circumstances have made them desperate to better their situation, making them feel without any other choice to make. This is not unlike the millions of refugees that exist in the world today, which is exactly the point. The Container is a show that refuses to shield the hardships of the less fortunate from the eyes of the public, but instead faces it head on.
The way this show is produced is almost like that of a short film. The camera work is more akin to a film project and less so like a play that was recorded live. Aside from that, this show is as raw a production as it gets. There’s not really any tech, and in fact, there aren’t even lights. This show was designed and thus directed to be as realistic as possible, with the characters even holding flashlights to navigate the dark container. Each character’s story is written much how anyone would think. Some come from war torn countries, others for a better financial future, and another who was a part of western society before being sent away for legal reasons. All of their scenarios are real, as they are the same scenarios that refugees across the world live out on a daily basis. Don’t misunderstand though. The Container does not solve the refugee crisis, nor does it try to. It only seeks to inform and shed light on the topic, and it does so effectively.
The most impactful thing to make note of about The Container is that it doesn’t pander. There’s no political undertones or calls to action, and there are also no attempts to make the viewer feel badly or in any way at fault. It merely shows audiences that these people do exist and that they’re in need. If nothing else is to be taken away from this, one thing is for certain. This play will evoke empathy. People will have greater awareness and will ask questions because of it. Be a part of that conversation, check it out on digitaltheatre.com.
