The full cast has been announced for the West End transfer of Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson The Jungle, a National Theatre and Young Vic co-production with Good Chance Theatre, directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin.
The production is set in Europe’s largest unofficial refugee camp, the Calais Jungle, which in 2015, became a temporary home for more than 10,000 people. Previewing from 16 June, with World Refugee Day on 20 June, The Jungle will have an opening night on 5 July at the Playhouse Theatre.
Cast transferring from the Young Vic include Mohammad Amiri, Elham Ehsas, Trevor Fox, Moein Ghobsheh, Ammar Haj Ahmad, Alex Lawther, Jo McInnes, John Pfumojena, Rachel Redford, Rachid Sabitri, Mohamed Sarrar, Ben Turner and Nahel Tzegai.
New cast members include Tiran Aakel, Gerard Carey, Alexander Devrient, Cherno Jagne, Kiki Kendrick, Freddie Meredith, Sara Mokonen, Yasin Moradi, Jonathan Nyati, Dominic Rowan and Eric Sirakian.
The company is made up of actors from around the world, cast are from Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, Eritrea, England, Zimbabwe, Syria, America, Congo, Wales, Scotland, The Gambia, Morocco, Lebanon and Germany.
The Jungle will transfer to the Playhouse Theatre, where the traditional proscenium theatre is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. The stalls have been completely reconfigured to house Miriam Buether’s set design as seen at the Young Vic, where audiences were invited to sit at the benches and tables of the Afghan café in the Calais camp.
The Playhouse Theatre will also offer the brand new experience of watching from the Dress Circle, which has been renamed “Cliffs of Dover”. Whilst the circle will retain its traditional theatre seating, there will be views over the dramatically transformed performance space below, which extends beyond the proscenium arch and over the stalls, enhanced by accompanying video screens, relaying close-up ‘live news broadcast’ style footage of some of the action.
The in-the-round transformation reduces the capacity of the theatre to under 450 seats. Top price tickets are directly enabling 40% of the house to be priced at £25 and under, and a proportion of tickets will be held off sale to be offered to refugees and targeted groups in order to maximise diversity and accessibility.
Official charity partner, Help Refugees, which was established alongside the Good Chance Theatre in the Calais Jungle in 2015, and is now the leading UK NGO in a new movement of International humanitarian aid, will be supported by the production, with fundraising efforts taking place at the venue throughout the entire run.
Bios
Tiran Aakel is from Britain, his family are Israeli. His theatre credits include Burkas And Bacon Butties (Tara Finney Prods/Vault Festival); Time’s Up (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre); I Was Looking At The Ceiling (Southwark Playhouse); Beyond Therapy (Etcetera Theatre); Purge, Asturias, Sab! (all Edinburgh Fringe Festival) Ooh Ah Showab Khan, Kicking Out (both Arc Theatre); Baby Love (Sylvester Tobias Theatre Co).
Mohammad Amiri is from Afghanistan. His theatre credits include Boy (Almeida). His television work includes Unforgotten 2. His film credits include: Fighting With My Family; City of Tiny Lights.
Gerard Carey is from Britain. His theatre credits includes: A Christmas Carol (RSC); Half A Sixpence (Chichester/Noel Coward Theatre); Shrek the Musical (UK tour); Dickens Abridged (Arts Theatre); Soho Cinders, Ex (Soho Theatre); Master Class (Vaudeville); Invisible Man (Menier Chocolate Factory); Noises Off, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz (Birmingham Rep); Spamalot (Palace); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, High Society, Leonardo’s Last Supper, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Regent’s Park Open Air); Mary Poppins (Cameron Mackintosh/Disney).
Alexander Devrient is from Germany and Lebanon. Theatre includes: Die Entuhrung aus dem Serail (Glyndebourne); L’Avare (European Tour) Twelfth Night (Greenwich Playhouse); Silent Chalk (Old Theatre Royal Bath); The Tragedy of Soliman & Perseda (Rose Theatre Bankside). Film includes: The Danish Girl, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
Elham Ehsas is from Afghanistan. Film work includes:Our Kind of Love; The Kill Team; Oksijan; War Machine; Harry Potter the Deathly Hallows; The Kite Runner. His television credits include: The Informer; Brussel; Silent Witness.
Trevor Fox is from Britain. Theatre credits include: Macbeth, Common (National Theatre); People, Places & Things (Headlong/National Theatre tour); Amedee (Birmingham Rep); The Tempest, Cymbeline, The Oresteia, Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gabriel, Coriolanus, Under The Black Flag (Shakespeare’s Globe); King Lear, Children’s Children (Almeida Theatre); The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Apollo).
Ammar Haj Ahmad is from Syria. Theatre credits include: Returning to Haifa (Finborough); LOVE (National Theatre/ Birmingham Repertory); Goats/Told From the Inside (Royal Court); Kan Yama (Cockpit Theatre). His film credits include: London Tomorrow; ALEGNA; Wall; Round Trip; Wada’an; Monologue.
Cherno Jagne is from The Gambia. Theatre credits include: Closer, 2 Families 14 Lives (The Courtyard Theatre). His film credits include: Haraam.
Kiki Kendrick is from Britain. Theatre credits include: The Ruffian On The Stair (Blue Devil/Brighton Festival); Cutting Corners (Juno Theatre); oysters (Eastern Angles); The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband (Th. Royal Winchester); I Want That Hair (Hull Truck); Babushka (Liberated Theatre); Fly Me To The Moon (Hull Truck/Stephen Joseph Theatre); Raindrops & Roses (Soho Theatre); Reunion (Hull Truck/UK tour); Insane Jane (Pleasance Edinburgh/Soho Theatre); Too Close For Comfort (Soho Theatre); Down Dog (Edinburgh Underbelly); My Beautiful Launderette (Snap Theatre); Lip Service (Soho/Finborough Theatres); Crime And Punishment (Finborough Theatre); Blind Date (Pleasance Theatre Edinburgh); Waiting For Hillsborough (Gutted Theatre Company).
Alex Lawther is from Britain. Theatre credits include: Crushed Shells and Mud (Southwark Playhouse); The Glass Supper, Fault Lines (Hampstead Theatre); South Downs (Harold Pinter/Chichester Festival Theatre). His film credits include: The Translators; Ghost Stories; Goodbye Christopher Robin; Old Boys; Freakshow; Departure; The Imitation Game; X+Y.
Jo McInnes is from Britain. Theatre credits include: Wastewater, Fleshwound, Bluebird (Royal Court); The House of Bernarda Alba, The Children’s Hour (National Theatre); M.A.D (Bush Theatre); On Blindness, Dirty Butterfly (Soho Theatre).
Freddie Meredith’s theatre credits include Fracked! (Chichester Festival Theatre). His television credits include: The Crown, To Walk Invisible.
Sara Mokonen is from Eritrea. Theatre credits include My Music, My Story, My Monologue, Love Me To Death, Double Trouble (Intermission Youth Theatre); Who’s Culture (Royal Shakespeare Theatre); Oneness (Blue Elephant Theatre); Sonnet Walks (Globe Theatre).
Yasin Moradi is a Kung Fu Master from Iran. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and was a lecturer in sport at universities in Iran. He has been in the UK for two and a half years. His Kung Fu work includes: National Iranian Kung Fu Team and regular performances at the National Kung Fu Festival of Iran and the Tehran Kung Fu Show. Teacher of Kung Fu at Good Chance, Calais, and Encampment, South Bank Centre. His theatre work includes: Encampment (Southbank Centre), Hope Shows (Good Chance Calais). Belarus Free Theatre (Leicester), Migration Festival (Leicester). As part of the theatre ensemble Psyche Delight Yasin has toured internationally.
Jonathan Nyatiis Congolese. Theatre credits include: Hotel (National Theatre); Promise (Belgrade Theatre); Love is Not Enough, Will Today Ever End (Tricycle Theatre).
John Pfumojena is from Zimbabwe. Theatre credits include:No One Is An Island (Tangle International); Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe); Bent, Peter Pan (National Theatre); I Am Thomas (National Theatre of Scotland); Beasty Baby (Polka Theatre); Now You See Me (Immediate Theatre); Dream (Ignite Africa Festival); Riots (Chickenshed Theatre); Water, Bread and Salt, Dream Nation, Workshop Negative (Tangle International).
Rachel Redford is from Wales. Theatre credits include:The Crucible (Manchester Royal Exchange); Luna Gale (Hampstead Theatre); Closer (Donmar Warehouse); A Ghost From A Perfect Place (Arcola); Adler & Gibb (Royal Court); Not The Worst Place (Sherman Theatre/Theatr Clwyd); Parallel Lines (Chapter Arts Centre); A Family Affair (Sherman Theatre); The Acid Test, Blue Stockings, King Lear (RADA).
Dominic Rowan is from Britain. Theatre credits include: A Woman Of No Importance, Stepping Out (Vaudeville Theatre); Winter Solstice (Orange Tree Theatre); Giving (Hampstead Theatre); The Tempest, Measure For Measure, Henry VIII, A New World, As You Like It (The Globe); The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic); Medea, Happy Now?, Dream Play, Iphigenia At Aulis, Mourning Becomes Electra, Three Sisters, The Talking Cure, Private Lives (National Theatre); A Doll’s House (Young Vic/Duke of York’s Theatre/BAM New York); The Village Bike, Way To Heaven, Forty Winks (Royal Court).
Rachid Sabitri is from Morocco. Theatre credits include:Aladdin (Prince Edward); I Call My Brothers (Arcola/Off Broadway); Twelfth Night (Westport Country Playhouse/Northampton Theatre Royal); Rafta Rafta (National Theatre); Bloodtide (Pilot Theatre Company); Beyond Midnight (Trestle Theatre).
Mohamed Sarraris a musician from Sudan. He has been in the UK for two years. His theatre includes: The Jungle (Young Vic), The Welcoming Party (Theatre Rights International Festival, Manchester), Encampment (Southbank Centre), Hope Shows (Good Chance Calais). As part of the theatre ensemble Psyche Delight, Mohamed has toured internationally.
Eric Sirakian is Armenian. He trained at RADA. Sirakian is making his professional debut in The Jungle.
Ben Turner is British Iranian. Theatre credits include: Soldier’s Fortune (Young Vic); The Kite Runner, As You Like It (Wyndham’s/UK tour); The Iliad (Royal Lyceum); Maiden Voices From The Uprising (Royal Court); Richard II, Caligula (Donmar Warehouse); Awake And Sing (Almeida); Measure For Measure/Habeus Corpus (UK Tour); The Merchant Of Venice (RSC world tour).
Nahel Tzegai is from Eritrea. Theatre credits include: How It Ended (Bush Theatre); Ring (BAC); The Ship’s Name (Royal Court); You Are Currently The Highest Bidder, Block 9, Virtually Real (Roundhouse).
