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Based on true events, this interesting and enjoyable short play explores questions of national identity.Summary
Rating
Good
Theatre for Identity (T4I) emerged from a human rights organisation in Argentina and uses theatre to explore the topic of identity. Wanting to look at the subject of national identities colliding, they chose to write about the story of Jemmy Button (Fahad Salman). In 1830, O’run-del’lico was an adolescent from the islands around Tierra del Fuego (modern Chile and Argentina) when it was visited by The Beagle (yes that ship) on its first voyage to the area. The captain, Robert Fitz Roy (Mark Shaer) took four young people back to England as an experiment, indoctrinating them in Christianity and British culture before being returned to their homeland to act as go-betweens and interpreters. The four were given different names by the crew– the name Jemmy Button apparently referencing a mother-of-pearl button given to his family as some kind of compensation or payment.
Clad in black boiler suits and with the aid of only a few props – hats, a rubber chicken and the like – the cast of five do stellar work portraying numerous characters. I particularly liked Stephanie Ellyne’s slightly demented missionary character. Salman’s Button seemed uniformly sullen and resentful (not surprising, really, considering what the character must have experienced). The play should probably be called “The Trials of Jemmy Button”, as he endured so much more than the Court proceedings. Sometimes the delivery of the dialogue seemed a bit befuddled, and there were also pauses which stretched just a few moments too long. It is possible they were meant for dramatic effect, but it ended up just being a bit awkward. By repositioning a few wooden chairs and boxes, Marcio Santarosa’s simple set design allowed the tiny stage to become a ship, church, courtroom, or whatever else was needed.
Described as a ‘verbatim play based on old documents and letters’, the story is told by way of narrators (Ellyne, Sabina Westrup) delivering information assisted by slides projected onto a small screen, interspersed with scenes along the way. Part-lecture and part-play, it reminded me of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. The narrators point out that the events are open to interpretation and that any perspective is personal. They exemplify this through the question: did Jemmy Button go on to The Beagle willingly or was he abducted? One scene was acted out in two different ways, and it was effective in providing a very different viewpoint of the same event. Better use could have been made of this format, especially as the writer had taken pains to point that there are different viewpoints, and the device made it feel just a bit less like a GCSE history class outing.
This play is about 80 minutes, but it packs a lot into that short time. Well-presented and acted, there are both shocking and humorous moments, much information, and some interesting questions to think about. Although based on true events from 200 years ago, it is still relevant to modern society.
Written and Directed by: Luis Gayol
Costumes by: Jenny Hobson
Set design by: Marcio Andrey Santarosa
The Trial of Jemmy Button plasy at Calder Bookshop and Theatre until 9 March. Further information and bookings can be found here.
