Ahmad Meree & ensemble in “Migraaaants”, Photo by Zahra Saleki
Made up of a series of interwoven vignettes presented in varied theatrical forms, Matei Visniec’s Migraaaants (translated by Nick Awde), an absurdist take on the refugee experience, is many things throughout: darkly comedic, heartbreaking, and chilling. Presented by Two Thousand Feet Up Theatre Company at Theatre Passe Muraille, Siavash Shabanpour’s direction is, on the whole, a compelling blend of whimsy and gravitas, though the expansive use of the space isn’t always consistently compelling.
Immediately, the audience becomes a part of a community of migrants on a boat to Europe. Known to us only as Boss (Ahmad Meree), a man barks orders and demands answers from us. He’s harsh and unrelenting, a drill sergeant and a goon, yet Meree also conveys the desperation in this tormented saviour to keep the operation on track for the sake of all concerned. As we gradually grasp the context of the situation, the sense of danger becomes ever more palpable. This particular storyline eventually reveals some drama within the dubious crew—a generally honourable venture fraught with mercenary motivations.
In another segment, a trafficking scam becomes a circus spectacle of neon, flashing whirligigs as it masquerades as a humanitarian effort. There are some sensationalistic product advertisements with a pair of aggressively enthusiastic women (Shannon Pitre and Keely Krall)—in business casual for their TED talk on a malicious surveillance device, then sparkly dresses for their barbed wire fashion show.
All this absurdity is balanced by a series of naturalistic domestic scenes between a Balkan husband and wife (Andrew Chown and Mahsa Ershadifar). In their quaint home—a realistic set (by Kadi Badiou) illuminated from behind a scrim—they try to make sense of the bewildering world around them. In their quietly amusing, gently poignant scenes, they struggle to reconcile an oppressive system (in which asylum-seekers are officially a threat) with their intimate, first-hand experience (where they are just people, needing a drink of water and a safe space to exist).
Poor Elihu’s scenario is particularly harrowing. In a deeply affecting series of scenes, Parastoo Amanzadeh plays a young boy who is being groomed to sell his limbs and organs to support his family. As his body is reduced to “capital,” Duncan Appleton’s lighting frames his ordeal as an eerie interrogation.
A scene between a president (Garrett Mallory Scott) and his PR coach (Henry Peirson) staged in an upper catwalk feels haphazard, flat and distant. The linguistic trickery and the underlying political evasions highlighted by the scene are clear enough, but the ambitiously expansive use of the space is a little clunky.
Overall, Migraaants hits its satirical and emotional beats efficiently and with plenty of evocative atmosphere.
Migraaaants
running January 13 to 28, 2024
Theatre Passe Muraille, Mainspace (16 Ryerson Ave)
running time: 80 Minutes (no intermission)
Parastoo Amanzadeh in “Migraaaants”, Photo by Zahra Saleki