A short and sweet fly-on-the-wall view into the lives of migrants. Emotive, atmospheric, and important.
Transit is a 45 (ish) minute 3-person play from Halfpace Theatre Company, currently showing at The Space. There isn’t a core plot, instead we’re presented with a series of short scenes that each give us an insight into the every-day struggles of living in the UK as an immigrant. Our characters are not intrinsically connected – in fact I can only recall one scene where their paths cross in a meaningful way. Instead these scenes are often performed solo by one of the actors, though the other 2 sometimes provide atmospheric support through holding lights or moving other props around. The scenes usually focus on a character as we’re shown how their lives are littered with struggles that would be alien to UK natives.
For the scenes absent of dialogue, the story is told through props and physical movements. Suitcases and sheets of paper are two simple props that are used throughout. We see our characters struggling with the seemingly overbearing but routine struggle of packing their lives into a suitcase. Our opening scene takes this motif to a wonderful extreme: The stage is set as the audience enter the theatre with suitcases strewn across the stage and two of our actors stood stoically next to them, unmoving. Only when the show starts do we learn the final member of the trio has been crammed into one of the suitcases the whole time. We, the audience, then watch her slowly emerge from the suitcase, as though a butterfly emerging from a cocoon.
A few of the scenes are performed individually, but involve the character on a video call to friends or a relative in another country – the video being pre-recorded and projected onto stage. These calls do well to highlight the sadness and challenge that separation from your loved ones can present. It can simply be the sadness of celebrating your birthday alone, or even the difficulty of communicating from significantly different time zones. Conversely, we’re shown how the challenges around the bureaucracy of visas for immigrants in the UK can lead to people being unable to attend key life events, when those events are happening across the world. They face the real possibility that if they leave the UK, they might not be allowed back in.
For the one scene where our characters do directly interact, we find their paths crossing at an audition for an acting job. Our characters, both of whom are of East Asian ethnicity, perform a series of novelty 1v1 duels to make light of the fact that they’re competing for work, a truly joyful scene to watch. Reality later comes crashing down for both our characters as both are denied the job, being told by a voiceover representing the casting director that the ‘quota’ has been filled. A choice of words that highlights the struggles that many East Asian actors have historically faced in Western performing arts industries.
All in all, this short, minimalist play really left an impression on me. And I think for something under an hour and with such a small script and low level of production to do so, it’s a real testament to the play and the performances of the actors. End to end, the production felt emotive, atmospheric, and important.
Transit is on at The Space Theatre until the 2nd December. Get your tickets here.