In staging Zana Fraillon’s 2016 novel, York-based Pilot Theatre goes beyond its stated core aim, “to create a cultural space where young adults can encounter, express, and interrogate big ideas that are relevant to our lives right now”.
Subhi (Yaamin Chowdhury) has experienced nothing beyond the immigration detention centre in Australia where he was born. Here he is trapped with his mother (Kiran L Dadlani) and older sister, Queenie (Siobhan Athwal); the family is Rohingya, fled from persecution. Jimmie (Mary Roubos) lives with her father and brother beyond the camp; her mother is dead. The two youngsters meet one night when Jimmie comes to discover whether local rumours about the fabulous privileges enjoyed by detainees are true.
As the pair share their stories, Queenie and Somali refugee Eli (Elmi Rashid Elmi) take surreptitious photographs to send to the press in the hope that the unfolding story of appalling conditions within the camp will reach the outer world. It does, but not before vicious guard Beaver (Mackenzie Scott) has taken a terrible revenge.
Presentationally, director Esther Richardson’s production is impressive. The stage picture powerfully counterpoints impressions of confinement and freedom: Miriam Nabarro’s set silhouettes space-enclosing wire fences against the seemingly endless, colour-washed horizons suggested by Ben Cowens’s lighting. Video projections illustrate tales being told (seascapes, skyscapes, the eponymous bird; realised by Daniel Denton and Maha Alomari). Puppets are laughter-raising (a toy duck) and terrifying (bird skull-wearing soldiers); masked characters bring to moving life the story-within-the-story, written by Jimmie’s late mother and read to the illiterate girl by Subhi.
At times, S Shakthidharan’s adaptation feels shaky, more like a sequence of scenes than a fully developed drama. Ultimately, though, the writing, combined with committed performances from the cast, soul-shakingly communicates the truthfulness of the characters’ experiences. The message of Pilot’s production is not just for young adults but for all ages and all times.
The Bone Sparrow, a co-production with York Theatre Royal, Derby theatre, the Belgrade theatre, Coventry and Mercury theatre, Colchester) tours the UK until 23 April
