For immigrant and refugee communities, telling stories becomes a means of survival in the disorientation of being uprooted from home — a way to endure, to remember and to imagine a future beyond displacement. 

In 2015, stories were the currency of the “Jungle,” a refugee camp in Calais, France, where thousands sought refuge at the height of the European migrant crisis. 

This weekend, Mixed Blood Theatre is bringing “The Jungle” to the stage, while artists across the Twin Cities are keeping cultural stories in motion at the St. Paul Art Crawl, a local record shop and the Minnesota History Center. 

‘Every town needs a theater’ — even a refugee camp

In 2015, as millions of refugees fled war and persecution across the Middle East and North Africa, a makeshift encampment known as the “Jungle” re-emerged in Calais, a port city in northern France. 

While the world watched the European migrant crisis from afar, London playwrights Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy drove to the camp in a car packed with supplies. 

“It was a town, in a way — a shanty town,” Robertson said. “They were building restaurants and cafes, schools and mosques, a marketplace and legal advice centers. There were lots of volunteers coming to build women and children’s centers, and we were like, ‘Well every town needs a theater.’”

Within weeks, the duo fundraised for a geodesic dome, gathered donated lights and staging, and returned to Calais to live in a tent alongside residents for seven months.

As migrants faced uncertainty, displacement and made frequent attempts to cross into the United Kingdom, a robust arts community began to take shape inside the Good Chance Theatre. Residents staged stand-up comedy, music, storytelling, kung fu, circus acts and theater performances. 

“It was a place where people could share and express who they were and what was happening to them in this strange and challenging moment,” Murphy said. “But also a place to go and have fun, and escape those things.” 

The Jungle — a site that Robertson described as a “miraculous place” for the way its residents showed up for one another — was demolished by French authorities in 2016, leaving a void that Robertson and Murphy felt a responsibility to fill. 

“If you are going to get rid of something, there is a responsibility to replace it with something else and that didn’t happen,” Murphy said. “That injustice propelled us into thinking about telling that story with some of the people we’ve met in the Jungle camp, alongside other actors.” 

This weekend, their play “The Jungle” makes its regional premiere at Minneapolis’ Mixed Blood Theatre, directed by Mark Valdez. 

“There’s this lovely moment in the play where the police show up and the people of the Jungle just kneel,” Valdez said. “It’s this peaceful resistance that we will all recognize and hopefully this play makes space for us to think about how to work together now to ensure better policies in a system that is deeply broken.”

The Twin Cities has “proven that we care for our neighbors and that we will take care of each other,” Valdez added. “The European refugee crisis took place 10 years ago and there’s something about that distance that gives us enough space to look at our current issues without feeling the direct heat of what we’re going through right now.” 

St. Paul artists open their studios

It’s the second weekend of the annual St. Paul Art Crawl, and artists of color are showing up across the city with music, open studios and visual art.

The Brazilian trio Alma Brasileira will perform at Erta Ale Ethiopian Restaurant on Friday, April 17 from 5 to 9 p.m. At Mary’s Pence, artists Edison Ritchie, Hclou and Stäcy Smith are exploring women’s leadership through Indigenous and Chinese perspectives, with Ritchie hosting an artist talk at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 19, on Lakota culture. 

At F-O-K Creatives, open studios run throughout the weekend — Friday, April 17, from 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, April 18, from noon to 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 19, from noon to 5 p.m. — inviting visitors to meet artists including Marlena Myles and Rajine the Queen. 

A story of Phežúta

St. Paul-based writer Tara Perron and North Dakota-based artist Holly Young will head to the Minnesota History Center on Saturday for the book launch of “Our Sacred Land of Phežúta.” 

The story follows a young girl who learns to identify and honor phežúta (healing medicine in the Lakota language) through the guidance of her grandmother’s ancestral wisdom. Young’s illustrations will be on display at the event. 

Local DJs mark Record Store Day

Vinyl fans across Minnesota will celebrate Record Store Day this Saturday and a great place to do that is at the state’s only Black-owned record store, Urban Lights Music.

Artist Sharon L. Nelson (Prince’s eldest sister) will sign copies of her 2024 memoir, “When It Rains, It’s Purple: The Story of Sharon L. Nelson,” alongside live DJ sets, concert ticket giveaways, free donuts, and coffee. 

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