Jinch Malrex: Play Analysis

Jinch Malrex is similar to The Farm Show as well as the play the theatre group Miles belongs to from The Drawer Boy. All of these plays had thorough research conducted by the creators of the play in order to assist with accuracy, reality, and story of the play. Additionally, these plays were created with the main purpose of informing the audience and were collective creations,.

Firstly, the creators of Jinch Malrex, just like the creators of The Farm Show and the theatre group’s play in The Drawer Boy, researched the topics of their plays by gaining some personal experience regarding the topic. The majority of the creators of Jinch Malrex, youth aged 16 to 22, grew up or currently live in parts of cities that are labelled as having youth
Jinch Malrex was created by a group of youths who grew up/ currently live in a city considered to have many youth who are at risk. Thus, in this play that the group of youth created, each of their characters represents a youth who is at risk, but with a reason clarifying their behaviour. For example, the article talking about Jinch Malrex states that one of the characters, Jenai, although transporting drugs, actually has ‘’intentions [that] are good’’ and that this character wants to ‘’wake up and be out of the hood.’’ However, Jenai has to stay on the streets in order to escape from her extremely disordered family. Knowing these facts about Jenai allows the audience to open their minds and realize that just because an adolescent is hanging out on the streets, does not mean that he/she wants to be there, has much of a choice to be there, or that he/she is a bad person. This message assists in breaking the stereotypes as the audience becomes more empathetic of others. Similarily, in The Farm Show and the play Miles and his theatre group create, both create the plays in order to inform the audience about the realities of the farming life, thus encouraging the audience to empathize with the farmers and break the stereotypes of them. For instance, Miles states upon
Jinch Malrex was created collectively by a group of ‘’12 aspiring actors, poets, lyricists, and storytellers.’’ Likewise, the script for The Farm Show was developed by the actors of the play, who held daily improvisation sessions to create songs, dialogue, and scenes for the play. In the same manner, Miles from The Drawer Boy mentions being part of a play where actors suggest ideas. Because the story Miles overheard Morgan telling Angus was scripted into a play Miles and his group later performed, it is evident that in Mile’s theatre group, the play is created by the actors and with some help from the director (ie. collective creation). Otherwise, if this play was not a collective creation, the director of that play would not allow Miles’ idea to be a part, let alone the entirety, of the play. Miles clearly states that his play is a collective creation when he says ‘’I’m here with a group of actors. We’re making up a play about farmers’’(Healey, 4). As shown in the above paragraphs, the theatre groups who created these three plays drew their material from real life (such as by past life experiences or living in a certain environment to gain those experiences). Also, they worked alongside members of the community, such as with farmers and as in Jinch Malrex’s case, with a community-based arts facility called Art Starts Neighbourhood Cultural Centre.