Gabriel, a Lost Boy says, “My dreams are like the river Gilo, rising all day until at night it is swollen with fast water and boys’ bodies you can walk across like a bridge, and underneath nyang are waiting…"

The river plays such a prominent part of Gabriel’s story. It is both his friend and his antagonist. It’s a part of the games he plays with Alex, it’s where he lost his brother, it’s where he lives. The boys of his village also lead the cows across the river to graze, into the river those same boys dive for their lives when under attack. It is precarious and respected and throughout the play it feels like Gabriel is both longing to be near it and yet, is drowning in its currents.

The set design is modeled after this idea. The feeling of being stuck and not being able to cross, the feeling of being overcome, the feeling of being “home” but not belonging, and the feeling of being misplaced.

With this in mind, consider the designs painted on the floor. They are intended to wind in such a way that is reminiscent of the uniquely shaped Nile and Gilo rivers. This structure also provides for a sort of linear and seamless movement between scenes.

The area surrounding the river is like the bank of these winding and dubious waters. The idea came from images of the aftermath of South Sudan; the destruction and piles of trash and rubble. Conceptualized into strips of paper and torn cardboard to give it more of a sense of ‘stock-boy familiarity’. My thoughts were to create a gnarly-looking place that is encroaching on Gabriel. Again, reiterating a sense of being caught in a loop and lost. “It’s a rat’s life I live here. I crawl out to work. I crawl back at night, in the morning I crawl out again. I am a rat going in a circle…”