The Washing Line presented by Chickenshed.

The Washing Line has to be one of the most powerful productions I have seen in a while. The scene is set in Guyana in a place called Jonestown at the People’s Temple which had been set up by a preacher called Jim Jones who wanted to build a community in his own vision of peace and love, or so his followers believed he did.

Jones was an egotistical narcissistic man who saw himself in the vision of being GOD who deserved to be believed in and followed by others. Instead, he was delighted exploiting them all for his means and that could be anything he desired!

As you enter the auditorium, set out as part of the community grounds with bodies littered everywhere on the floor. You have to watch your step. The noise of the flies buzzing around you sets the scene for the horrors that lie ahead.

Jonny Morton plays a convincing role as the preacher Jim Jones and has a commanding strong presence on the stage, he is followed and adored as their Messiah. However, some members of the congregation began asking questions and wanted to leave. Although they were free to leave at any time, these were empty words from Jones and it wasn’t the case the people could leave safely.

Paul Harris plays the ill-fated Congressman Ryan has the look and statue of a government official and attempts to conduct the official report into what is going on inside the Temple. Along with the police detectives Ashley Driver and Vintage Shaw who are brought in to record the horrors that took place on the 18th of November.

Michael Bossisse, Dave Carey and Bethany Hamlin devised and created an important part of history that is poignant at this time as the world is increasingly unstable and many will be looking for an alternative where peace and harmony are the central themes, or so they appear to be on the surface. A deeply moving production which left the auditorium quiet and stunned both at the end of the first act and at the end of the play.

Chickenshed is renowned for having large casts in all of their productions. A production on the scale of The Washing Line is perfectly placed for the dynamic Theatre company. With a diverse cross-section of the community performing at the Theatre, they are well-placed to reflect the cross-section of the community that would have resided in Jonestown.

For more information about The Washing Line and future productions at Chickenshed please use the link below. There are also a couple of links about Jonestown, a subject I knew nothing about until watching The Washing Line.

Try catching this production before it finishes on April 5th 2025, it is certainly worth the visit.

Five Stars.

https://www.chickenshed.org.uk/

JONESTOWN Information