Corporate and Aboriginal ideals clash over French Guyana rainforest gold.

A man standing on stage with a parrot.
A man sitting at a table in front of a painting.

A true story of the drama, humor, and life lessons that were born of attempts to balance the opposing forces of multi-national interests and indigenous people in the rainforest of French Guyana. In a corner of the jungle, geologist Roger Kuhns learned of a treasure far more valuable than the gold sought by a mining company. The secrets of an exotic world came to light through tangled relationships and conflicting purposes of those who did not understand a fragile ecosystem.

© Roger James Kuhns 2001

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Past Shows

March | Door Community Church, Wisconsin

"...In the meantime, there is a chapter called 'Jungle Gold' that Roger performs as a one-man show ala Spaulding Gray. It is a densely packed piece of images and experiences chronicling Roger’s time in French Guyana and his performance can certainly be compared to that of Mr. Gray’s. Gray, who recently died, had been heralded as the greatest American storyteller of his generation...
I had seen other kinds of performances of Roger's at The Bridge and The Third Avenue Playhouse, but he really knocked my socks off at this Emerson Cultural Series performance of 'Jungle Gold'...
With few exceptions, Roger’s animation and energy along with really interesting transitions kept the ball in the air and focused the attention of the audience...Roger’s facial gestures and comic timing really aided in completing a sense of the characters that we meet and travel with throughout the experience. It was particularly fun when he would rapidly switch from one to the other. Roger injected a blood curdling Tarzan 'call' at one point that certainly got everyone’s attention. And then there’s the story of being bitten by a snake while sitting on a toilet! Now that should get you to go see Roger do 'Jungle Gold'. Roger is a true Renaissance man and 'Jungle Gold' is just the tip of the iceberg, but a very entertaining tip."
- an excerpt of the full "Jungle Gold" review by Sheila Sabrey-Saperstein | The Peninsula Pulse | April 2005