Homeless on the national stage.
A new play, Love by Alexander Zeldin, finished its National Theatre run this week*. The stage is the living area of a hostel for the homeless shared by 4 families. Just before Christmas. Chairs, table, sink, fridge, hob. Cold light, peeling paint. 5 doors off….from audience’s left to right:
Door 1 Shared bathroom. Door 2 Barbara, late 60s, ill, incontinent. Colin, 40s, her son and carer. Door 3 Emma, 30s, 7 months pregnant. Dean, 30s, Emma’s partner. Jason, 12, their son. Paige, 8, their daughter. Door 4 Tharwa, 30s, and her baby. Door 5 Adnan, 20s, Syrian, passing through.
Barbara and Colin, and Emma and Dean have been evicted. Dean is unemployed. He missed an appointment the day he was evicted and was sanctioned. Tharwa is newly arrived from Sudan.
The action shows the humiliations of living at close quarters with strangers.
All conversations within and between the families are about escaping to independent housing or negotiations about the minimal facilities. But painfully evident throughout is the effort to survive in what the Financial Times reviewer calls “the dehumanising reality of being homeless”.
The children are resilient but obviously vulnerable. The stress and guilt of the young parents are hard to watch.
Against all the odds the play’s single-word title is justified.
At Citizens Advice we help people with problems and try to change policy for the better. The arts have a part to play in changing attitudes. We can report they are playing it – on the national stage and in theatres and cinemas across the country.
*Next playing Birmingham Repertory Theatre, 26 January to 11 February.