Performance theatre challenges perceptions of homeless
By News England, ,

Performing arts academics at Sheffield Hallam University have teamed up with South Yorkshire Housing Association and London-based theatre company Cardboard Citizens on a challenging new piece of performance theatre, based on people’s experiences of being homeless.

Benefit, by playwright Sarah Woods, tells the stories of three characters struggling with their bank balances, their histories and their own sense of self. The play, a response to currently contested social welfare reform issues, is a ‘forum theatre’ piece, where the audience are invited to join in and shape the outcome.

Homeless people in the region supported by South Yorkshire Housing Association were involved with the pilot project in 2014 which led to the shaping of Cardboard Citizens’ tour and workshop project this year.

Zoe Oldfield from South Yorkshire Housing Association (SYHA) said: “We’re delighted to be part of such an innovative and exciting way to explore homelessness. This is a very real issue for many of our customers who are already in regular contact with our LiveWell services. We hope that the audience will come away from the performance with a new perspective on homelessness.”

Michael Chandler, from Cardboard Citizens, said: “We’re really excited to work with SYHA and Sheffield Hallam University to bring our work to Sheffield. Working with SYHA has enabled us to lay the ground work for our most ambitious forum theatre tour to date. By taking a forum theatre show and our workshops on tour we are able to debate the issues in the play with a wide cross section of society across the whole of the UK.”

South Yorkshire Housing Association is working with the theatre company, to run workshops involving people from the region who have experienced, or are currently experiencing, homelessness.

Applied theatre expert Ashley Barnes, group leader for Sheffield Hallam’s stage and screen courses, is researching the impact of the project. Ashley said: “Forum theatre uses performance techniques to empower people to make decisions about their lives. I’m hopeful that people will come away from this event appreciating that the world is not fixed, and that any small action can start the process of change.”

Benefit will be performed at The Space, 5 Brown Street, Sheffield, S1 2BS on Saturday 25 April 2015. To book tickets for the performance, or to find out more, visit www.cardboardcitizens.org.uk and follow the link to What’s On.