Drama evaluation of topic - Homelessness.

Jade Brindley 11t

Drama Evaluation of topic: Homelessness

“Homeless a. lacking a dwelling-place”: The Pocket Oxford Dictionary

Homelessness is what happens to thousands of people each year, some choose it and some have no other alternative. It would be a worst fear for many individuals and families, but it is usually a fear that is unthought of “it wouldn’t happen to me.” However it does happen to people, rich people that have gone bankrupt ordinary people that had to re-mortgage their house and couldn’t pay, it is not just the drunks and alcoholics of society. In our play about why Chris left home we looked at family abuse. It was made evident at the start of the play that the atmosphere was tense when the dad got home, as the two children pretended to be asleep. The contrast between the silence and then the sudden shouting represented the unpredictability of the household and the roller coaster of emotions surrounding it. The way in which the two children clung together showed the fear hat was felt at the home. When the mother was hit it was made more dramatic by freezing that point for a second. The reason why we chose to do this was because it was a vital part to the play, it is significant as this is the point in which decisions are made and limits are pushed too far. When the children hurry to the mother, she says it will be all right, she turns down the suggestion of leaving. This is typical of a abused wife, she is too insecure and scared to leave so she stays and continues in her life of misery. However Chris and her sister do not want to stay, they are unable to cope and this time because of the fear they leave. This can be the cause of why children or young adults are on the streets, the play triggered emotions in me and helped me understand how kids can contemplate life on the streets.

“Homeless adjective homeless families. Abandoned, destitute, down and out, evicted, forsaken, itinerant, nomadic, outcast, unhoused, wandering”: The Oxford Thesaurus

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“Homeless adjective homeless families. Abandoned, destitute, down and out, evicted, forsaken, itinerant, nomadic, outcast, unhoused, wandering”: The Oxford Thesaurus

Life on the streets is hard. It is extremely cold, dangerous and lonely. There is the risk of rape, murder, abuse, and theft and through the penniless poverty there is the risk of drugs and prostitution. It is not always one particular person or family that is subjected to this though, throughout one play we looked at war and the homelessness of many. It is all very sudden in our play and the scene begins with the Jewish prayer, this creates a feeling of sorrow. Then it springs into action, shouting and screaming occur and the husband/father is taken away. This shows just how harsh the war was, one of your family being taken away, never to be seen again? It is heartbreaking to act and to watch, without even considering having to go through it. The loneliness and abandonment occur when they have to sleep rough for the night, they have very few possessions, only the essentials which they can carry. They have had to leave everything behind, not only their home and their belongings but also their identity and security. The night on the streets is good as whilst the child and mother are asleep, thereis a simultaneous scene on the other side of the stage with the dad being killed, this is effective as it isa good contrast with the peaceful sleeping and unawareness to horrific shouting and violence. The scene, in which they are travelling on a train, is effective as it shows the journey away from their old life and possible the travel to death. The mother has to lie to the child and say that the dad is coming, although dramatic irony is used as the audience have previously witnessed the ruthless killing of him. The mother is realistic and knows that they are unlikely to see him again although she tries to convince herself otherwise shown in an emotive monologue. Throughout the monologue her husband is there in spirit, it is through his frustration at not being able to see her again that portrays the helplessness of the victims of war. The Jewish prayer is then repeated, it is significant as the audience realise that the horror is not over and that fear and violence is sure to pursue.

“Homeless people; beggars, the destitute, the poor, tramps and vagrants”

I studied the response of the public with homeless people and portrayed the different views on it. Some people tend to no look, pretend they are unaware and believe that if they pretend that they don’t know about something then they are not doing anything wrong by not helping. Others stop and stare as if they are some animal in a cage at a zoo, whilst others give abuse and look down upon them as if they are scum. They cannot seem to comprehend why they have got there in the first place, they assume that they are all criminals and “vagrants.” I chose to do a play that represented a variety of these people and performed it situated on a Saturday night, it was effective as it showed how many people look at homeless people in many different ways.

I also chose to do a play with a mother searching for her child. She was asking everyone on the street desperately but didn’t even notice the person in the doorway who was homeless, which was the person hat would have been able to help her most or could of even been her daughter.

“Homely adjective a homely atmosphere. Comfortable, congenial, cosy, easy-going, familiar, friendly, informal, intimate, natural, relaxed, simple, unaffected, unpretentious, unsophisticated”

Many people would give anything to go back home. The reason why they beg is for survival, but what they need is help to get back on track, to have somewhere to live, to be able to get a job and what they want most, a life. Is giving them money on the streets a vicious circle? Many people debate about this, a number of people want them cleared off the streets as they “clutter” up society and the surroundings. To these people there is a lack of understanding towards people who need help and are fellow human beings with the same emotions and feelings. This ignorance is shown through the protester play I performed. I chose to use the audience as a representation of the person we were talking to. This put the audience in the middle of the scene and makes them feel as though they were involved, it also enabled the audience to feel the pressure felt by the imaginary politician that was being quizzed. This gained me a perspective that I had been unable to understand before and I managed to feel; the passion provoked by the subject.

I learnt during the plays that I performed and studied that people don’t always choose to be there and be it from war or own choice or circumstances beyond a majorities comparison, homelessness is ha horrible, lonely, isolated scary place. It is degrading to have to be looked down upon, as a piece of dirt and it is difficult to remember that they need help. So maybe next time I am walking through the streets and somebody positioned as a lump in a sleeping bag inside a shop doorway asks me for money, I will spare the change instead of hurrying by, looking in the opposite direction pretending I didn’t hear.