101001 - Homelessness Awareness

Today I am meeting up with friends to attend a walking theatrical tour. Today it is raining. “Lashing it down” as my mother would say. Before I allow my thoughts to drift down into self-pity about how the weather could spoil our day – I quickly remind myself; this is a tour about homelessness. A glorious sunny day is not a luxury the homeless can control – it is what it is.

Setting off with headphones, a tour guide and umbrellas, the drama is narrated into our ears as we walk along the familiar streets of Belfast. We pass the homeless hostel, Cornmarket, Joys Entry, Queen's bridge – but unlike previous Three Theatre’s productions, there are no actors lined along the way to match the words. Unfortunately, actors are not needed. Instead there are real life characters who are there, day in; day out. The man sitting on the bench with his bottle of cider and black eye; his demeanour sad and empty.

There’s the woman sitting next to the cash-link in Cornmarket, her placement very familiar to our narrator; he recalls a little girl putting money in his cup – and her mother scurrying away, not even wanting to make eye contact.

As we continue our walk, I notice that huge damp spots already line along the toes of my boots. The narration reminds me that these streets are not just passages to hurry through – from one message to another – these streets have become his home – day in, day out.

Knowing that the narration has been compiled following interviews with three homeless people – makes this piece all the more unforgettable. The fact that heroin was offered to him four times in the first night of the hostel, the quick descent into drug addiction, being kicked whilst trying to sleep in doorways, being offered money for sexual favours from other men – the utter vulnerability and insecurity.

But more than that – the invisible cloak that seemed to surround him. People pretending that he didn’t exist. People afraid to make eye contact. The intimacy of the headphones made these images all the more striking.

This is a hard hitting piece that made me feel both sad and grateful in equal measures. An unforgettable experience that deepened my view of the city streets. Those alleyways are no longer the passages to the next part of the day – they are the home of someone who may just need a look or a smile. 

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10100i is a walking tour of Belfast city produced by Three's Theatre Company at The MAC, Belfast, in conjunction with Simon Community and OutsideIn. It was written by Colm Doran and Gina Donnelly with voice-overs by Brendan Quinn and Adele Gribbon.   

I attended on Sunday 13 October at 1.30pm