Take Seeking Delphi to rural UK community centres
Donation protected
Seeking Delphi has been made in collaboration with homeless people from London and beyond, and is inspired by the Ancient Greek Tragedy: The Women of Troy.
It is a deeply compelling, painfully stark and shameless story that follows Cassie, Andi and Helen as they attempt to recover from the trauma of their past, dispel the labels they have been given and find a sense of home and comfort in each other and the Delphi Centre.
We use physical theatre, soundscapes, and raw dialogue to explore their relationships and the relationship between choice and circumstance.
The show premiered at VAULT Festival on 14-17 March. During this short run, complimentary tickets are being provided to many of the rough sleepers who contributed to our show’s creation - including covering their transportation and food for the evening.
After this, we will take the show on a tour around the country, including to community centres in rural areas and homeless shelters - where we will additionally run drama and artistic workshops for vulnerable communities and provide hot meals and toiletries packs to participants.
The facts:
- 32% of Britons believe that most homeless people have themselves to blame for being homeless, having made bad choices that led to their situation - this rises to 45% amongst Conservative voters (YouGov, 2023).
- The reality is that people become homeless for lots of different reasons, such as a lack of affordable housing, poverty and unemployment; physical and mental health problems; and breakdown of relationships - for women in particular, domestic abuse is the third most common cause of homelessness (Shelter, 2021).
- Homelessness could happen to anyone: 60% of households in private rentals in the UK are only one paycheque away from becoming homeless (Shelter, 2021), and 1 in 3 single mothers are constantly struggling or are behind on their rent or mortgage (YouGov, 2021).
- The number of people who are experiencing homelessness has increased over the last decade, with London taking the biggest hit where an estimated 1 in every 53 people are without a home (Shelter, 2021).
But these are just statistics, they have been quoted time and time again in the media and they turn individuals into numbers which means the public struggles to empathise, and it’s harder to promote change as readers become embattled with compassion fatigue. Personalities are forgotten and figures are ignored.
Seeking Delphi seeks to bring humanity back to the stories of homeless people, by working directly with homeless people to represent real, honest and human stories on stage.
Why the Trojan Women?
Euripedes’ original work was written as a protest against the absurdity, violence and atrocities of war and a plea for solidarity and humanity. This play is our own plea for solidarity and humanity towards vulnerable people in the UK.
The story of The Trojan Women follows the fates of the women left behind after the Trojan War. The prophetess Cassandra, labelled as mad, is forced to be a slave and concubine for Agamemnon. Andromache, who has already lost her husband must part with her son after being told he will be executed, and Helen is accused of having an affair and being the cause of the entire war - her punishment, death.
Not only are these stories tragic, but they also share many parallels with the stories of homeless people in the UK, who have to fight the labels assigned to them, face loss regularly and are thought of as the cause of the hardships they face.
Our creative team
Our creative process has been an artistic and dynamic mix of acting, directing, writing and interviews. Our team includes:
Stephanie Arkinstall (Actor / Deviser), Murphee Thompson (Actor / Deviser), Abigail Stone (Actor / Deviser), Dimitra Kalesiaki (Director / Deviser), Josh Anderson-Grey (Writer) and Juliana Kilburn (Producer)
Socials and links
Thank you for your support, no matter the value it means so much to us and will go a long way in helping us support and work with marginalised communities.
You can get your tickets to our show at VAULT Festival here
Follow our journey with this show and our work with vulnerable communities:
Instagram @hbrowntheatre
Twitter @hbrowntheatre
Organizer
Hash Brown Theatre
Organizer
England