Home is Where... The Riverfront

2:48pm Friday 9th May 2008

INSPIRED by Ken Loach's seminal drama Cathy Come Home, which shocked the country with its depiction of homelessness, a Newport group tackles the subject forty years on.

The Transporter Theatre Group at Solas Cymru, part of the Seren Group, marked the 25th anniversary of supporting homeless and vulnerable people by staging Home is Where The play centres around the Jones family, who are living in a hostel, and the trials and tribulations they face, as well as characters they interact with.

Dealing with a range of issues, including alcoholism, suicide and the search for housing, the show pulls no punches.

Several of the cast have also spent time in hostels, and the play is inspired by a number of real-life stories and issues.

Through a series of flashback scenes, the Jones are shown in happier times, followed by the series of events which snowballed, culminating in the loss of their home.

The second half was audience interaction, allowing people to raise possible solutions to each of the problems the characters faced.

Home is Where was an eye-opening show about how far help for the homeless has come since Cathy Come Home, but also how much there is still left to do.

Through an entertaining and realistic story, it paints a vivid picture of the problems faced daily by families across the country by combining humour with gritty realism.

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