So so so wanted to see this first time around and missed it cos I was travelling.

It’s back for a second short run at The Shed and, this time I’m in and hosting an event for the Young Patrons of the National Theatre with Mario, all based around Home and a backstage tour.

The tour was cool, we got to see Leslie Sharp warming up for Taste of Honey in the Lyttleton and the cast of A Small Family Business starting their warm up yoga session in the Olivier. A peek behind the curtain.

So. Home. What is home? Where is home? What does it mean? Is it safe? Is it comfortable? Can you afford it? This play addresses what that means to a community who live in an East London hostel for homeless young people. This is a verbatim series of stories. It’s full of energy and life; it’s glorious.

The Target hostel welcomes everyone: the gentle gardener who was thrown out by his mum, the Pakistani girl who left her stifling family for a life of “doing what you want” with a drunk who beat her and caused her miscarriages, the young guy who wants to sing and act and not be at his all boys school, the girl who’s in a toxic relationship with the guy who gives her an STD, the guy who got on the wrong side of the gangs and got shot.

The actors met the people they’re portraying. That must’ve been extraordinarily moving and a prividedge to meet the person whose story you’re telling. This shines through in the performances filled with humour, joy, sorrow and song.

Some of these residents have families elsewhere, some have babies. They aren’t alone or sad; they are trying, struggling. They want a community, they want a family, they want a sense of belonging. And for the majority of the residence there was a real sense of pride. Pride in who they are, where they come from and what they aspire to.

This is the basics of Maslow. Food. Shelter. Home. And they don’t have it. Or they are told this community centre isn’t it. “This is not your home” said the Key worker, that’s a harsh message for a 17 year old.

When this play was first shown, it ended with the Manager having a new case to deal with. Now six months on, they’ve gone back to see the Target community centre to reinterview the residents they first met.

Several now have their own homes and are proud and so happy; wanting to share their good fortune and sense of belonging to the “regular” world with the interviewer — even offering to cook for them.

And then there was an update on the gentle gardener, the sweet guy who simply wanted to care for his brother and give him the childhood he never had; away from their mother. He’d committed suicide. Why? because he wasn’t considered High Risk and there isn’t enough money to support, and he was evicted. He couldn’t cope. He ended it. An emotional ending I wasn’t expecting. It hit me hard. How did I feel about this? I’m still not sure.
I loved that this made me think and is going to take some time to process. I loved the raw feeling this play has. It feels important.

I also wonder if the community at Target come to see the play?

I love that the Shed does this stuff. I have not yet been disappointed by anything I’ve seen at the Shed since it opened a year ago. It’s had its planning permission extended. This is awesome news for the London theatre scene. It means they can keep doing this, keep taking risks, keep doing important work, keep getting it right.

PS awesome beatboxing. So good in fact that after seeing this a friend of mine now gets classes from Grace Savage, the beatboxing actress. Go Aliceson! I can’t wait to hear you.

5/5 I love that The National supports work like Home.