There will be two free events at Newcastle’s Live Theatre to coincide with the Paddy Campbell's play Wet House. The play, which is set in a wet house, a homeless hostel where residents can drink alcohol, was voted one of the top 10 plays of 2013 by The Guardian.
On Sunday 5 October at 6:45PM, Live Theatre’s literary manager Gez Casey will be joined by experts from across the city to discuss the issues raised in the play in a discussion about homelessness and addiction.
Writer Paddy Campbell will talk about his first-hand experience working in a wet house, the inspiration for his first full-length play, which questions who will look after the people that no one else will look after.
Campbell and Casey will be joined by a panel including Tony Machin, Director of Programmes for Public Health and Wellbeing at Northumbria University, Neil Munslow, Service Manager: Active Inclusion for Newcastle City Council and Ben Dickinson, who directed Alphabetti Theatre’s How Did I Get To This Point?, a new play based on research with homeless people that was presented in Live’s Studio Theatre in September.
The play, which was created in response to Wet House, questioned how far any of us are from losing our home. Ben also spends his days as Business Contracts Manager for Young People and Generic Services at Home Group in Newcastle, an organisation which provides housing services to help some of society’s most vulnerable people take control of their own lives.
Gez Casey, literary manager at Live Theatre, said, "Wet House highlights important issues around society’s attitudes to homelessness and addiction that are often ignored or forgotten about in mainstream media discussions.
"This is a great opportunity to discuss these questions with academics, professionals and front-line workers. Each of the panellists brings an informed perspective along with considerable practical experience which will ensure a lively debate on these crucial issues."
At 10:15PM on Tuesday 7 October, following the evening performance, audiences will get the chance to join director Max Roberts, writer Paddy Campbell and the cast to talk about the making of the production.
Jackie Lye, Chris Connel and Riley Jones, who play wet house workers, and Joe Caffrey, Eva Quinn and Simon Roberts, who play residents, talk about research into the play and their characters and audience members will have the chance to put any burning questions to the panel. This post-show discussion will also be British Sign Language interpreted.