Cardboard Citizens by Freddie Still
Cardboard Citizens is the only professional theatre company in the U.K. working with homeless and ex-homeless people as creators, participants and audiences. They use forum theatre - an interactive theatre in which the audience is invited to examine ways of possibly solving the problems faced by the characters in the stories. In their short plays, they deal with issues like drugs, alcohol and mental health.
I have worked with Cardboard Citizens in London, and toured with them twice nationally. Let me tell you, it’s hard work travelling to venues, unloading the van and setting up the show (looking out that nothing gets nicked in the process), doing the play, then acting as a mentor to the audience afterwards. You hear some sad stories, and you need to help them get to the proper services, if they have issues that must be dealt with, or help them to get onto a useful training course.
On the last tour I did with Cardboard Citizens, we did a show in Leicester, and in the forum part of the play, a man named Tony told us he had a drink problem for the last 15 years, which made him lose his family and friends, and he ended up sleeping on the street. He said that he was in a hostel, but he was still drinking. At the end of the night we said good-bye and went on our way.
The next day we were going to Glasgow to do five shows. It was the first time Cardboard Citizens would be playing in Scotland. We were only there for two days, when we got a phone call from Leicester saying that Tony was missing. We were a bit sad, as we were doing our first show in Glasgow, and we wanted to do our best to show them we knew what we were talking about. At one of those shows, a man named Jack said, ‘This is why we are not doing our XXXXing art workshop, because of this XXXXing lot.’ Oh dear, he was a right Jack the lad (sorry about the pun) but then, he was one of the first to get into the forum part of the play, and ask why not do it this way or that? So, in the end, he was happy to miss his xxxxing art workshop.
Back in London again, it was work, work work. But we got a phone call from Leicester saying that Tony was back at the day centre, telling everyone he hadn’t had a drink for the past five days, after seeing our show - well, that made our day! Not only had they loved Cardboard Citizens in Glasgow, but it also helped Tony kick the drink!
When we were doing the forum part of the show in Croydon, someone from the audience tipped a cup of tea over an actor (thank xxxx it was cold) ! Apparently, he did it because he did not know how to get out the words that he was thinking. As I have said, it is hard work setting the show up, doing the play and forum, and also, being a mentor for the audience…When someone comes up from the audience, you do not know what they are going to say or do and that keeps you on your toes! After the show ends, it is time to clear everything out, and go back to base to unload the van. Finally, if there is time, we head down to the pub for a pint to talk about the show. Did the audience like it? What parts could we do better?
Cardboard Citizens has worked with the E.N.O. (English National Opera) mapping the underground, R.S.C. (Royal Shakespeare Company) Pericles – yes, that one by Billy Shakespeare. I was not in those productions, but I was in a site-specific play (in an old jam factory in Bermondsey) called Mincemeat - four weeks rehearsal for seven performances. It was set during W.W.II. The deception of the Germans by the Allies via the landings in Europe was to take place as was expected, but in Sardinia. A body was washed up on the shore of Spain, which appeared to belong to Major William Martin. Was it a deception to fool the Germans? Who was Major Martin? Its success was not just down to the script or the performances, both of which were excellent, but, also, in the way form and content reflected each other. There was no nostalgia there, just a clear-eyed acknowledgement that the dispossessed, the poor, the mentally troubled and the homeless would always be with us. (“It doesn’t just deserve a much wider showing. It demands one” - Lyn Gardner.)
As I was the new boy, if something did not go right i.e. lights or sound, Freddie did it. And if a car or van got a parking ticket, it was down to Freddie. Once, I was going to say XXXX it and walk out, but I stuck with it. But we did have some laughs, for example, when an actor somehow got locked in and we were down the pub, as he walked in later, calling us all the names under the sun. Or the time a bit of the set fell down – ok, it was going to get kicked down at the end of the show, but not half way into the play! The funniest thing was on the last night, when two big doors were supposed to open and then a van drive in, but the doors were locked and Tim, who had the keys, was down the pub!
Cardboard Citizens run workshop on theatre skills, writing for performance, samba, circus skills, singing and music making. Please phone on 0207 247 7747 to find out dates and times. If you see that Cardboard Citizens is putting on a play near you, go and see it - it will open your eyes to a new kind of theatre. Well I have to be going now, so I will end here. Hope to see you soon. Freddie
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