Cardboard Citizens Presents
Glasshouse
A Forum Theatre play written by award-winning playwright, poet and lyricist Kate Tempest (Wasted and Brand New Ancients).

Written by Kate Tempest
Directed by Adrian Jackson
Design by Hannah Jerrom and Stephanie Johns
Music & Sound by Arun Ghosh
Lighting Design by Peter Higton

2013 Ted Hughes Award Winner Kate Tempest teamed up with Cardboard Citizen’s to produce Glasshouse, a story about family and how hard it can be to keep loving. Cardboard Citizens work with homeless people in diverse ways to help transform their lives, this production toured privately at hostels and day centres and came to Z-arts as part of a public tour.

Framed by Tempest’s dark and gritty writings, Glasshouse took you through the lives of three family members, all of whom struggled to live both together and away from one another. This lead to moments of despair, fragility, and unexpected tenderness.

All but one of the actors had experienced homelessness. The show was carefully researched and written in collaboration with Cardboard Citizens’ homeless members, reflecting the struggles and hardships of those who are living on the margins of modern Britain – from the cuts and changes to benefits, to those who are struggling to find work and pay their rent.

This was a piece of Forum Theatre. During the second part of the show, Glasshouse invited audience members to stop the action, come on stage and rehearse alternative scenarios that would lead to a positive change for the protagonists. A character called the ‘joker’ facilitated the theatrical dialogue between the actors and the audience.

Cardboard Citizens Artistic Director and CEO Adrian Jackson said: “Over the years, we have performed in dining rooms, in halls, in prisons, in tents, in churches, even in theatres. Sometimes our audience has been hundreds, sometimes five men and a dog, sometimes just the dog. But we are always amazed by the warm reception we receive.”