ACT ONE
Two homeless men and a woman sit on a church’s steps, people-watching on the busy main street of a city. A passerby stops to take a photo of them before walking away.
MAN 1: The houses aren’t what they used to be.
MAN 2: The people aren’t what they used to be.
WOMAN: (nods)Losing value, the houses.
MAN 1: Must be the environment. The urban development. Changing values. Banks. Interest. Corporations. Greed. The Crisis.
MAN 2: The GFC?
MAN 1: (annoyed) Yes. Thee Crisis. The houses aren’t what they were.
WOMAN: Look. (points to the distance) More are coming.
MAN 2: Hurry. Get ready.
MAN 1 sighs and adjusts his blankets and hat full of coins as though they are props of a production.
A group of tourists with cameras approach them and stop. They take photos of the homeless group. The homeless group poses for the photos this time, smiling broadly, changing positions for each photo until the tourists are satisfied and leave.
MAN 1: Give them what they want.
WOMAN: Nothing’s ever good enough.
MAN 2: (holds up a gold coin that had landed on his jacket) I’m happy.
MAN 1: You didn’t do anything.
MAN 2: I didn’t have to. You did it all for me.
WOMAN: Workers and hierarchy. Nothing changes. We need more people to compete.
MAN 1: Shouldn’t be too hard to find. Plenty of us. Will be plenty more.
WOMAN: (points finger again) They have more people and look at the crowds around them.
MAN 2: Yes. More of us are needed.
MAN 1: We’re everywhere. Like a collective. More of us soon. Like a feature. A blimp on the radar, but here. MAN 1 turns to MAN 2. Where were you once?
MAN 2: I don’t understand your question.
MAN 2 adjusts his blankets again and pockets his gold coin.
WOMAN: I do. (nods to MAN 2) He was nowhere. Always nowhere. Born like this. Born into this. No chance. No help. No hope – except this.
MAN 1: Not me.
WOMAN: Not me, either. (pauses, looks up)Quickly. More are coming. Maybe we can get lunch after this.
MAN 1: (counts the coins in his hat)Maybe I can buy lunch today.
WOMAN: I was an actor.
MAN 2: Oh. I was born like this.
MAN 1: I was an architect for a large corporation. But they’re all just titles now. (points to the audience) Just like them.
THE END.
EXEGESIS
Poverty Porn questions society’s rationalising of homelessness as an acceptable part of the capitalist social order. The audience is lulled into voyeurism through the photographers’ curiosity. However, towards the end, Man 1 clarifies how no one is above becoming homeless. Action needs to be developed further, particularly towards the end, with consideration given to MAN 1 pointing to the photographers rather than the audience to provoke the audience’s reflection of their own worth in society.
Caryl Churchill’s Far Away and This is a Chair inspired how to tackle the dialogue, while Will Eno’s Oh, The Humanity reminded me of how space can be used to provoke image and emotion.
Aral Bereux 