In mid-April, I had the distinct honor of attending the play titled, “Address Unknown” at the Nomadic theatre located on the campus of the Georgetown University.
I must say that this was one of those rare occasions when an event touched my soul in such a way I will never forget. To express the profound effect the play had on me , I found myself wiping tears from my cheek only to perform this function time and time again. It had a lot to do with the fact that all of the subjects portrayed by the actors were past and present friends of mine who were members of the homeless community and I can attest to the accuracy of the cast interpretation.
The gist of the play was to give the stories of some of these individuals as to how they became homeless, how they had to learn to cope or survive in this society that have many stereotypes about the homeless community and most importantly, what having a home means to someone who has lost everything. When we talk about losing something, many times we think in terms of materialism. As a person who has been affected by the loss of a home, I can tell you that this is the least of the obstacles one confronts when faced with the trauma of becoming homeless. There emerge issues of denial, mental illness both real and imagined, depression, loneliness and many other factors that exist in the homeless community.
The play “Address Unknown” challenged a host of these factors as displayed through the acting talents of the cast as well as through the stories of the individuals they portrayed. The director, Kevyn Bowles has earned my highest praise and admiration for his interpretation of the phenomenon of homelessness. The state of the present economy the issue of homelessness may very well become the norm as opposed to the exception.
Things such as this play, organizations like the National Coalition for the Homeless and the non-profit street papers will emerge to the forefront of the quest to eliminate homelessness in this country.
In the directors notes in the program, there is a reference to the movie, the Wizard of Oz., Mr. Bowles wrote, “I think Dorothy said it best when she clicked those red heels of hers, “There’s no place like home. Whatever that is to you.”
Jesse is the former vendor manager of Street Sense and hopes to go to law school soon.
