HOME

Next Wave Festival May 1-11, 2014

HOME is a site-specific audio theatre work that invites audiences into the home of a stranger.

“I always thought I’d go first,” was one of the first things someone said to me when I began asking people what it is like to grow older. Intrigued, I began searching for stories about the people left behind, people alone in houses that once sheltered families. What does it mean for older people to reconsider whether they will be able to maintain their homes and the independence they represent into the future?

HOME invited audiences into a private residence in Kensington. Surrounded by a lifetime of memories, treasured bric-a-brac and chewed dog toys, audience members explored this private world. Listening to an intimate audio story whilst traveling alone through rooms of the house. HOME asked audiences to consider what it means to be the last one left in a house when your children are grown and partner is gone.

“Simple and meditative, Home is a deeply moving exploration of ageing, mortality and the earthly traces we leave behind.” - Rebecca Harkins-Cross

HOME was the first part of a planned trilogy of works about ageing. The second work in the series, VILLAGE was presented at Junction Festival in Launceston in 2016 and explored the role that retirement villages play in our communities and in the lives of their residents.