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Do you know where you’ll sleep tonight? And what the weather will be like then? How many times a week do you eat a warm meal? When was the last time you had a shower? Have you ever asked strangers to give you money? How do you see yourself in half a year?

Every day, around two to three people lose their homes in Hungary. Only with huge support, outstanding will, and big luck can help to get out of this situation. The cooperation of Lifeboat Unit and STEREO AKT is an interactive theatrical board game, where we find ourselves standing in homeless people’s shoes. We have to live and survive half a year without any place to live.

The act is played by four people: two actors, a homeless activist and a social worker, who – as an expert – helps us to get to know this truly unknown world.

The play is for adults and high school children as well, and is a status report about our society, which on one hand highlights the causes of personal aspects of homelessness, and questions all the stereotypes that states “you are worth as much as you earn” and “if you are poor, blame yourself”.

Premiere: November 24 2016, MU Theatre

Cast:
Performers: Gyula Balog, Mária Kőszegi, Dominik Kabdebon
Leader of the game, expert: Hanna Milovits
Author: Gábor Fábián and the cast
Dramaturge: Ambrus Ivanyos
Music by: István Rimóczi
Set and costumes: Zita Schnábel
Graphic design: Luca Szabados
Game developers: Ágnes Tar, László Bass, Bálint Csató, Márton Gosztonyi, Róbert Jakus
Consultant: László Bass
Production assistants: Tímea Török, Zsuzsanna Lajkó-Balogh
Production manager: Dóra Trifonov, Daniel Mayer
Director: Martin Boross

Original cast:
Performers: Gyula Balog, Mária Kőszegi, Zola Szabó
Leader of the game, expert: Réka Szenográdi

The performance uses parts from the homeless newspaper “Fedél Nélkül” / “Without a Cover”, from the book “HajléktaLand” / “HomelessLand”, from the paper “Gátak építése helyett” / “Instead of building walls” of Bálint Misetics, and it uses quotes from works of homeless people and their real life.

Production partners: Shelter Foundation, Budapest Methodological Centre of Social Policy and Its Institutions

Supporters: Municipality of the 12th District of Budapest (Hegyvidék), Performers’ Rights Protection Office

Former supporters: Budapest Bank for Budapest Foundation, Public Foundation for Homeless, Thank you Hungary! program, Ministry of Human Resources, Human Capacities Grant Management Office, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, National Cultural Fund of Hungary, Summa Artium, Visegrad Fund

Special thanks to Gábor Galácz for his generous donation.

The performances on November 3 and December 21 2019, and January 21, February 13, October 1 and November 4 2020 are realised within the framework of the “Nobody should sleep on the street! Complex sensitisation campaigns on homelessness in the Visegrád countries” project. The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe. Further information: https://fedelnelkul.hu/en/visegrad

Photos: Máté Bartha, Péter Lakatos
Poster photo: Fanny Allié www.fannyallie.com