Precarity, Hope and Despair in Nadia Fall’s Home
Precarity, Hope and Despair in Nadia Fall’s Home

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines Nadia Fall’s Home (2013), which delves into youth homelessness in London against the backdrop of the UK government’s austerity measures. These measures included budget reductions in education, health, social security, and culture, along with the introduction of ‘Universal Credit’, a new benefit system. Crafted by Nadia Fall, Home offers a paradoxical panorama that draws attention to resilience and despair, sociability and loneliness in an old building housing over 200 young residents. Known for directing plays such as Three Sisters, The Suicide, Dara, and Chewing Gum Dreams at the National Theatre, Nadia Fall has collaborated with major theatre companies including the Bush Theatre, Chichester, and Lyric Hammersmith. Fall, renowned for her directing prowess, has demonstrated her success as a playwright with Home, which she produced based on over thirty hours of interviews with homeless individuals. This research situates Nadia Fall’s play Home within its historical backdrop, seeking to comprehend the historical factors influencing the political circumstances depicted in the play. It aims to grasp the characters’ social class placement by applying Guy Standing’s concept of the precariat. The paper scrutinizes how Home employs hope and despair, along with a utopian socio-economic background, to highlight the unbearable nature of precariousness and homelessness. Additionally, the paper explores the utopian aspiration for an alternative way of life.

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