Dublin Fringe preview: Joe Wright’s spoken-word multi-media theare piece, Astronaut, is inspired by the 2016 Apollo House takeover. It follows the story of a young homeless man rummaging through the streets of Dublin searching for the last pieces of cardboard so he can fix his rocket ship and make his way back to the stars.
Below, Joe writes for Culture about his show.
One December night in 2016 a group of grass root activists decided enough was enough. Entering an idle NAMA owned building in the heart of Dublin City Centre they snipped the chains and turned on the lights. The Apollo House movement had begun.
A movement fronted by the Home Sweet Home Campaign was brought to fruition in response to the homelessness crises, which stifled throughout Ireland. Gaining prompt attention from all sectors of the media, the nation’s eyes quickly shifted towards The Apollo House.
Marching through the streets thousands of people let their voices be heard, donations poured in and the crème de le crème of Irish talent began showing their support. From Hozier bellowing Take Me To Church from the Apollo House rooftop to activist Dean Scurry sharing stories of his delight of sleeping beside a snoring homeless man, the movement began to gather international traction.
The activists were soon brought to court and ordered to leave, they did so willingly with the understanding and promises made by the government that there would be more social housing built with an aim to end homelessness.
Within the first month of leaving the promises made were proven to be broken.
The movement lasted twenty-eight days.
Since 2016, the numbers of homeless people has continued to rise and with the current renting crisis I don’t believe it’s going to improve, unless we accept our responsibility and challenge it head first.
I watched on through every screen I could, a laptop, a phone any Irish pub that supplied Irish news on their telly. I was living in London at the time whilst Dublin was marching but just like me any Irish person I came across felt that sense of pride of back home. That clench your fist and bump the air "Gowan the lads" sense of pride. As a person who was unknowingly placed in emergency housing as a kid because to me at the time the world was what it was, I felt a deep connection with the movement and when it ended I felt too inspired to let it rest.
Between acting jobs I began to write. I wanted to write something that I had never written before in a way that would be engaging for all and ensure a little something in it for everyone.
Astronaut follows the story of a young homeless man rummaging through the streets of Dublin searching for the last pieces of cardboard so he can fix his rocket ship and make his way back to the stars. On the night in question he relives some of his past moments, which brought him to this current situation and lives through some modern day truths.
The piece was written and is delivered in spoken word using different rhythms to coincide with the setting the character is in. Projection is used to show how far Ireland has come since the eighties (when the character was born) and where it is now. Using actual footage of real people, Astronaut is based on true events but just told through the eyes of this fictional character.
In late 2017, Astronaut made its debut at the Camden Fringe Festival to a mainly British Audience. To my delight, it came away with great reviews. I was very happy about it, as I wasn’t quite sure how it would be received. The Idea for the piece was always to bring it to Dublin, bring it home to where it belongs.
The piece was created to raise awareness, keep it in people’s minds and hopefully incite change.
Since 2016, the numbers of homeless people has continued to rise and with the current renting crisis I don’t believe it’s going to improve, unless we accept our responsibility and challenge it head first.
If you come I’m hoping to take you on journey of real Ireland both emotionally and physically - but really I am hoping to inspire the desire for change.
Join me at the Dublin Fringe for my one-hour show and let me take you through the streets and show you what Dublin is really like.
Astronaut by Joe Wright premieres at the The New Theatre on September 12-14 as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2018 - more details here.
