Housemates – people banding together to share a living space. What could be more normal? Back in the 1970s, it wasn’t; or not for the 100,000 people deemed “sub-normal” and, under the feeble-minded (control) bill of 1912, segregated and put into institutions – often for life.
Two groups of young people challenged this situation: residents of one of those institutions, Cardiff’s Ely hospital, and students from the city’s university. Together, they brought about a revolution that resulted in the closure of about 90-plus institutions and the creation of a model of supported living that today is copied around the world.
Tim Green’s play Housemates tells their story as an agit prop-style educational entertainment, combining fast-flowing action, snappy narration, sharp characterisations and live music. Joe Murphy (artistic director of the Sherman) and Ben Pettitt-Wade (artistic director of Hijinx, a theatre company specialising in inclusivity for neurodivergent artists) are the production’s joint directors; they showcase the form at its best, putting across a clear message with dramatic impact.
We settle into our seats; 1970s hits are belted out by a rocking pub band (made up, it turns out, of the actors/characters we are about to meet). We sing along. The keynote of the evening is fun-inflected, collective engagement, counterpointed by highs of emotion and lows of horror and indignation.
The story centres on the friendship between student Jim Mansell and hospital resident Alan Duncan and their shared love of rock’n’roll – and its consequences. The two meet on the day when Alan and his friend Heather discover they are to be taken out somewhere they have never been by someone they have never met. The place is the park; the person is Jim.
First among equals in the impressively well-balanced, nine-strong ensemble are Peter Mooney’s brilliant Jim and Gareth John’s determined Alan – the strength of their connection radiates from the stage. Production and subject matter alike show, practically and affectively, how individuals taking action can transform lives and society.
Housemates is at the Sherman theatre, Cardiff, until 8 March, then touring at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre and the Torch theatre, Milford Haven
