Liviu Monsted on partnering with charity for Street
Liviu Monsted‘s Street is a hard-hitting, confronting commentary on homelessness and social responsibility. And as so often happens throughout the theatre community, when dealing with difficult topics, the show is supporting a charity that works in that field.
Liviu took some time out of rehearsals to explain just why he felt the need to team up with homeless charities when putting on Street, both in Australia where the show originated, and now London ahead of its run at Barons Court Theatre this June (further information on these dates available here).
When I found myself behind the locked fence of Hyde Park station in Sydney, I knew I was in for a long night, the time was 12:30 in the morning and the city was asleep, or at least I thought. Upon wandering the streets, I soon came across a group of homeless people who were used to long nights. We got chatting and they were keen to discuss the day to day affairs of living in the walkways of a closed train station; one had a pile of books, a self made library and another had prepared for winter with an assortment of blankets wrapped around themself. Conversations strung along until 1 in the morning when a curious sight entered the dim tunnel. A group of charity workers wearing clear rain coats and carrying baskets of fruit approached. They offered the homeless fruit and water. The exchange was silent but appreciative and no sooner had they arrived, did they wander off. I was told this was a regular event. Trains opened back up and I left. What I had seen and our conversations were by all accounts to me, an unseen world, an ignored world, the world of STREET.
Charities and the homeless are symbiotic by nature, and it became clear to me that a play addressing the lived experience of homelessness could be equally symbiotic. It’s one thing to write about the homeless, but when producing STREET for the Sydney Fringe Festival in 2019, I realised the play could do more. I partnered up with Youth off The Streets and offered 10% of the box office to their cause.
Then in 2024 I produced Mon Sans’ first work in London, and I soon found myself looking to a city rife with homelessness. Beggars wander the metro, seniors keep warm in used blankets and disparaged young adults fold there knees on every block hoping someone will notice them. It seemed STREET had found a new target. We soon contacted the London’s own Barons Court Project and began the process of connecting the experience of theatre with the call to action for social change.
The Barons Court Project is a charity house that provides provision for people living with mental health issues and people who are homeless. It has been running for 40 years in the ongoing task of helping those in need, becoming a regular part of the homeless experience in the Hammersmith district. STREET is donating 10% of its box office to the Barons Court Project because of it’s enduring and committed support of those in need.
I have found that this charity aspect of the show gives an added community benefit to the theatre-going experience. It is no longer an act of simply witnessing a work about the troubles of homelessness, suddenly audiences are participants in the conversation of STREET. The work gains a credibility when audiences know their money is working towards the struggles that they see the characters endure.
I plan for STREET to have many more runs around the world, with the caveat that anyone who runs STREET also supports a local charity through the show. All art is a call to action to some extent, but when art can be the action that supports social change, it’s all the more powerful. Who knows, it may even become a regular event.
Our thanks to Liviu for sharing his thoughts with us. Street plays at Barons Court Theatre from Tuesday 3 to Saturday 7 June. Further information and bookings can be found here.
You can read more about the Barons Court Project and their work here.
