Audio Performance Commissioned By The Big Issue Launched To Critical Acclaim

“A powerful and very special event. Through the performance, it becomes so painfully clear how whole lives are destroyed without people caring to listen, to understand, to engage, to heal.”

Wera Hobhouse MP 

“Harrowing stories eloquently told – all the more shocking because we know them to be true.”

Ken Loach, Filmmaker

In just two years from 2017 to 2019, more than 800 people died living and sleeping rough on the streets of the UK - a significant number of them have never been identified or named.

Unknown is a new verbatim audio performance written for radio, dramatising the story of one young person's journey from an abusive childhood to a life of homelessness on the streets of Bath - one of the most affluent cities in the UK.

Commissioned by The Big Issue, which offers homeless and vulnerably housed people across the UK a means by which to earn a legitimate income, with the support of Arts Council England and The Big Lottery, Unknown has been written by Dougie Blaxland with the assistance of Chris Taylor of The Big Issue in Bath and six people based in the area who have recent experience of homelessness: Sammy Clark, Nathan Dempster, Ian Duff, Paul Jones, Lloyd Rusdale and Anthony Williams.

Ian Duff, one of the Big Issue vendors who collaborated with Dougie Blaxland in developing the script said that, "working on the project has been a deeply moving experience."

Unknown is directed and produced by Moira Hunt and Shane Morgan of RoughHouse Theatre and features Dan Gaisford, Sabrina Laurison and Alex Stedman with an original score composed by Owen Morgan.

Big Issue vendors have returned to selling the magazine across the country. However, with footfall significantly lower on many high streets, Big Issue vendors need your support now, more than ever. Please support them by buying a copy of the magazine. If you don't have a local vendor, you can support The Big Issue by downloading the app, available on Apple Store and Google Play, or subscribe online.

LISTEN HERE! www.roughhousetheatre.com/unknown

...but before you do, please consider making a donation to The Big Issue.

Unknown was originally conceived as a live performance. Due to the restrictions of the pandemic, it was changed to an audio performance to ensure this essential story was still told.

Unknown was made with the support of the Rondo Theatre Bath and is being streamed and supported by the Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Greenwich Theatre London.

In donating, we ask that that ticket price you would have paid is a guide to your donation.

Huge thanks from the Unknown RoughHouse Theatre creative team.