Homelessness in Performance, Art and Society

Becoming Visible

Nadine Holdsworth author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Publishing:7th Apr '26

£41.99

This title is due to be published on 7th April, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Homelessness in Performance, Art and Society cover

Homelessness in Performance, Art and Society investigates the contemporary context of homelessness in England and how performance and the arts can engage with this complex issue to advocate for, value and foster the lives, creative identities and artistic ambitions of people who are or have been affected by homelessness.

The book offers critically informed analysis of the artists, theatre-makers, social enterprises, investigative journalists, cultural, heritage and charitable organisations drawing on socially committed arts practice. It highlights, documents and investigates artistic interventions that provoke new ways of perceiving homelessness and examines projects offering those who have experienced homelessness an opportunity to showcase their stories, heritage, creativity and cultural leadership. Capturing the breadth of socially committed arts practice in England, this book engages with arts and homelessness through a consideration of autobiographical performance, photography and graphic novel projects, performance installations and festivals, as well as digital and embodied memorialising outputs and events.

Homelessness in Performance, Art and Society is ideal for students and scholars of applied theatre, socially engaged theatre, and broader humanities studies that interrogate the intersections between homelessness and the arts, as well as artists and community activists with an interest in this field.

“This book is a remarkable and key intervention within the fields of performance and homelessness studies. Holdsworth interweaves performance analysis, contemporaneous research notes, artist and participant interviews, and secondary research expertly. This mixed-method approach allows her to analyse the relationship between various types of performance (theatrical and otherwise) and produce vital and nuanced readings. She is able to extrapolate what could be dense secondary and theoretical material into concise, accessible and often deeply moving prose. The book’s argument that ‘various artistic modalities can offer a powerful way for the experience of homelessness to be seen, heard, and apprehended’ should be a rallying cry for artists and those working and living in the homelessness space.”

Dr Owen Clayton, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Lincoln, UK and author of Vagabonds, Tramps and Hobos: the Literature and Culture of U.S Transiency (2023)

ISBN: 9781032844367

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 453g

210 pages