Homing

Description

A grey morning on the south coast of England. 15-year old Son is packing his rucksack while Mum and Dad (an interracial couple) bustle around the kitchen preparing for the working day. As the parents bicker about their inlaws, Son notices something. There’s a man in the garden. He must have come in via the back gate. His jeans are wet. He looks lost. Duty-bound, Mum’s instincts kick in. She attempts to communicate and against Dad’s better judgement - who is more wary - she invites the man inside. The man's English is limited and he’s in shock. Nervy interactions escalate anxieties and tensions, as neither character's biases are completely confirmed nor denied. Banished upstairs, Son films the man through the banisters. While his parents are distracted, he ventures downstairs. Unbeknownst to the man, Son films as the man notices some spare change left on the table. The man looks up and Son jumps. A glass smashes. An accident. The parents are shaken, re-evaluating their assumptions. Away from the man, Dad calls the police but Mum attempts to stop him, searching for local charities instead. As the parents argue, Son notices the man slip away. We do not know where he goes.

Biblical Connection

Inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan, Homing asks what it means to love thy neighbour in an increasingly complex and destablised world. We present a family with a moral conundrum: reacting to a seemingly vulnerable man who has found his way into their garden. The story of the Good Samaritan proposes that we must help those in need regardless of class or political context. Yet our family debate what the ‘right’ thing to do is as they wrestle with the personal, social and political ramifications of their decisions. In a globalised and connected world, there is an overwhelming awareness of the breadth of suffering occuring and consequently we have collectively come to an acceptance that we cannot love every neighbour. Our adaptation does not give the audience the satisfaction of identifying ‘the good samaritan’, and we are left wondering how best the man can be helped.