Alex Roberts is the writer and performer of No Place Like Home, winner of the Les Enfants Terribles Award 2022.
Fusing spoken word, original music, dance and video art, No Place Like Home by Alex Roberts & Co. is a tragic odyssey into gay club culture and the places we can call home. Get ready to laugh, cry and dance with somebody who loves you.
No Place Like Home has been developed with the support of Galop UK, the LGBT+ anti-abuse charity. Galop will be providing signposting for audiences affected by the themes of the show during the Edinburgh Fringe.
No Place Like Home, by Alex Roberts is at Pleasance Dome Wednesday 3rd – Monday 29th August 2022 (not 17th) at 14:55
Your new play No Place Like Home is coming to Pleasance Dome, what can you tell us about it?
No Place Like Home is a tragic odyssey into gay club culture, fusing spoken word, dance, music and video art. It follows the story of two men, Rob and Connor, who meet after a chance encounter in a gay bar in the centre of a city.
Through the show’s mix of poetry, choreography, beats and projection we watch them struggle to connect amongst the maze of bodies and cheap booze; will they fall in love? Or will the night end in tragedy? What’s certain is, that it’ll be a wild ride, full of sharp witty humour, gorgeous choreography, and even a glimpse of the yellow brick road.
What inspired you to write this play?
I began talking to our Co-Creator & Director/Dramaturg Cameron Carver about ideas for the show around the time of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy in 2019. Both of us had complex a relationship to gay bars, and if we as cis white queer men had had these experiences, it begged the question, what are these spaces like for people who are more marginalised by society?
We talked at length about the people and structures that hold these spaces, how homogenised they had become, and how attacks had begun to happen within these spaces, sometimes even carried out by queer people. We decided we wanted to dig into the nuance and create a complex, messy picture of these spaces where so many bodies and identities rub up against each other. Oh, and dig into how much we love The Wizard of Oz!
No Place Like Home is winner of the Les Enfants Terribles Award and has been developed with the support of Galop UK, how has this helped you raise the profile of your work?
Winning the LET Award was such an incredible evening. Our Co-Producer Kirsten Peters Roebuck trained it down from Manchester at the eleventh hour and sat in the front row of the competition – and I thought, win, draw or lose – we got this. And we did! It gave us a huge amount of confidence and we’re so excited to be working with Les Enfants Terribles.
Our partnership with Galop UK, the anti-violence charity, has really helped centre love and care in the project. They’re helping us provide signposting to resources that can support any audience members affected by violence and we’re also promoting the work of Good Night Out, a campaign who are helping educate the UK how to be better allies on the dancefloor.
What did you find most challenging about writing No Place Like Home?
Writing the piece has made me confront a lot of difficult truths. Writing Connor, who is a newcomer to the scene, particularly brought back all the memories of those first clubbing experiences, of trying to discover who you are, and who you think you need to be.
My first ever time out was hilarious, looking back. I’d bought a really tight-fitting drop-neck t-shirt and a leather jacket from River Island – because I thought that’s what gay people wore. Despite all the pressure I’d put on it, the night actually ended up being so free. I had put so much thought into what it was going to be like, and how I needed to act, that I almost forgot to enjoy it.
I think the trickiest part of navigating those spaces is separating the expectations that are put on you, and the expectations you put on yourself.
You’ll also be performing in the play, what are you most looking forward to about that?
The mix of different art forms in the show is what really makes it exciting to perform. It’s dynamic, succinct and highly intricate. The text is written and performed by myself, and our Co-Creator Cameron Carver worked on the dramaturgy as well as Direction & Choreography.
The music was composed and sound designed by our other Co-Creator Jac Cooper, and the stunning visual world of the play is brought together by Virgine Taylor’s video and Amy Daniel’s lighting design. Despite being a solo show it never feels like I’m alone onstage!
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see No Place Like Home?
If you’re looking for a brilliant night out at the Fringe, this award-winning solo show will draw you in with its charm, stun you with its beautiful design and send you off into the night ready to laugh, cry and dance with somebody who loves you!
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