Empathy is the basis for charity and there are few better ways to understand the lives of those less fortunate than to hear their stories.
A new radio play based on the lives of Big Issue vendors aims to do exactly that, taking the stories as inspiration for a drama plotting the life of one young person and their journey from an abusive childhood through teenage trauma and into homelessness in Bath.
Tales from sellers Ian Duff, Lloyd ‘Posty’ Rusdale (pictured above) and Anthony Williams inspired Unknown, and the play is peppered with the dates and locations of the “unknown” victims of homelessness, those who died on the streets without anyone knowing their name.
Listen to the performance in full:
Commissioned by The Big Issue with the support of Arts Council England and The Big Lottery, the trio of “co-authors” helped playwright Dougie Blaxland create an accurate portrayal of the realities of homelessness in 2020.