Love in the time of homelessness

There is a formidable strength to LOVE, the brutally real and emotionally charged play by British playwright and director Alexander Zeldin that premieres in New York this month. Set at the very back of the Drill Hall at Park Avenue Armory, the play literally immerses the viewer in the intertwined lives of several families and individuals living in a – supposedly – temporary-housing facility. Thanks to a naturalistic decor that merges the stage into the audience seats, with bright neon tubes flooding the house with white light throughout the play, Zeldin makes it clear that there is no escape from the bold reality you are witnessing.

Dean and his pregnant partner Emma have just been relocated to this shelter with Dean’s two children, a taciturn teen named Jason and a cheerful tween called Paige. Christmas and Emma’s baby are due soon, and the family has no intention of lingering in the tiny room they are cramped in. They quickly meet their neighbor Colin, a seemingly nosy middle-aged man caring for his elderly mother Barbara, who is losing her mind and her ability to control the pressing needs of her aging body. The play also glimpses at the lives of two refugees : Tharwa has been around for a while, waiting to be joined by her family from Sudan, while Adnan is a solitary Syrian teacher, newly arrived and soon departed from the facility.

We watch them as they go on with their day-to-day activities – Jason and Paige heading to school, Emma studying to become a wellness therapist after the baby is born, Dean fighting to maintain his benefits and get out of this godforsaken place while bringing meager groceries home. Colin pounding on the unique bathroom door when his mother suddenly and urgently needs to go. Tharwa attempting to reach her children on the phone, to no avail, and Adnan shily trying to fit in. We see them get dressed, eat, live, each of them looking to get by until they can find a new place, although we quickly understand it is quite unlikely to happen: Emma looks at Colin in dismay when he tells her that he and Barbara have been living here for a full year. After waiting for hours for a five-minute appointment, Colin later learns that, once again, there is no other place he and his mother can move to. Meanwhile, Dean is being told he needs to redo his application and that his benefits are cut because he missed a job center appointment the day he and his family got evicted. As the play evolves and culminates in a tragic arc, we wonder what their way out is – if any.