Steve’s in Flat 33 and starting to feel pinned down: what happened to gettin’ back to the mines in sunny Queensland? Bloody Melbourne! And that annoying Jon in 32, harping on about a home. And Belle in 22 with her lovely warm body, but she’s talking about love! And now the government’s puttin’ the boot into our public housing estate!
Realist drama, touches of humour, HOME primarily explores the relationships between the three characters. It’s also a play for those concerned or impacted by current public housing policy… it’s about tenants in these communities – right now – and their decisions to fight or go.
Ros Varley’s a Fringe first-timer, well into her seventies. She sees the Festival as an excellent vehicle to explore the impact of current government housing policy on vulnerable communities. The foot-soldiers of these policies, with their sudden ‘letters to relocate’, might deliver distress, and disruption, however the characters in HOME portray the reality of tenants’ responses, either with spirited, sustained protest or, for some, with quiet acceptance.
At her own home Ros stays grounded with hands in the earth and compost. She writes as a member of Melbourne Writers’ Theatre. She’s developed this play through its Gasworks Script Lab 2023 and further dramaturgy. Her short monologues were performed in 2025 at the Melbourne Writers Theatre ‘Metropolis Monologues’ and at the WOMPA Short Play Festival. She also writes short stories (‘Ghosts’ published in anthology ‘Out of the Shadows’).
October 14 – 17
melbournefringe.com.au
