Displacement, disability and sex addiction: three interwoven stories from characters on the margins of society are explored in Cardboard Citizens’ Benefit. With the Welfare State prominently on the agenda in the wake of the General Election, this new play explores the lives of three job-seekers and the pressures their status puts on them and those around them. In the second part of the evening, using Forum Theatre, the audience is invited to join the debate to look at strategies for the characters which might lead to a better outcome – both in the world of the play and in society at large.

Benefit is directed by Cardboard Citizens’ Artistic Director Adrian Jackson and features a cast drawn from Cardboard Citizens members, all of whom have experienced homelessness. English graduate Rosa is haunted by the history of her Chilean family, Craig suffers from a sex addiction that is destroying his relationship and Patrick is rendered near-speechless by his inability to understand the Kafkaesque world into which he is thrust seeking support. By telling the stories of these individual true-to-life struggles, Benefit looks at the impact of austerity and asks how we can best deal with the world we are now in.

Tickets available from Gulbenkian from £7-£12.