Actors bring experiences of homelessness to the stage in zAmya’s ‘Living in America: The Waiting List is Full’

As new federal rules drastically alter housing options available to people who have experienced homelessness, a local theater project is putting the human cost of the crisis onstage.

In Minnesota, for every 100 households defined as “extremely low-income,” there are only 39 affordable and available rental homes, according to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. In time for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (Nov. 16-22), Minneapolis-based zAmya Theater Project’s “Living in America: The Waiting List Is Full” shares stories of housing precarity written by people who have experienced it. 

Co-written by Esther Ouray with the ensemble, and directed by Ouray alongside zAmya artistic director Maren Ward, the production weaves personal narratives with the historical and political context of U.S. housing policy. 

I attended the recent opening performance at the Minneapolis Central Library. The last time I saw the troupe perform at the library was in 2018, at the small amphitheater outside the building, underneath artist Tristan Al-Haddad’s curved steel sculpture, “Nimbus.” Unfortunately, the amphitheater has been closed for years —  labeled as a maintenance concern by the City of Minneapolis but with the impact of preventing people who are homeless from sleeping or spending time there.

Related: Whose job is it to address homelessness in Minneapolis?

The closed-off public art space proved an ironic entry point for the play, which took place in an auditorium on the library’s second floor. I was reminded of the lyric from the song “Closing Time,” by Semisonic: “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” In Minneapolis and elsewhere, homeless encampments are regularly evicted, but alternatives don’t always exist: The waiting list is full. 

zAmya’s productions feel different from traditional plays, where professional actors play fictional characters. In zAmya’s style, sometimes performers play roles, but often they share their own stories woven into a broader theatrical piece. The cast occasionally acts like a Greek chorus, commenting on the social and economic factors that shape their experiences.

“Living in America” opens with a provocation. Actor Sol Moran calls out from the audience: “You want to talk about public housing?” Soon, the actors on stage are abuzz with what that topic means to them. 

Personal narratives form the core of the piece, tracing decades of U.S. housing policy from New Deal beginnings through eras of redlining, urban renewal and the loss of mental health supports. 

Actor Marcia Barnes recalls growing up in public housing in Gary, Indiana — escaping to the library, listening to Motown and learning to see possibilities beyond her surroundings. “I am not pitiful and I am not ashamed of who I am,” she says onstage. 

In a post-show discussion, Barnes said she hopes zAmya creates part two of the story, too. “I want for people to see the people who live inside of housing,” she said. “We want our children to go to college. We want our children to go to good schools. We want kids to have good jobs.”

In other stories, Linward Jones describes his Georgia upbringing in publicly funded housing built in spacious areas surrounded by nature. Renita Parkhurst recounts experiences of childhood lead poisoning, and Gerald Micheal Blackbird shares stories from Wyoming’s Wind River reservation.

Comedy becomes a tool for dissecting the system. In “Analysis Paralysis,” written by Caroline Mannheimer, Shannon Kemp plays a woman scrambling to meet a 24-hour deadline before she’ll be dropped to the bottom of a housing waitlist. Mannheimer, playing Kemp’s inner voice, whispers self-defeating narratives into Kemp’s ear. Jada Windom slips between roles of bureaucrats who embody the churn of contradictory information and shifting requirements. 

Another sketch, featuring the “Authoritative Council of Public Housing” pushes these tensions into satire as wigged buffoons highlight the distance between policymakers and the people they serve.

Sound provides an additional layer of texture to the stories onstage. Composer and multi-instrumentalist Dameun Strange performs live throughout the show, using percussion, electronics and melodic motifs to underscore emotional shifts, heighten urgency and carve out breathing room within the ensemble’s stories.  

The scenes unfold against a mural of cars stacked at the base of a cityscape. A floating balloon at the top reads “Living in America.” The scenic painting, created by set designers Chris Lutter-Gardella, Destiny Noel and Kris Jessen, captures the show’s satirical bent. Amidst the chaos of a culture designed for cars and industry rather than people, a cheerful optimism rises. 

Related: Maren Ward is playing Scrooge while also directing theater company focused on homelessness

Late in the piece, the cast points to Austria and Finland, where housing is treated as a right, and introduces a Viking helmet-inspired burst of humor as they open space for imagining alternatives to the American system. Rather than offering a single solution, the moment invites the audience to consider how housing policy could be rooted in dignity and stability.

By centering the experiences of people who have lived through housing precarity, zAmya’s production creates a space where their stories can guide a broader public conversation about what housing policy could be, and what it should be.

A performance of zAmya’s “Living in America: The Waiting List is Full” will take place on Fri, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1200 S Marquette Ave, Minneapolis. A panel discussion will follow with the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, along with a reception with the artists. ($0-$50). More information here. 

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