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#littlemissburden - a thread. PART 1
I couldn’t be more proud of this show and the response, & as always, the problems the play deals with showed up in the process.We ran full force into the structural problems in the theatre industry which exclude disabled performers and artists https://twitter.com/TheStage/status/1204000496509505536
I couldn’t be more proud of this show and the response, & as always, the problems the play deals with showed up in the process.We ran full force into the structural problems in the theatre industry which exclude disabled performers and artists https://twitter.com/TheStage/status/1204000496509505536
So I wanted to do a tweet thread about it with the solutions we found because the truth is - it’s completely doable to be inclusive. You have to know how to use your resources & think ahead, but it is entirely possible, and the process and the art and humanity is better for it.
I’m sharing this in case any other directors/producers/makers of any sort can use any of this thinking or info we used on this show. I cover the obvious, and the less obvious, though of course, not everything (other suggestions/thoughts of thinking points very very welcome).
First, @BunkerTheatreUK's team supported us relentlessly along the way. And @Harts_Theatre's immense amount of experience with disabled inclusive work and her connections as a producer were invaluable. So first thing - get yourself a space and producers that get what you're doing
Our team had a disabled writer, lead actor & creative team members - including myself, as someone with an invisible disability/chronic condition, who has the privilege of passing as able, but my own set of needs so I‘m speaking as both a leader of the team, and a disabled person
A biggie to start a LONG thread (!) - rehearsal space. Check there is accessible loos that also welcome the gender of your performers (you can be disabled AND GNC) and check the travel needs of your company in terms of getting there daily...
...because step free is rare, travelling at rush hour is borderline impossible, and if the lift is broken, then see ya.
Get ahead on how to access the loos - some places need a card or radar key, or it’s on a different floor. Allow tea breaks to cover the extra time, or plot ahead for how you use the time without excluding people.
If you need, change your rehearsal times to suit your company member’s carer’s availability. Or make their travel easier. Or, suit their energy levels - because it takes so much more energy to navigate the world as a disabled person. (Both physically and emotionally)
This industry is built to rinse you of every moment of energy and to reject the idea of rest - especially at fringe level. This is cutting out some brilliant artists. Yes, we cut down our rehearsal time significantly. Yes, it meant hella flexibility. If you’re a director...
then schedule smarter. Find solutions like planning blocking in advance (maybe not your usual process, but necessary) or actively schedule in time for the SM to pass on blocking. Be prepared to do unusual hours. Be prepared to shift your process and find new solutions.
Be prepared to accept someone’s energy levels may operate differently from the usual. The 10am to 6pm structure is made up anyway - make up something new.
Consider your company members and audience from the design stage - I tasked our designer with a multi level set that our lead actress, Saida, a wheelchair user, could use every inch of - and looked contemporary and joyful.
Our designer checked the angles of ramps, built potential railings into the design, and made it all look like a gorgeous 90s playground-skate park. The first day Saida came on set, she screamed with delight - she’d never been on a set that wasn’t a flat floor.
Consider your company’s needs from the planning stages - apply for extra money for travel costs. A wheelchair accessible taxi costs far more and they arrive slower - and they will be a god send at some point. Seek disabled creative team members. Their insight is invaluable.
You’ll need your set for longer than usual. This might not look like an access cost, but it is. On the same point - you’ll need more rehearsal time than usual. You’ll need more tech time too.
Time is the biggest actual access cost. I know it isn’t thought of this way, and I don’t know how to solve that - I just know it isn’t a corner that can be cut, and it is worth it in every way.
Get a brilliant assistant director who can catch any thing that gets dropped, can communicate things that are missed, can hold the fort when you need to step out. Check if you need a scribe in rehearsal. We did - and it made the process so much better.
Employ a genius movement person who works with different kinds of bodies in the one room and doesn’t make any of them feel any less interesting or brilliant (FYI that’s @phaomay, shes exceptional)
Work out other ways to get folk in - our producer @Harts_Theatre organised a deaf actress to sit in on rehearsals, with interpreters, and she added to our thinking in untold ways.
And on the note about set - get set and props in as early as possible. This was our biggest sticking point. We were on a fringe budget, but the whole team pushed hard and got it. Specifically to LMB, learning blocking is completely different if you’re wheelchair bound...
...tape on the floor catches in wheels, and your body doesn’t relate to learning movement the same way. Get the set. This is vital.
Make a rehearsal room where the reality of bodies is welcomed. I began on day one by making a space where we could talk about what our bodies need and do without shame. I made clear it could be said to me privately or publicly, and that it’s all welcome.
My joints dislocate frequently, often I’m in so much pain I get distracted, sometimes a creative team member needed to step out & nap to finish the day, a loo break for one person is different for someone else, a day with physio means a different day. You *can* work with it all.
Don’t assume people will advocate for what they need - people with disabilities can feel like they are asking too much, that they are being a burden. So ask. Make it known that you want to know what they need and will provide it as best you can.
PART 2 in next thread.
PART 2 in next thread.
