THE WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA Report by Alison Richardson 2015 Churchill Fellow To explore disability led practices in theatre and investigate inclusive training and mentoring programs. I understand that the Churchill Trust may publish this Report, either in hard copy or on the internet or both, and consent to such publication. I indemnify the Churchill Trust against any loss, costs or damages it may suffer arising out of any claim or proceedings made against the Trust in respect of or arising out of the publication of any Report submitted to the Trust and which the Trust places on a website for access over the internet. I also warrant that my Final Report is original and does not infringe the copyright of any person, or contain anything which is, or the incorporation of which into the Final Report is, actionable for defamation, a breach of any privacy law or obligation, breach of confidence, contempt of court, passing-off or contravention of any other private right or of any law.

Signed

Alison Richardson

Dated 18.1.2017

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INDEX INTRODUCTION

Page 3- 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

5-7

PROGRAM

8-10

MAIN BODY Disability led

12-18

Growth

19-32

The Work

33-43

CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

44-48

REFERENCES

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INTRODUCTION This report details my Churchill Fellowships research trip exploring disability led theatre and inclusive mentoring and training programs primarily across the UK and also Sweden and Norway. I centred my trip around the biannual Unlimited Festival at Southbank Centre, London where I was able to immerse myself in some the best work being produced by artists with disabilities in the UK. Across the five weeks of my trip I attended: • • • • •

• • • • •

2 festivals 25 shows 2 dress rehearsals 2 schools shows 15 panel discussions

1 book launch 5 workshops 1 youth dance event 1 inclusive night club event 12 meetings

I also presented at one conference. Acknowledgements Thank you to: The Winston Churchill Trust for believing in the worthiness and necessity of my research project. Sancha Donald for being my referee and always supportive of my pursuits and the greater pursuits of justice and equality. My family for their on going and endless support of me on this unpaved and uncertain path. My second family; the mighty RUCKUS ensemble, Suzy Dunne & families for their joy & creativity and for being the reason I do what I do. Dean Walsh for being a constant source of wisdom, inspiration and support. Katrina Douglas for all her support and encouragement over the last couple of decades. Powerhouse Youth Theatre, Accessible Arts and PACT centre for emerging artists Riverside Theatre for believing in Beyond the Square which enabled me to train, develop & give performance and creative opportunities to hundreds of people with disabilities. All the tirelessly hard working & dedicated trailblazers in the UK & Europe who agreed to take time out of their day to meet with me and extend their warmth and

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friendship towards me and also shared their knowledge and insights (and sometimes their homes!) to help make our world that bit more equal for all not just for some.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Alison Richardson RUCKUS coordinator/ co- collaborator [email protected] Project To explore disability led practices in theatre & investigate inclusive training & mentoring programs. Major highlights •

Opportunity to present a paper on the latest major production, Speed of Life that RUCKUS and I produced earlier in the year to an international audience at the Arts, Disability & Health conference in Norway

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Attending Unlimited Festival at Southbank Centre and seeing some of the UK’s best disability led work

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Being a British Council delegate at Unlimited so was able to be part of networking discussion groups at a global level

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Artists and performers with intellectual disabilities taking over the whole of Southbank Centre as part of Heart n Soul’s The Beautiful Octopus Club. I particularly loved the choir, The Fish Police (band) and dance party.

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Hearing about Creative Minds and the need for there to be such a project to help people with intellectual disabilities feel like they are heard and not overlooked even within their own sector

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Meeting Laura Evans and being reunited with Sokny Onn both from Epic Arts in Cambodia (where RUCKUS and I visited earlier in the year) and really feeling like we’re part of a global community

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Seeing the purpose built state of the arts studios and building that the company Mind the Gap has built and then starting to dream a little….

Major lessons learnt •

Vision, persistence, dedication, resilience and sheer hard work are qualities that most people working in the arts and disability sector possess and are keys to success

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In Australia we certainly don’t lack pioneers, visionaries or talent but what we do lack is funding and support for artists

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Recurrent arts funding is needed for training and development programs

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Disability led theatre is collaborative and this does not have to be in equal measure

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Successional planning is important to curb burn out of leaders within arts and disability organisations

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The detrimental impact funding cuts to the either the arts or disability sector can have on decades of hard work, development and capacity building

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The fight for equality will never be over (or will it??) but that it is important to stop, acknowledge, reflect and congratulate each other on what has been achieved

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Most companies tour their work and it’s unusual if they don’t

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Quality, value and authenticity is to be applauded and that bigger is definitely not always better.

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Having a ‘name’ attached to your show may bring in new audiences and profile to your company but there is a still a responsibility to the performers that the person directing / choreographing has the sensibilities needed to work in an inclusive, collaborative, respectful manner.

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Programmers and producers been committed to access and inclusion by viewing work by people with disabilities

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Questioning whether work made by people with disabilities needs to be mainstreamed

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Embedded access in performance needs to happen at the start of the devising process with accessibility for all audience members in mind. Willingness to explore the challenges in doing this successfully and the exciting possibilities of playing with form, structure and aesthetic this brings.

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‘Learning disabled’ artists (UK term) have over the years had to make more noise to be seen and heard so they are not overlooked and also that neurodiverse artists can be also misunderstood and overlooked.

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Funding favours those that can firstly access and then comprehend and fill in largely inaccessible forms. More often than not this ‘favouring’ is of people without intellectual (‘learning’) disabilities.

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Implementation I am connected to several leading arts and disability organisations in Australia and to several of the peak bodies where I will be able to disseminate my findings via websites, e- news and social media. I will hold a presentation evening/s to key funding bodies, peak arts and disability bodies and arts organisations. It will be my intention to make sure artists with and without disabilities, arts workers, policy makers, funders, programmers and producers of festivals and arts centres/ organisations are present. I will continue my work with RUCKUS ensemble contributing to the creation of new work made by people with disabilities and provide a on going training platform in lieu of any accredited or tertiary level training for people with disabilities. I will maintain my international connections with the companies and people I visited to keep myself and others abreast of current trends and discussions. I will use my connections at City of Sydney (through my most recent role of Accessibility Officer for New Years Eve) to advise on access and inclusion strategies for their arts and cultural grants program and also for their Events program.

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PROGRAM

Image: Unlimited signage outside at Southbank Centre Below is a list of the organisations and places I visited. I also met and chatted with many other people from other organisations as well (mainly at Unlimited Festival) that aren’t listed here. EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL – Edinburgh August 24-27 Performances that I attended by companies that work with people with disability: Dancer by 21st Century Challenges People of the Eye by The Deaf & Hearing Ensemble Meet Fred - by Hijinx in association with Blind Summit ARTS, DISABILITY, HEALTH CONFERENCE- Bergen, Norway September 1 & 2 I presented a paper on Speed of Life, a recent production I produced and directed earlier in the year with RUCKUS the ensemble of performers with disabilities that I work with as a collaborator and coordinator.

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UNLIMITED FESTIVAL - Southbank Centre, London September 6-11 The following is a list of the performances I saw as part of Unlimited Festival both in London and Glasgow: The Way You Look (at me) Tonight - A social sculpture, a sensory journey for two performers and an audience. Claire Cunningham and Jess Curtis combine performance, original live music and video to wrestle with important questions about our habits and practices of perceiving each other and the world. Assisted Suicide: The Musical - Disabled activist, actor an comedian Liz Carr chose the spectacular world of musical theatre as the back drop to exploring the complex subject of assisted suicide in her new show. You and I Know - A 15 minute duet from Candoco Dance Company set to a pop soundtrack and drawing on a variety of dance genres, the piece is a potent and emotive exploration of how we fall in and out of love over and over again, often with the same person. Him- The work draws on conversations shared over the course of a 20 year friendship between Sheila and actor Tim Barlow to tell a story about childhood, memory, ageing and the art of theatre. Grandad and the Machine - A steampunk fairytale for grown ups brought together vivid storytelling, whimsical and an original score. Written, performed and with music by Jack Dean. The Shape of Pain - A work in progress by Rachel Bagshaw that explores when the brain reprogrammes itself into constant fight or flight mode, how does it cope? How do you cope? Just a Few Words - Just a few words to say how you feel shouldn’t take long except Nye Russell-Thompson has a stammer. Seeing as timing is not his strong point, he thought it would be helpful to write his thoughts on 140 A3 cards to try tell his story. Sit Down, Stand Up, Roll Over – Writer, artist and part time superhero Jess Thom takes to the stage in her first solo stand up appearance. Jess has Tourette’s Syndrome a condition that makes her say ‘biscuit’ 16,000 times a day. Unlimited Inclusive Youth Dance Platform – short dance performances by inclusive youth dance companies from across the country.

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UNLIMITED FESTIVAL - Tramway, Glasgow September 16 & 17 43 Percent - A new multimedia work by Gary Gardiner and Ian Johnston from 21st Century Challenges that explores the medical and social definitions of being human. Hiraeth - Presented by NCA.Small Theatre, Armenia’s first integrated dance company in partnership with Candoco Dance Company brought together performers with and without disabilities who have collaborated to tell a story of the painful, yet remarkable journey of the Armenian people throughout history. MayBe - An international co-creation between Natalia Mallo, Gisele Calazans (Brazil) and Glasgow based Marc Brew. MayBe explored how chance encounters can act as catalysts of possibilities of love and intimacy. Below is a list of the companies I visited in the UK and Europe: MOOMSTEATERN - Malmo Sweden Artistic Director, Per Tornqvist CEO, Suzanne Hedström As well as meeting with Per & Suzanne I also attended the Opening Night of A Dream Play by August Strindberg

ACCESS ALL AREAS- London September 20 Nick Llewellyn, Artistic Director SPARETYRE- London Arti Prashar, Artistic Director SOHO THEATRE- London Stand up comedy show - Abnormally Funny People. A funny, irreverent, subversive evening with comedians Steven Day, Liz Carr, Laurence Clark and Don Biswas.

CANDOCO DANCE CO- Stanmore, UK September 8 Stine Nilsen & Pedro Machado, CoArtistic Directors I met with Stine before a showing of You and I Know as part of Unlimited and I participated in workshop with Pedro and the ensemble.

GIELGUD THEATRE, London Saw the National Theatre’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. A production based on Mark Haddon’s book about a boy with Autism.

FREEWHEELERS THEATRE & MEDIA COMPANY - Surrey, UK September 19 Dance Director, Andrea Atkinson Director, Brandon McGuire As well as meeting with Andrea I attended a dress rehearsal of their devised performance Destiny Betrayed. GRAEAE THEATRE- London September 20 Jodi-Alissa Bickerton, Learning Director

MIND THE GAP- Bradford, UK September 21 and 23 Lisa Mallaghan, Senior Producer Watched a dress rehearsal of their latest production Mia. Attended a forum theatre show.

Creative

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DARKHORSE THEATRE - Huddersfield, UK September 22 Lynda Hornsby, Executive Director

Alice Fox, Deputy Head Course leader, MA Inclusive Arts Practice Jo Offer, Rocket Artists Coordinator THE LEVEL CENTRE - Matlock, UK September 28 & 29 Katie Ward, Arts Manager Andrew Williams, Artistic Director Observed 2 workshops as part of the 5 SENSES project and also 2 schools performances.

CAROUSEL - Brighton, UK September 30 Creative Minds National Coordinator, Gus Garside ROCKET ARTISTS- Brighton, UK September 30

HIJINX Whilst I didn’t get to visit Hijinx in Wales I did met up with their Chief Executive, Clare Williams their Academy Director Daniel McGowan after their show, Meet Fred at Edinburgh Fringe and also saw them again at Unlimited. ATTENBOROUGH ARTS CENTRE September 27 I also attended a meeting organised by Laura Evans who I knew from a recent partnership between RUCKUS and Epic Arts, Cambodia. Laura spends her time between Attenborough Arts Centre in England and Epic Arts in Cambodia. Laura organised a sharing and discussion event for companies that work with artists with intellectual disabilities and who had recently contributed to research that Laura was conducting for the Arts Centre. The list of people that attended and the organisation they were from is below: Hubbub Theatre Artistic Director, Jen Sumner Madeleine More

Artistic & Executive Director, Avril Hitman

Unanima Creative Director, Jayne Williams Creative Producer, Tracy Radford

Nottingham Playhouse/Ramps on the Moon Agent for Change, Laura Guthrie

Level Centre Artistic Director, Andrew Williams

Epic Arts Co-Director, Laura Evans

Corali Artistic Director, Sarah Archdeacon Magpie Dance/Highflyers

Attenborough Arts Centre Director, Michaela Butter

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MAIN BODY DISABILITY LED What do we mean when we say ‘disability’? To really try and explain what it means to have theatre work that is disability led we need to firstly look at what the term ‘disability’ means. It is an over arching term that categorises a broad range of people. Through my travels I gained a deeper understanding of how detrimental to the sector as a whole it can be to lump everyone under the one category of ‘disability’ and make assumptions around a program, initiative or certain funding streams that label themselves as ‘inclusive’ and ‘accessible.’ This is a dangerous assumption as access and inclusion is definitely not a ‘one size fits all.’ To assume this attitude can be divisive and create friction internally within the sector. In a sector where everyone is working towards the greater good of equality and justice for all members of our society there is a need to be working as a collective whole and be united in it’s approach. Two pieces of Australian legislation define the term ‘disability’ as follows: The Disability Discrimination Act (1992) defines disability as: • • • • •

Physical Intellectual Psychiatric Sensory Neurological

• • •

Learning disabilities, as well as Physical disfigurement The presence in the body of disease-causing organisms.

The Disability Services Act (1993) defines ‘disability’ as meaning a disability: • • • •

which is attributable to an intellectual, psychiatric, cognitive, neurological, sensory or physical impairment or a combination of those impairments which is permanent or likely to be permanent which may or may not be of a chronic or episodic nature which results in substantially reduced capacity of the person for communication, social interaction, learning or mobility and a need for continuing support services.

In the UK under the Equality Act (2010) disability is defined as: A person has a disability for the purposes of the Act if he or she has a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

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This means that, in general: • the person must have an impairment that is either physical or mental • the impairment must have adverse effects which are substantial • the substantial adverse effects must be long-term • the long-term substantial adverse effects must be effects on normal day-to-day activities From these definitions it makes it very clear that the term ‘disability’ covers a very broad range of people all with differing access needs and requiring a diversity of supports. So whilst these definitions are in place, language is dynamic and evolving and is something that can be discussed repeatedly. However, I believe it always comes back to the same point, it’s up to the individual and organisations how they would like to be defined with clear reasons as to why. The main categorising discussions always tend to be around whether or not you identify as: • • •

• •

A ‘disabled person’ A ‘disabled artist’ An ‘artist with disability’

A ‘person with disability’ A ‘Deaf’ or ‘deaf’ artist

A UK artist with disability said to me that when he attended an event in Australia last year he couldn’t believe that these conversations around language were still going on and at a very basic level. Whilst discussions and arguments around language tend to rear their heads in the UK from time to time, a comment like that does make those of us in Australia, living with or without disability and working in the disability arts sector, feel we are very behind on what is current and really needs discussing. The tyranny of distance means we’re not at table discussing current trends but rather discovering some of them decades later. The language that describes the sector can also be contentious as with the following, so is the sector labelled as: • • • •

Disability Arts Inclusive Arts Integrated Arts Arts and Disability

And is it wrong to use words like ‘integrating’ and ‘inclusive’ as these words can be binary presenting an ‘us’ and ‘them’ and an ableist view of people with disability who need to be included / integrated into the dominant paradigm.

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“The generally agreed definition of disability arts, the one that we in the disability arts movement have found most accurately reflects what we are doing, is that it is 'art made by disabled people which reflects the experience of disability.' Disability Arts is Art. It is seriously intentioned creative work - poems or painting or music or comedy or theatre or whatever - made with some sort of aesthetic purpose. It is not a hobby to keep the cripples' hands busy. And it is not therapy.”- Alan Sutherland, Disability Arts Online (2005). “. . the paradox we inhabit is that the term Inclusive Arts presupposes exclusion. In a better world Inclusive Arts would be such an everyday form of practice that it would not need to be given this name, rather, it would be considered an art form that engages with the productivity of difference and the challenges of communication.” (Fox A & Macpherson H. 2015 pg 2). Another thing that struck me early on in my trip was that in the UK they make a distinction between work made by artists with learning disabilities (UK term) and disabled artists, which are artists with physical and sensory impairments. I sought my new UK friend Dave Calvert’s expertise on why this was the case:. “In my understanding there are historical circumstances for the separation between work involving learning disabled artists and work involving Deaf and disabled artists. Many companies sprang up in the 1970s that were grounded in identity politics – feminist companies, gay companies, Black and Asian theatre for example, so there was a trend for identity-based companies. Disability Arts (which is specifically arts led by disabled people) emerged towards the end of this process, primarily with the inception of Graeae. Around this time, many people with learning disabilities were still in long-stay hospitals, as the closing of these was only accelerated in the 1980s because of new community care legislation. So artists with learning disabilities were not really available to participate in the Disability Arts movement, but also the politics of this movement, in terms of its focus on the independence of the artists, posed a difficulty as people with learning disabled artists relied on the support of non-disabled artists and supporters to be able to access artistic practice. The necessity for learning disabled artists to collaborate with non-disabled artists therefore led to that field being identified differently as arts and disability, rather than Disability Arts. That was effectively what prompted the first wave of arts and disability companies in the 1980s (Strathcona, Mind the Gap, Heart n Soul, the Lung Ha’s etc). There was a second wave in the late 1990s, as the socially inclusive policies of Tony Blair’s government made the funding of arts with learning disabled artists particularly appealing to the Arts Council, as they were still amongst the most socially marginalised groups. So new companies focusing on learning disability were set up, like Full Body and the Voice (now Dark Horse) and The Shysters.” So the term ‘disability’ is broad and all encompassing and people and organisations really need to self define (and consult where necessary) how they determine

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themselves and want to be defined, the reasons need to be clear, well thought out and justifiable. Terminology A note on terminology in this report: As mentioned in the UK they use terms such as Inclusive Arts, Disability Arts and arts and disability to describe the sector. Learning disabled artists and Deaf and disabled artists are common terms as well. I will be using ‘arts and disability’ to describe the sector and ‘artists with disabilities’ to describe the people within it.

Image: Members of Darkhorse Theatre doing their warm ups. What do we mean when we say ‘disability led?’ Disability led can mean the actual process of creating the work collaboratively with people with disabilities where they are fully leading aspects of the devising and structuring process or as an artist / director / choreographer / facilitator living with disability yourself and also an organisation led by people with disability. A disability led organisation according to the Arts Council England (ACE) currently means: A National Portfolio Organisation or Major Partner Museum where 51 per cent or more of the organisation’s board and senior management team are disabled. ACE have conducted a review of all definitions to ensure they can give recognition and celebrate all the diverse work, projects and organisations they fund.

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The equivalent national funding body Australia Council for The Arts has a category for funding for specific arts and disability projects and describes groups applying for this funding in the following way: Groups applying for this funding need to be disability led. This means you must demonstrate that the artistic process within the group is led by artists with disability. During my fellowship research I met with a lot of people who did and didn’t identify as having disability that were leading organisations and facilitating the creative process. Most companies I visited had heard of Back to Back Theatre in Geelong, Australia and often were keen to talk to me about them. Some also found it unusual that I had come to the UK to research disability led theatre when we have such a flagship company in Australia. I think there was a kind of assumption that there were other such similar companies, funded, supported and acknowledged to the degree Back to Back are and that our sector was thriving. I explained that this wasn’t the case and that we are lucky to have a company like Back to Back as an example when trying to convince people of the value of our own work and attempts to develop other disability led companies in other states in Australia. That Back to Back have become an exemplar to what else is possible and the quality of work that can be produced when adequately funded and with the right creative vision and team. Many companies sang their praises as a leading disability led company and were keen to emulate the kind of work that they were making. It is interesting that Back to Back’s Artistic Director, Bruce Gladwin, doesn’t identify as having disability. Is this seen as a problem when they are creating world-renowned theatre? When I spoke on the phone to Bruce about this he said that at times there has been tensions, for example, being asked to leave a conference because he didn’t have a disability. He says he’d only see this as a problem if people attested their company or performance to being disability led and their approach was very much the opposite. Whilst Bruce doesn’t identify as having disability the company has a structure that is very disability led. There is always an ensemble representative on the Board who has voting rights and depending on which member it is they may need to be supported by another ensemble member in order to fully participate in the Board’s proceedings. It is also Bruce’s job to make sure that they know what is going to happen at the next meeting. The ensemble are also involved in the hiring process of the Artistic Director as they have to ‘audition’ for the ensemble with the ensemble deciding who should be given the position. Similarly, Nick Llewellyn, the Artistic Director from Access All Areas said that their Board has three trustees on it who have intellectual disabilities and make decisions. They have received some funding from the Arts Council England’s ‘Elevate’ program that will assist them in working out exactly what it means to support people with intellectual disabilities on their Board, “…there is a duty of care to support people to make decisions as well, but does everybody need to know every decision?” Nick goes

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onto say that, “Isn’t it more important that they are part of the artistic vision than they are about the ‘boring’ day to day stuff” and that “…the work is devised by them so some of those artistic decisions are made by the performer. We’re getting someone in who is quite a big self advocate to do some training with our trustees.” One of Nick’s colleagues Ciara is spending time with the trustees to go over the minutes of the meetings and also trying to come up with some points they want to raise and then assist them to make these points at the meetings. Nick points out if this process doesn’t happen the meetings would go on for too long if everything had to be explained within the meetings. Additionally, Nick goes onto say, that in other companies, “…that might have people with physical or sensory impairments they can more easily say they are disability led as they have the capacity to make quick decisions where as people with learning disabilities don’t have the capacity to make those decisions as quickly.” Arti Prashar, the Artistic Director from Spare Tyre who doesn’t identify as having disability said to me she’d like to think that her skills in working sensitively, respectfully and inclusively with her performers counted for something and I agree with this. They self define what it is to be disability led, “this is what we mean by it.” She spoke to me about labeling, defining and language. Why do we have to say this is a ‘learning disabled band’? Is that to lower people’s expectations? Can it be seen as apologising before you’ve even started OR is it about claiming and being proud of who you are so you want to put a stamp on it OR does it even have to be mentioned at all? To comment further on this briefly; language around marketing a new production can also be problematic and a contentious issue when working in disability led theatre. I also spoke with Hijinx’s Executive Director Claire Williams about this and she said that is one of the reasons why they established the networking and exchange event called Crossing the Line - to bring together companies that work with people with intellectual disabilities to discuss the similarities and differences in the issues they encounter across Europe and the UK and how each company addresses these. Leading UK theatre critic Lyn Gardner wrote an article in The Guardian saying ‘Where is the UK’s answer to Back to Back?’ She asks the question as to why the UK doesn’t have a company that can rival Back to Back when it comes to working with learning / intellectually disabled performers. I thought it interesting that there was no mention of the brilliance of Bruce as the director in the article. Whilst Bruce has been the Artistic Director of Back to Back and directs their ensemble, they have achieved enormous recognition across the world for their acclaimed works. This kind of commitment, talent and sensitivity when working with people with intellectual disabilities can be quite hard to come by when working in this space. The term ‘Director’ can be seen as a dirty word when working with people with disabilities, particularly when you don’t identify as having a disability yourself. Back to Back explored this through two of their shows with this theme of power and dictatorship at the heart of each one, they were Super Discount and the extremely well received Ganesh and the Third Reich.

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Generally the response I received when I asked people about their thoughts on work that is ‘disability led’ and specifically if the director doesn’t identify as having disability was that theatre is collaborative - it is a collaboration between all members of the team and this does not necessarily have to all be in equal measure. “The collaborative process of Inclusive Arts thus tends to support a mutually beneficial two way creative exchange that enables all the artists involved to learn (and unlearn) from each other. In essence it’s an ‘aesthetic of exchange’ that places the non-disabled artist in a more radical role of collaborator and proposes a shift away from the traditional notion of ‘worthy helper.’ We think that when collaboration happens between learning disabled artists and their non- disabled collaborators it should be recognized and celebrated, not down played.” (A Fox & H Macpherson 2015 pg 2).

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GROWTH Theatre can only begin to be led by more people with disabilities if there is a continued and sustained growth of the sector. Without a commitment to the fostering of emerging artists with disabilities being trained and up-skilled and the furthering of support for mid or even late career (elders with enormous experience who still struggle) and professional artists with disabilities there will be no sector, or only a sector that sees the ‘usual suspects’ receiving the support (perhaps because they are good at filling in application forms?) and no real fostering of emerging or sustainable talent and artform development from a disability perspective. A sector that is not built upon and sustained will only dwindle and become a watered down version and further disable the sector from the larger community. Or it may diminish to the point where it nearly completely disappears. This has happened previously within Australia unfortunately. Key individuals leading to change, growth and sustainability What I have noticed in Australia, which was reinforced to me in the UK was that in order to maintain a sector there have been passionate and hard working individuals leading a company and often a company that they have started themselves. I spoke with people from Heart ‘n Soul, Mind the Gap, Access All Areas, Freewheelers Theatre, Level Centre and their founding director (who may or may not have disability) is still there in some capacity 25-30 years later. There is a seeming anxiety from these key leaders about moving on from their ‘baby’ (founding company) that they had spent decades creating. What is the successional plan when you’re working so deeply with a community? And how do you move on from a community so intrinsically linked to your artistic identity over an extended course of your career investment? What other Australian based colleagues and I have found is that it isn’t about moving on from your community as such because, to begin with, the arts and disability sector here Australia is so much smaller than it is in the UK. There is very limited opportunity for diverse career development and professional advancement within the sector here. Until such time that the general arts community in Australia begins to really take the arts and disability sector as a serious and as a professionally valuable art form we may not truly enable such careers to develop and grow - careers for people living with and without disability that possess many years of respected expertise and lived experience. Nick from Access All Areas spoke about the day to day stresses of having to bring in funding and that if he can’t secure this funding not only do the programs and projects not happen he also doesn’t have a job. He felt this most acutely when he first took over the reigns from Access All Areas founding director after 31 years, which was also at a time when the company had lost their funding.

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A few key leaders, and I include myself here, have discussed at length and can foresee a potential collapse of the sector in Australia if key individuals who are at the coal face of sustaining arts and disability practices through facilitating various groups, workshops, symposiums, mentoring and assisting individuals and running small companies. People who are constantly building community, with their ears-tothe-ground and with extraordinarily meagre resources, start to hit an absolute burn out. If this happens given the current arts funding climate, we all fear that it could have seriously negative impacts on the developing careers of many individuals with wide spread mental health ramifications. We feel this will happen because there are now many extremely talented artists who live with disability and can finally see a professional pathway forward, in some cases for the first time in their lives. To have the arts and disability sector collapse now or within the coming years would be deeply damaging for many people and subsequently countless stories that should be told through artistic medium may never be told. I am sure I don’t need to highlight how unfortunate this would be given all the momentum the sector has had behind it from so many passionate advocates and practitioners over the last ten years in NSW. I have already seen many key individuals begin to feel the strains of trying to sustain programs and devise new and often innovative productions. Many speak of feeling of hopelessness when they are overlooked in funding rounds that seem to favour larger institutions or venues with a higher profile but little to no experience in working with people with disabilities. This can be incredibly disconcerting. There is also a certain rapport and trust that is built up over years between these key individuals and the people they work with and alongside. However, often this kind of community building is generally not valued but it is absolutely integral to the ecology and growth of the sector. It is these people that often work for little or no pay and cannot be easily replaced or even found again. Perhaps we could see this as another reason why so many founding directors of companies in the UK didn’t feel they were able to move on. Or perhaps more positively, due to their passion, they simply did not want to. From speaking with my peers in Australia I see this happening here as well, you don’t want your passion to turn into negative feelings of being encumbered by duty, pressure and obligation. Padraig Naughton from Arts & Disability Ireland spoke at the recent Arts Activated conference in NSW about the isolation and exhaustion that comes from being a leader, and sometimes an accidental leader, in the arts and disability sector and the worry and burden that one can carry as to what will happen after they leave. That there is no successional plan as there is potentially no one else who can fill their shoes and the ensuing worry that what they have built and invested a large part of themselves in could be lost if the right individual isn’t found. So there is a need to nurture and support more emerging leaders and particularly people who do indeed want to be leaders not those that have merely ‘fallen’ into the role.

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Similarly, artists not only arts administrators or directors of companies can feel this same pressure. “A number of individuals are expected to carry the torch. Does a white, normative body choreographer need to carry the flame for others?” –Claire Cunningham, Scottish dancer and choreographer on a panel discussion at Unlimited. The following question came about on an Unlimited panel discussion: Do we ask too much of artists with disabilities? There can be an exhaustion of the onus and responsibility placed on artists that they must also do outreach and community work and nurture the sector as well as create art. Claire says she doesn’t do this and leaves it for others better suited to that type of work but what she does do and sees her position is to “Open a door for others and jam a crutch in it.” Cultural shifts are needed to truly grow and extend the sector Additionally, shifts into inclusive practices and programs only seem to occur within mainstream or non arts & disability companies when there is a passionate individual advocating and driving the change from within the company (and again this person may or may not have disability). It of course would also be most preferable that once that person leaves the company or organisation the legacy of what they have started would continue on in the ethos, planning, policies and attitude at all levels within the structural philosophy. In some cases this would be possibly be the given but too often the organisations can go back to what they were implementing before their disability advocate came on board which was either the bare minimum or nothing at all. That is why those key individuals need to be embraced and supported and what they instigate needs to be taken 100% seriously and then embedded firmly within the organisation. “It’s all based around people at the end of the day and we find this all the time. You meet someone who is a really good person from the National or BBC and all of a sudden they go and it is literally like starting all over again. So it’s all based around building rapport, building partnerships & building that common dialogue.” Nick, Access All Areas Additionally, other shifts seem to only occur when the company has to be accountable to a funding body or when something is legislated. It seems only then people and organisations will act upon it. It would be wonderful to get to a stage where organisations and their employees, have a desire to embrace the growth of inclusive arts diversity and individual artists’ practices from a more intrinsically informed understanding of the needs of the sector, not only because they feel obligated to due to new company policy, or in order to receive funding or tick a box. Many of us who have worked in the arts and disability sector have embraced this aspect of our practice with professional rigor to the same degree as any other professional engagement. Indeed, for a good many of us, it is our entire professional

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practice whether we identifying as living with or without disability. We all see professional exclusion based on an artists’ genetic predisposition as being unjust and ignoring basic human rights. An artist friend of mine who lives with disability recently said, “Often I feel that when I interact and ‘collaborate’ with some companies it’s like I’m talking to Centrelink staff not so called experienced and passionate arts workers and supporters. There’s an underlying hostility or even unconscious discrimination within some arts venues or organisation staff. It’ll be so great when we reach a time where we don’t feel we have to justify why we’re asking for a few considerations around our disability – seen or unseen.”

Image: The Fish Police at Heart n Soul’s The Beautiful Octopus Club at Southbank Centre Initiatives that assist growth I investigated two organisations that assist with the growth of the sector who support and foster artists with and without disabilities. These are Shape Arts and Artsadmin who were also the partners that delivered Unlimited. A snapshot of each organisation and what they have contributed to support this growth is outlined below:

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Shape Arts www.shapearts.org.uk Shape was founded in 1976 as part of Disability Arts movement, which grew out of the disability rights movement. Informed by the radical political activism of the 1960's and motivated by creative ambition as well frustration at their exclusion from mainstream arts, people with disability came together to form their own organisations. These organisations provided a space where the needs and aspirations of people with disabilities could be realised, and their creative talents developed. Shape has produced the following initiatives: •

A Ticket Scheme in 1988 and was still running up to 2013, when funding cuts made it unsustainable. This scheme enabled people with disabilities to gain reduced price tickets to arts events and to use a free volunteer escort service. Servicing up to approximately 4, 000 trips per year.

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Partnerships with arts and cultural organisations to produce festivals, deliver seminars, events and publications around the theme of the arts and disability.

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Provide disability equality training and access audits to the cultural sector.

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Developed a number of employment support programs to overcome discrimination in the workplace and help cultural sector employers become more inclusive and disability confident.

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Developed a program of exhibitions and resources to support and profile the work of artists with disability where they work across London to develop opportunities for artists with disabilities, train cultural institutions to be more open to people with disabilities, and run participatory arts and development program.

Artsadmin www.artsadmin.co.uk Artsadmin enables artists to create without boundaries, producing bold, interdisciplinary work to share with local, national and international audiences. The advisory service supports artists at every stage of their development with free advice and opportunities. At Toynbee Studios Artsadmin has established a centre for the creation, rehearsal and presentation of new work. Artsadmin also offer a free one-to-one advisory service all year round to all UK-based artists working in contemporary performance practices. Sessions can be one-to-one

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or in groups for artists who are working collaboratively and can be by phone, Skype and answer enquiries by email. The content of advisory sessions is artist-led and driven by the questions each artist brings. Topics often include dialogue around artistic ideas, project development, opportunities and contexts for developing and showing work, funding, marketing, documentation and representation, networking, collaboration. Ramps on the Moon www.rampsonthemoon.co.uk Another initiative in the UK that promotes wider sector growth is Ramps on the Moon- a ground-breaking touring project The New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich is delivering that signals a change in disability arts provision in the UK and will reframe the way theatre by and for people with disability is made and seen. Ramps on the Moon aims to achieve a change in the employment and artistic opportunities for performers and creative teams, and a cultural change in the participating organisations to enable accessibility to become a central part of their thinking and aesthetics. The initiative was in response to the under representation and employment of people with disabilities throughout the arts industry, particularly in “mainstream” theatre. The New Wolsey Theatre are taking a lead in prioritising investment, training and development for artists with disabilities and audiences. In 2015 the six year project received a total of £2.3m from Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund to fund the first 3 years of the project. Ramps on the Moon will bring together a collaborative network of six National Portfolio Organisation theatres including New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and strategic partner Graeae Theatre – Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Nottingham Playhouse, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Sheffield Theatres. The network, which spans the country, includes theatres that are committed to offering opportunities to people with disability by putting artists with disability and audiences at the centre of their programmes, to help the mainstreaming of disability arts and culture. Each venue will co-produce shows over consecutive years, aiming to give all the organisations direct experience at working with artists with disabilities and learning how to develop audiences with disability. Each theatre agrees to commit to organisational change including: • •

Embedding people with disabilities throughout their organisations Putting access on the agenda of all meetings 24

• • •

Creating long term employment and training opportunities for people with disabilities Committing core production expenditure to the project alongside the specific additional project funding that will be sought. Acting as a hub within its own region to disseminate experience, information and good practice

Parameters for each production • • • • •

A roughly equal mix of performers with and without disabilities within a large cast of 18 to 20. An epic piece of ensemble theatre, likely to include music, which will appeal to a mainstream audience. A production with an extraordinary, and eye-catching, scale and ambition. Accessibility, in terms of audio description, BSL interpretation, surtitling, etc will be included in the aesthetic and embedded in the production The material may be an interpretation of an existing play, an adaptation of an existing piece, or especially commissioned.

Integral to each production •

• • • • •

Agents for Change employed to drive various aspects (eg: audience development, participation, training and skills development) of the project and each based in different partner theatres. Casting process to allow all theatres in the consortium to input/learn from. Creative team to be a 50/50 split between practitioners with and without disabilities. Opportunities for trainees with disabilities (creative team assistants) in both the creation and the touring of the production. Toolkits developed for audience development and participation program to increase audiences and participants with disability. Comprehensive evaluation process and sharing of best practice across the industry.

Training & Development programs As I have previously mentioned in order to grow and develop and achieve sustainability within the sector there needs to be support for the foundations. In the UK I visited organisations with training programs in place for their ensemble, as well as outreach workshops to try and extend their community engagement and uncover new and emerging talent. Some of these organisations ran bespoke training programs for schools, groups and corporations. Some also ran programs that sat right alongside their ensemble programs and were designed specifically to train participants in how to be leaders, workshop facilitators and peer mentors. In some cases they also trained participants in how to live and work more independently. So these programs possessed a nurturing of life skills as

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well – so important for many who may have never had anything like this before in their lives. Where possible organisations in the UK also made sure they were running workshops in other arts centres so they were connected to the wider arts community. Many also tried to connect and partner with established drama schools or institutions & had some sort of qualification attached. In the UK they have an initiative called Arts Award, which is supported by Trinity College in London and offers a range of unique qualifications that support anyone aged up to 25 to develop and grow as artists and arts leaders. Several organisations were able to offer this Award by way of qualification to their young participants and students. The following four organisations probably had the most extensive training programs for aspiring and established performers with disabilities. Hijinx, Access All Areas & Mind the Gap worked with those specifically with intellectual disabilities whilst Graeae Theatre is more broad catering for d/Deaf and disabled artists. Hijinx Theatre- Cardiff, Wales Hijinx’s aim is to create a community of talented actors with disabilities who have the ability to work professionally in theatre, TV, film and radio. The Hijinx Academy is the only professional performance training course for actors with intellectual disabilities in Wales. They have training Academies in 8 locations (arts centres where possible) across Wales that train about 10-15 people with disability twice a week in various art forms. These workshops are delivered by artists who may not have worked with people with disabilities before but observe workshops prior to running their own. The workshops are funded by social services, which apparently is necessary as there is not enough arts funding around to be able to fund them. Students at the Academy study a variety of skills including clowning, physical theatre and dance, contact improvisation, commedia dell’Arte, acting for camera & radio, forum theatre techniques and mask work. Many students go on to perform in their professional productions. Access All Areas – London, England Access All Areas have offered a Performance Making Diploma for Adults with Learning Disabilities in partnership with Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. The course looked at creating performances from devised and physical theatre to live art. It also explores audition skills but there is not much text used in the course. The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama is not just an acting school, they also run quirky performance art and devising courses. The classes are run together and all the students get partnered up with one of Central’s students in a program called Creative Partners to ensure reciprocal learning, so the course is very much

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encouraged to not only be seen as the Central students, ‘helping’ the Diploma participants, rather it is a two way street. “I don’t want our course to be this little ghettoised thing in the corner, a course that wins awards but no one talks about it.” Nick, Access All Areas Unfortunately, they don’t have funding to run the Performance Diploma in 2017. Below is Access All Areas’ organisational structure that shows the different streams under their Ambassadors and Take Part and Train program. As the Performance Diploma didn’t run Access All Areas centred their learning around the Ambassadors program. Ambassadors will take part in the 3 strands outlined below where they will be able to do site specific work, immersive theatre, and also an artist development program where people can make their own work.

Mind the Gap- Bradford, England Mind the Gap is England’s largest learning-disabled theatre (how they refer to themselves) company and they also run an extensive training Academy. There is the Performance Academy, which is their full time training program for people who want to develop a career in theatre, where participants learn a range of skills including acting, dance and music.

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During this course students work on shows and projects and choose different modules during the year in areas of interest. Students also receive training in leading workshops, professionalism in the arts and have the opportunity to see performances by other companies. They also get support and training for other practical skills such as using computers and travelling independently. Performance Academy students also gain a qualification through an accredited awarding body and it’s based in their state of the art fully accessible and wonderfully purpose built space. They charge students approximately $64AUD a day. The course is run over 4 days a week and is up to 3 years in duration and split into 35 week terms. Students must be over 18 years, have an intellectual disability and a passion for the arts. They also run Academy Part time course, which allow students an introduction to their Academy and a chance to learn new skills. Each course is on a different day of the week so students can choose to do one, two or all three. They charge students approximately $60AUD a day, the courses are one day courses that cover acting, dance and music and the overall program is a year in duration. Similarly to the Academy course it is for students over 18 years who have an intellectual disability and a passion for the arts and they also gain a qualification through an accredited awarding body. Graeae Theatre – London, England Graeae champions creative platforms for D/deaf and disabled artists, children and young people through their productions, training and creative learning projects. They have a Training and Learning team of three people. There has always been a training element to Graeae because they weren’t seeing the new generation of performers coming through despite all the work they’d done with drama schools to intake people with disabilities things were not changing. Jodi Alissa Bickerton, the Creative Learning Director from Graeae was telling me about their Right to Play training program for 17-26yrs to train up a new generation of theatre makers. Initially Right to Play was piloted for 6 months and Graeae are now going for funding for three years, which will enable 6 paid positions for d/Deaf and disabled performers working in a skills exchange program with other drama schools and other arts organisations. Graeae advocate within these organisations that, to be truly inclusive they need to change the entire way they are operating. They offer consultancy and run workshops and in exchange participants come and work with Graeae’s ensemble, which also provides the drama school’s tutors the opportunity to be working with diverse groups of people.

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Graeae also run a Creative Workshop Facilitator program where they collaborate with a range of artists each year to support the creative delivery of their learning programs. Alongside their larger projects and residencies, they also offer Peer Facilitator opportunities. These opportunities are designed to support D/deaf and disabled creatives who are wishing to gain new experience as workshop facilitators. Diverse Futures To complement training and development programs a fantastic resource, Diverse Futures was developed by performance and training company ‘Diverse City’ that shares information for young people with disabilities about courses, case studies, artists and companies of significance across the UK. This is designed to assist them to work out their next step in their career in the arts. It also has an extensive and thorough map that highlights arts opportunities across the UK. www.diversefutures.org.uk

Image: Mind the Gap’s dress rehearsal of Mia. What are funding bodies doing to foster development and growth? National funding bodies Arts Council England, Creative Scotland and Arts Council of Wales all have initiatives, support mechanisms & people in positions committed to equality and diversity and the growing of the arts and disability sector.

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The main points for each body are outlined below: Arts Council England www.artscouncil.org.uk/diversity-and-equality/creative-case-diversity Since 2011 Arts Council England (ACE) has been working with the sector to develop an arts-centred approach to embracing diversity. This approach is the Creative Case for Diversity. Part of the Case is that organisations are expected to show how they will contribute to the Creative Case for Diversity through the work they produce, present and distribute. “The Creative Case for Diversity provides the catalyst for an arts-centred approach to diversity. It is not a policy or a piece of work to be viewed in isolation. It is a way of approaching how we as organisations or individuals embrace diversity in our everyday practice, across all artforms, organisation types, museums and participatory practice. At the heart of this concept is a shift from a deficit model of diversity to a more positive and creative stance.” (taken from ACE’s website) In 2015 ACE announced additional strategic funds available to support work around diversity and the Creative Case. The following programs are part of the Creative Case for Diversity that relate to disability: Change makers ACE are investing £2.57 million to increase the diversity of senior leadership in art and culture by helping to develop a cohort of leaders who are Black, minority ethnic and/or disabled by means of a targeted senior leadership training and development programme. Elevate Through the Elevate Fund ACE is investing £5.3 million in 40 organisations not currently receiving National Portfolio funding but which are making a significant contribution to the Creative Case for Diversity. This provides more support for more diverse organisations across England, helping them to build sustainable and resilient businesses. The intention behind this is to increase the diversity of applications in future investment rounds. Unlimited ACE has committed £1.8 million to support the development of a range of new work by deaf and disabled artists – a single grant of £1.8 million will be made to an organisation or consortia to run this already successful program until 2020. This approach to really get organisations thinking about their commitment to diversity and being held accountable to a funding body has obviously been a very 30

welcomed one by the arts and disability community. With the implementation of funding streams like Change Makers, Elevate and festivals like Unlimited it has significantly increased the growth of the sector by enabling more work by people with disabilities to be created. This is a major step in creating more work led by people with disabilities and also a significant boost in establishing more infrastructure and support to non National Portfolio Organisations to build resilience and sustainability. When mainstream organisations have been given this kick start and the impetus they need to be working more diversely, the hope then, surely, is that all this would lead to an implementation of an Inclusion (Disability) Action Plan (if they did not already have one), a disability champion / advocate within the organisation, or better still, a dedicated role being appointed and a view to have the whole organisation trained to be ‘disability aware’ and confident, enabling access and inclusion to be deeply embedded within the organisation. Importantly, one would hope that the small to medium and independent organisations that are training, developing and creating work with people with disabilities (and some for 25-30yrs), receive equivalent and recurrent funding to ensure that they can keep fostering and nurturing the talent of these diverse voices. A funding stream like Elevate seems to be supporting this idea, but it is one-off funding, quite significant one-off funding granted, but not recurring. Nick, from Access All Areas said that the National Theatre, London is now knocking on their door to showing interest in speaking to them about working more diversely. He said it was usually the other way and around and they would receive little response if any at all. Nick also did say that it is also possibly due to the influence of the Head of the National, showing invested interest. This gets back to my point about cultural shifts and change occurring due to an individual within organisations. If it’s the Head of an organisation that is open to consulting with the community and implementing programs and productions of integrity there would be a rapid change and often other mainstream organisations will following suit. Creative Scotland www.creativescotland.com Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland through a distribution of funds from the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. They have a Head of Equalities and Diversity who is responsible for audience development, equalities and participation and supports those individuals whom Creative Scotland funds in order to develop inclusive and distinctive arts programs and attract audience that reflect diversity across the country. The position also works with partners and other stakeholders to deliver more accessible arts and culture through programs like Unlimited.

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Additionally, Creative Scotland is committed to offering clear and accessible application processes and programs that are open to everyone. Any of their main published materials, including funding guidance and application forms, are available in alternative formats including translations. They also offer access support to applicants with disabilities, tailored to individual requests. Support includes Sign Language Interpreters for meetings and scribing support for dyslexic applicants. Creative Scotland officers can offer advice to new applicants and support them to make an application. The Creative Scotland Equalities Team can offer additional oneto-one support to applicants with access requirements. There is also the Cultural Enterprise Office, which is an organisation that is funded by Creative Scotland, specialising in helping creative people and organisations with a range of business support services. They produce a very useful budget guide as well, which is an introduction to the key things you need to consider when drawing up your budget. They also provide a range of information services and free-to-attend workshops on subjects such as ‘Making Applications and Proposals’, and ‘Planning Your Time and Project’. www.culturalenterpriseoffice.co.uk Interesting to note here: Caroline Bowditch, an Australian performer with disability who moved to Scotland and England due to there being far more opportunities for artists with disability, questions whether or not she can identify as being a ‘disabled artist’ anymore as she feels adequately supported by funding bodies such as by Creative Scotland. A nice place to reach for an artist living with disability! Arts Council of Wales The Arts Council of Wales has a fabulous section on their website dedicated to Equality and Diversity. They have developed a thorough and extensive guide and videos to assist in increasing diversity in both audiences and creators. “Diversity and equality are crucial to the arts because they sustain, refresh, replenish and release the true potential of Wales’ artistic talent, regardless of people’s background. This underpins the Arts Council’s approach to equality and diversity in our sector.“ www.arts.wales/what-we-do/online-equality-guide

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THE WORK Whilst conducting this research into disability led theatre I started to ponder the following: “What are we all striving towards in the disability inclusive sense? Is it to be validated, taken seriously and to stand as equal contributors in the arts landscape? Does this mean we have to strive towards been included in the mainstream and be reviewed by mainstream theatre critics?” There are many passionate and relentlessly hard working people striving for justice and equality in life in general, let alone for consideration of inclusion of their art in venue programs, festivals, galleries etc, as well as recognition of their artistic worth within the sector, but is everyone just trying to find and create that golden project that will be the game changer? Are we all trying to reach that point where we will then all be able to say, ‘Oh now we’re equal, good we can relax and just get on with it.’ Or are we working against general bigotry in both our public arts and private lives whereby we see so much work still to be done so our main energetic focus, at least until things change more generally, is on building community and socially rigorous work regardless of whether we feel accepted or not by the mainstream?

Image: Myself with members of Freewheelers Theatre at their dress rehearsal of Destiny Betrayed.

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Mainstreaming- quality, value & authenticity Whilst work that was made in the UK in the early 80s may have been more politically charged due to the Disability Arts movement, will there always be an element of the work that needs to hold some sort of social responsibility? Or will audiences just read that into the work regardless? Can a work showcasing everyday experiences of living with disability just be a work of artistic expression as opposed to a loaded political statement? As I had immersed myself for 5 weeks in arts and disability culture I began to question what everyone is aspiring to and working towards. The performing arts has always had the potential to be a platform for social change, bringing much needed voice and visibility to under represented, marginalised communities, empowering people, however, does this mean the work has to remain obscure and out of reach of mainstream audiences? Isn’t the act of being truly inclusive also about embracing diverse aesthetics that may in fact directly and authentically reflect the life style aesthetics of people who live disability? Is it not about exposing audiences to diverse bodies and minds through just as diverse performative experiences? I note the inclusion of ‘Imagined Touch’ in this year’s (2017) Sydney Festival as example of a unique aesthetic and style that gave the audience a deeply layered understand of what it would be like to live as a Deafblind person. So does everything need to be mainstreamed? As in tailor their aesthetic choices for general consumption? Or can there be a new understanding of what it means to watch work that is aesthetically very different to what we’re used to because that more truthfully reflects the artists’ life and how they live given their disability? Does work that embraces disability-specific themes and aesthetics have to be seen to be mainstream to ‘have made it’? Can’t edgy and radical works, by outspoken people with disability, also receive as much attention as their mainstream counterparts? I think to start to appeal to the masses can compromise the ingenuity and freshness of work that is coming from disability led particularly those with intellectual disabilities. I think the ‘aesthetics of access’ and the unique form, style and aesthetic that theatre made by people with disabilities is to be embraced. The previously mentioned Ramps on the Moon project was in direct response to a lack of employment opportunities by people with disabilities in mainstream theatre. One of the parameters of the productions was that it needs to be an “Epic piece of ensemble theatre, likely to include music, which will appeal to a mainstream audience” and a “Production with an extraordinary and eye-catching, scale and ambition” and “The material may be an interpretation of an existing play, an adaptation of an existing piece, or especially commissioned.” So is this kind of mainstream work disability led? I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as such but more of a quite practical and realistic way of achieving equality in populist mainstream theatre (which there is a lot of in the UK), an opening up job prospects for performers with disability.

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When I visited Moomsteatern in Malmo Sweden, their Artistic Director Per said he only selects pre existing work for their ensemble of 7 full time performers with disability to perform. So they therefore do not engage in ensemble led work or work that is devised. He believes that if an audience can also see performers with disabilities tackle and succeed in performing in some of the great plays then this shatters their notion of what performers with disabilities are capable of and challenges their preconceptions around disability. He also said that often people with disabilities’ lives are predictable, their pathways limited and too often laid out in front of them in terms of what they’ll be doing their entire lives with little to no options. So with the work Per chooses, he wants to lift them out of this and the telling of their own stories, he says, ‘to give them a break from their disability.’ Another example of ‘mainstreaming’ was the first time collaboration between York Theatre Royal and four learning disabled performers from two companies,The Shysters and Full Body & The Voice (before is was renamed to Dark Horse, a company I visited) with their directors Jon Palmer from Dark Horse and Richard Hayhow from the Shysters. They were invited in to do an adaptation of Pinocchio. Whilst in London I purchased a book called, Theatres of Learning Disability- Good, Bad or Plain Ugly by Matt Hargrave. There is a chapter called ‘On Quality: Disability & Aesthetic Judgements’ which explores authenticity when working with people with intellectual disabilities and what this brings to the rehearsal process and final product and how mainstream theatres are tapping into this. Hargrave uses the production of Pinocchio as an example and says, “Pinocchio allowed York Theatre Royal to demonstrate its inclusivity. The authenticity of the learning disabled performers here was co-opted by the producing theatre. York effectively ‘outsourced’ authenticity, delegating the job to external providers, in return for a guarantee of its presence. Shysters / Full Body & The Voice also gained in this transaction. In this exchange for ‘authenticity’ they received the validating mark of ‘quality’ – that is, they became ‘good enough’ for the main stage. The music score was the sonic equivalent of the safety net, in case the art work did not make sense or was not ‘good enough.’ The devising process enabled York Theatre Royal to claim that it had achieved equality between disabled and non disabled cast member, that it had bridged the gap and rendered disability invisible and that the presence of learning disabled persons had ‘changed the culture of the theatre.’ “ (Hargrave 2015 pg 106). Palmer one of the directors reflected on his collaboration with the mainstream and said, “A small part of me wonders about this. Maybe the point of all this is that the non disabled people should be transformed. Ultimately is it not about the end product, it’s how they (the disabled performers) open our eyes to different ways of doing things” (Palmer 2007 pg 104) Hargrave quotes both directors Palmer and Hayhow saying the following on authenticity:

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“Palmer and Hayhow refer to the learning disabled person as inhabiting a ‘different’ place culturally and translate this notion into performance: they advocate work that arises from the needs and abilities of the individual performer on the grounds that an authentic performance will never come from imposing alien theatrical models on the actor.” (Palmer and Hayhow 2008 pg 59) Furthermore, “Authenticity drives the authors to resist ‘conventional theatre’ in all its forms and stems from their view that certain forms of theatre risk reinforcing the perception of good theatre as rote-learning or ‘representation’ of a role, whilst effectively focusing actors with learning disabilities to produce theatre that is quite alien to them and is even misrepresentative of their world view and perceptionstheir ‘ways of being’ and ‘ways of seeing.’” (Palmer and Hayhow 2008 pg 54) If we’re to be truly inclusive and honor what disability led means then we need to embrace what people with disabilities, particularly people with intellectual disabilities, bring to the process. As my main focus has been largely working with people with intellectual / learning disabilities, particularly in the last five years as I’ve coordinated RUCKUS, this is the area that I started to investigate and research more closely as part of my fellowship. Jude Kelly the Artistic Director from Southbank Centre says the following on cultural change particularly in relation to artists with intellectual/learning disabilities “... you get a critical mass and then a tipping point and people will start saying, ‘well this is normal.’ Because I think practice for Deaf and Disabled artists, I think that has reached a tipping point, I think that is a movement. But it’s been quite difficult for learning-disabled people to join that actually… because if you have a physical disability you can talk about your opinions. But learning –disabled artists need some support around finding a voice.” Additionally, from Alice Fox and Hannah MacPherson “We are interested in how learning-disabled artists might find routes for training, and how to help learning disabled artists place their work in dialogue with other existing forms of Contemporary Art. This is not for the purpose of supporting people to be ‘the same as’ any so-called ‘mainstream’ but rather to place their talents and senses of creativity within a wider context and alongside other practicing artists from different backgrounds.” (A Fox, H MacPherson 2015 pg 12) Arti, from Spare Tyre spoke to me about the work that she had produced with their ensemble of artists with intellectual disabilities, saying ‘who are they making it for?’ As the work was too ‘out there’ and no one really ‘got’ what they were trying to do as it had no traditional structure or form that the general public could relate to as accepted aesthetic- it was hard to place and possibly hard to watch. It was the kind of work that would never be selected for something like Unlimited or play on mainstream stages but it was very much the ensemble’s own creation.

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If a marker of quality and success is indeed getting work seen by a wider audience and have it validated by the wider arts community (and critics) then when we are working with an ensemble of performers with intellectual disabilities what role does the director play in the production and making the best work? A work that seems, from Arti’s explanation, to have come very much from the ensemble would never make the mainstream stages or appeal to a wider audience and that leads to the question of wider inclusion – who draws the line? Does there have to be a line drawn in some instances at all? What, for that matter, constitutes ‘professionalism’? Is it the level of competency of the director and / or key collaborative team or the entire group of people involved in the production. A director may know more than the ensemble about how the scene will best work because that is their expertise – in some cases many years of experience. So it becomes about knowing what standard and ‘type’ of theatre needs to be created in order for the ensemble to be taken seriously as artists, whilst maintaining a non-imposing methodology and the integrity of the people involved and still aiming to achieve a work of ‘excellence’ and ‘quality.’ Fran Leighton a director of a devised performance called BluYesBlu says, “I was caught between a strong desire to encourage a ‘recognisable’ theatre practice and a suspicion that trying to organise the devising around concepts of ‘responsibility, ‘ ‘commitment’ and ‘respect’ for the work would be an imposition of normative behavior. I was aware of the expectations of theatre practitioners and audience and for the consequences of disappointing these expectations. In [Judith] Butler’s terms, I had reached the limit of a ‘scheme of intelligibility’ and I questioned whether I was mediating the ‘performers’ work into a normative framework […] Eventually as I ‘allowed’ a relaxation of the concepts of responsibility and commitment a more fluid, flexible, spontaneous way of working emerged.” (Leighton 2009 pg 106 from Hargrave M. 2005 pg 37) A producer would also know what kind of ‘quality’ content needs to be produced in the hope that they will attract an audience and that their next project will get funded due to the success of the current one. Or, I might add, that their funding doesn’t get cut. Without funding the project doesn’t happen, so in a practical sense there does need to be a consideration of what the final work will be and this brings a huge added stream of concerns to a working ethic and methodology that many other companies do not have to consider. I and others feel that if we were able to know more for certain that we had secure funding then there would become more of a surge of work that took more risks, was more experimental in nature but still maintain a rigorous professionalism and authentic integration from the beginning of the project right through until closing night. BUT would the arts community and critics see this as ‘quality’ and would it attract an audience beyond that of just friends and family? Potentially not unless more directors and choreographers with vast experience in working inclusively are given funding scope to realise work (whether they themselves live with disability or not). And work of this nature is a truly inclusive way of working, a true disability led process and would considerably contribute to a serious diversifying of theatre that begins to create a whole new groundswell of integrated aesthetic, form. However,

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perhaps this kind of risk can only be taken on the fringes, but the conundrum is people on the fringes wanting to be heard more broadly so their stories aren’t continually ghettoized. Trish Wheatley a writer for Disability Arts Online, UK says, “I like the idea of considering ‘value’ instead of ‘quality’. Thinking about value is a democratising approach to understanding and appreciating art that makes way for more diverse opinions than those offered by the ‘informed elite’ establishment. It makes way for the unconventional, that which we do not yet understand as quality, but may well be highly regarded in the future.” UK theatre critic Lyn Gardner spoke at International Learning Live Disability & Performance conference at Mind the Gap in 2015 where she suggested that rather than chasing mainstream criticism that there are, “other ways to validate work other than a review in The Guardian.” She suggests these are maybe enlisting and engaging bloggers, academics or embedded criticism where it becomes the job of the critic to pickup and continue a dialogue initiated by the artist and artwork. Or perhaps she suggests that, “there needs to be different types of reviews for different types of theatre.” Lyn ended her talk at the conference with, “If learning disabled theatre wants its work reviewed in the broad sheets then it absolutely has to accept that it will not be reviewed on the basis of individual achievements of those involved or it’s social value but on the aesthetics and whether the show can sit proudly cheek by jowl with any other show been reviewed at the same theatre, venue or on the same day to do anything else fails both readers and those making the work.” What is also important to note is that there is extra time that goes into producing work with people with disability, particularly intellectual disabilities and a pressure that you have to prove yourselves as worthy to stand side by side or “cheek by jowl” with a ‘mainstream’ show and not to be seen as less but rather more or at least equal. There can be an automatic assumption by audiences and programmers that because work is made by people with disabilities it is not going to be that good so there is a need to work harder to prove people wrong. A greater amount of funding needs to be given to these productions to enable this time to be taken in order to produce work of quality that has come from a truly collaborative approach. “The very highest quality work is often the outcome of established collaborative partnerships- achieved over decades. Time is also required to establish the trust of funders and to build up audiences for work. Furthermore extended periods of time together can help collaborators recognize repetition, fear and significant absences in people’s work.” (Fox A and MacPherson H. 2015 pg 85). In her aforementioned article Where is the UK’s answer to Back to Back? Lyn raises important points around quality and how does a work by people with intellectual disabilities get validated. She says, “One of the ways that work gets better – in any area of theatre – is through proper evaluation, critical self-awareness and outside

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input, particularly through longer-term relationships with venues who really value its place in their programmes and who will help enable that. But it's a chicken-and-egg situation. Without a level of consistency and quality, the work won't get programmed and taken seriously, and it won't gain consistency and quality unless it is programmed and talked and written about. It will remain on the margins. It's probably worth remembering that it's taken Graeae many years to break down the barriers (for work made by d/Deaf and disabled artists), and that may be the case here.” Lyn said that the next step in making learning disabled work appreciated, “Must be not just applauding intentions, but making a real attempt to evaluate how such work can benefit the participants, and finding ways it can gain greater prominence. That demands a robust mix of respect and rigour that doesn't ignore the richness or value of process alone, but which will also help individuals and companies evolve, and which will encourage theatres and venues to develop an audience for this work.” I think this process of individual and companies evolving is important and a first step in Australia would be getting programmers and curators to see more work made by people with disabilities and also nurturing more programmers and curators with disability. Who are the ‘gate keepers?’ Programmers, funding bodies and also people such as project managers and producers within arts and disability companies hold the ‘keys to the gate’ as to what work gets made and who are pushed forward and given support. Largely these people may not identify as having disability or in some cases have very little knowledge of the sector at all but yet are the ones given power to decide who should be pushed forward and what kind of work gets made. Too often this favours people living with physical disability over those with invisible or intellectual disability. Senior Producer Lisa Mallaghan at Mind the Gap was very conscious of the position she is in and that she indeed is a ‘gate keeper.’ Mind the Gap are addressing this by trying to build a network of associate producers and members of Mind the Gap have the opportunity to pitch their ideas. She finds otherwise that they can tend to look at one or two of the same people. Performer Jez Colbourne for instance has produced 3 major projects in collaboration with Mind the Gap now. So whilst he’s deserving this is seen inequitable in itself and not supporting the greater growth of the sector. Additionally, funding bodies that don’t cater to everyone’s access needs can be seen to be gate keeping as well. Not everyone can present their ideas in a traditional and conventional way, such as filling in funding applications or communicating their project through words. These are very limited and ableist ways of getting your project idea supported through to production. This is something needs to be addressed in order for a broader representation of people with disability’s voices to be heard.

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An initiative that helps with this is the Creative Minds project which is a project run out of arts and disability organisation Carousel, Brighton in the south of England. When meeting with the Creative Minds National Coordinator Gus Garside, said they are trying to address the inequity of what gets funded and what doesn’t, largely due to inaccessible funding processes. They are trying to address this so that there are more people with intellectual disabilities able to sit on panels, be present at conferences, do consultative work and have their voice heard. People with intellectual disabilities form the Creative Minds committee and chair and run the meetings. There is a need to get work in front of programmers and producers but they need to value it enough to come along in the first place. Work can still be seen as participatory and community- nothing wrong with this at all and serves a gap and real need but it is an exercise in managing people’s expectations so clearly defining for programmers and producers what they are going to see. As mentioned previously there also needs to be programs that foster the development of curators and producers with disabilities. Senior Producer of Unlimited Jo Verrant said that Unlimited is useful as a ‘stamp’ as programmers have heard of Unlimited. She said that the more work they can produce the more work they can offer and an audience will build for this kind of work. Shape CEO Tony Heaton said of the first Unlimited in 2012, “It was great to see sold-out shows and the incredulity of the largely non-disabled people who had just witnessed our work for the first time, who then joined us in lobbying for continued funding.”

Image: Niclaus from Moomsteatern with The Dream Play program

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Venues and a ‘name’- been taken seriously To have work validated, taken seriously and sit equally with other ‘mainstream’ theatre productions some companies have employed strategies to get noticed by a wider audience and critics. They have decided to employ someone to work with their actors who has a broader reach beyond the arts and disability world that they inhabit and hopefully reach new audiences, gain peer respect from the wider arts community and the recognition that they deserve. Some have also sought collaborations with other more mainstream companies or think more about the venues they are performing in and how their work is viewed. When I spoke with Mind the Gap’s Senior Producer Lisa Mallaghan about audience development and exposure she said that they chose to use theatre director Allan Lyddiard to direct their show Contained (2015). Mind the Gap have resident directors that work for the company but Allan was a director from outside of the company that Lisa said is known in the UK arts world and by having Allan direct their show she said, “It certainly made the arts world look at us differently, more equally and treat the work with more respect.” Jerome Bel a French choreographer without disability and Theatre HORA a company of Swiss actor with intellectual disabilities presented Disabled Theater (2012) at New York Live Arts. It received a lot of criticism from people from the dance and disability sector, “The fact that able-bodied and neuro-typical choreographers and directors like Bel feel entitled to enter into a genre and political domain in order to produce work about a community to which they have no relationship whatsoever—indeed, might even be quite dis-identified from, by Bel’s account—without any sense of obligation to research or explore its history, is cause for concern. On the contrary, Bel and his peers are lauded as brave or “edgy” for traveling into this presumably foreign cultural space, imagined to give meaning to what—and moreover, who—was heretofore considered uninteresting, irrelevant, or lacking.” (Park McArthur, Lezlie Frye and Alice Sheppard- dismagazine website) It also received criticism from family members watching, one performer Matthias shared that, “…his sister cried when she saw it, recalling that “she says that we are like animals in the circus: fingers in the nose, scratching, fingers in the mouth.” (Park McArthur, Lezlie Frye and Alice Sheppard- dismagazine website) At the Arts, Disability & Health Conference that I attended in Norway, Dave Calvert (who is also on the Board of Dark Horse) in his paper ‘Disability, care and debility: radically reframing the collaboration between non-disabled and learning disabled theatre makers’ spoke about this responsibility of care that the directors have in a process of devising theatre with performers with intellectual disabilities. Similarly to Back to Back’s aforementioned Ganesh and the Third Reich both Contained and Disabled Theater had the director or a person representing/ playing the ‘real’ director present by either voice over or an onstage presence. There needs to be

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sensitivity and a careful playing out of how a director manages this on stage and within the process. These three productions were led by a director without disability but only Disabled Theater seemed to be attract wide criticism. I can only speculate that perhaps the others were more led by the ensemble and the directors listened and facilitated a more authentic voice? Audiences also instinctually place a value on piece of theatre before they have even seen it merely due to the venue that it is in and also strangely enough ticket prices that may be some kind of indicator as to the quality of the production that will be presented. Of course, any kind of dedicated theatre goer knows that this is wrong as the most thought provoking and endearing show can be presented in a school hall but it is perhaps not gaining the type of kudos, respect or recognition that it is afterwhether it is after that kind of attention or not is a question for the presenting company. Having a festival like at Unlimited at Southbank Centre which is right on the River Thames with Big Ben behind them was seen as a huge win for the arts and disability sector- a venue of that kind gives the work the respect it deserves and attracts a broader audience. The work however still needs to be good- a venue alone can not give it that. I saw some shows that were outside of London which had hugely dedicated teams and presented good work but weren’t necessarily getting the same attention as other companies. This was perhaps due to where they were presenting, their geographical positioning within the country and also I was told those that receive four years worth of National Portfolio funding from ACE are viewed with more of a national prominence. Lyn Gardner also spoke about this at the aforementioned conference, “Theatre is often valued on the basis of some kind of concept of professionalism all in profession where so many go unpaid. It is valued for the buildings which it takes place in so that something at the National Theatre is perceived as having more value than something that takes place in a community centre or above a pub.” Professionalism- what does this mean for artists with disabilities? When speaking about success and mainstreaming the notion of what is deemed ‘professional’ needs to also be explored. The trouble with having limited (or no) accredited training programs and little paid performance opportunities for people with disabilities is that it becomes hard to define the benchmarks that are needed to define an individual or an ensemble as ‘professional.’ Spare Tyre, Mind the Gap & Access All Areas spoke about the frustration of not been able to pay their actors properly, or at all due to them having their Disability Support Allowance cut which leads to little incentive to get paid work and there is no provision in the support they receive for flexibility. As performers there can be periods of time when you are employed and unemployed so to jeopardise their Disability Support Allowance by accepting payment is hard. Mind the Gap offer their weekly training classes for free in lieu of paying those that have been involved productions so as to not put their Disability Support Allowance

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at risk. Nick from Access All Areas said that their main aim is getting people off benefits, so by not been able to pay them properly is hard. Per from Moomsteatern said even though some of their performers have 20 years experience they have to convince people that this is employment, that what their actors are doing is a job. He said when they moved from amateur to professional, they had ‘points’ they accrued when they went to the Acting Institute so then they were then seen as professional even though some of them had been acting for 20 years. What the actors were doing was more able to be recognised as a job and employment beyond a hobby with this kind of accreditation. One performer from Moomsteatern, Niclaus is in his early 40s and will look to retire soon, Per said when he retires he’ll have more money to retire on then he would if he has just been receiving his pension. Back to Back Theatre was set up 28 years ago as a supported employment service with Bruce saying he is only aware of themselves and one other arts organisation in Australia that are set up this way (it is difficult to do this now). Their actors are paid at different times in the year so that it doesn’t affect their pension and it depends on what is on at the time to how much they are paid (they are paid above the award minimum). They have set up a very good relationship with Centrelink who administers their Disability Support Pension and understands the flexible nature of the actor’s work, so they can go on and off the pension a couple of times a year. I’m not sure how easy it is to establish this kind of relationship with Centrelink but it has worked for Back to Back. Bruce said ideally the would pay their actors a full time wage 52 weeks of the year but this would affect them getting back on the pension and if they decide to leave Back to Back and it would then most likely be difficult to get back on the pension as they have demonstrated that they are able to work full time. For most artists with disabilities, particularly intellectual, routes into paid work are limited. In order for people to become employed in this sector not only do there need to be forms of accreditation and training that enable routes into work there also needs to be a growing audience for work. Since 2003 in the UK there has be a scheme called ‘Permitted Work’ enabling learning disabled people to earn up to £66 a week without jeopardising their benefits. Though the amount is small it does enable people with intellectual disabilities a stepping stone to future employment.

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CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS There seems to be the same struggles present in the organisations I visited and also the same joys and reasons surrounding why people are doing the work they are doing. The Unlimited Festival in London has contributed an enormous amount to how work is viewed by audiences and through their commissioning program and their research and development funding streams have contributed significantly to the creation of new disability led work. A larger population, a history that is steeped in theatre tradition and Disability Arts movement have all led to the UK being significantly further ahead when it comes to addressing some of the key issues around access and inclusion. Whilst some acknowledged that they are leading the way globally they are also aware that this position always feels precarious and in jeopardy and that there is a need to keep striving for equality and pushing forward or else funding and support will be cut. Currently, Arts Council England is committed to diversity with their Creative Case for Diversity but the there are drastic cuts to welfare and ‘Access to work’ disability support. For artists with disability taking one away significantly affects the other. Most organisations and people I met with had training and development programs and saw the importance of such programs to grow and develop the sector. Without a commitment to the fostering of emerging artists with disabilities been trained and skilled up and the furthering of support for mid career and professional artists with disabilities there will be no sector. The best programs had a qualification or accreditation attached to the course and had created a partnership with a drama institution. This also assisted with performers been taken seriously as professionals. Generally the answer I received when I asked people about their thoughts on work that is ‘disability led’ and specifically if the director doesn’t identify as having disability was that theatre is collaborative, it’s a collaboration between all members of the team and this does not necessarily have to all be in equal measure. If a director is able to work sensitively, respectfully and collaboratively then that should be all that matters. They need to be able to listen and work with ideas presented from the ensemble and have an understanding of what they are striving towards- it is hope that this would always be to make good work with authenticity and integrity. It is then up to the presenting company whether they pursue more mainstream opportunities or what they are making is for a more mainstream venue/ audience. There is a responsibility with theatre programmers, producers and funding bodies to be seeing work made by people with disability, supporting it through development grants and residencies and also and most importantly making the funding application process an equitable one for every person with disability not just some disabilities. Otherwise this can be seen as token and also further disable the applicant. Shifts only seem to occur within mainstream or non arts & disability companies when there is a passionate individual championing, advocating and driving the

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change from within the company, they are accountable to a funding body or it’s been legislated. Often arts and disability organisations have been sustained over decades due to a persistent and tirelessly working individual at helm and they need to be supported or proper successional plans need to be in place and a fostering of emerging leaders with disabilities to be able to confidently take over the reigns. The following are my recommendations: •

Arts and disability companies or organisations that have inclusive programs need to have: o Representatives on their Board that have a broad range of disability or have experienced due to disadvantage barriers to full inclusion o Advisory group/ committee that consists of people with a broad range of disability or due to disadvantage have experienced barriers to full inclusion. These people need to be fully embraced, listening to and valued for their insights, expertise and experience and where applicable paid for their time.

•

If a company or organisation has an ensemble then representatives of the ensemble need to be on the Board and their access requirements need to be fully met. o Access requirement may mean a support person to go through the Board minutes prior to the meeting and support that person to raise points in the meeting o Funding needs to be given to organisations that need extra time and resources to ensure full inclusion at an organisational level o Funding for trainers to come in a train people with intellectual disabilities in self advocacy so they are better equipped to participate in Board level conversations should they so wish.

•

Arts organisations need to have a: o Disability (Inclusion) Action Plan o Disability ‘champion/s’ within their organisation o Dedicated Agent for Change/ Change Maker role with their organisation o Commitment to programming diversity

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o Commitment to Access and Inclusion through Disability Awareness Training for all staff o Access been on the agenda at all meetings •

There needs to be substantial and recurrent funding for: o Key individuals and grass roots organisations that consistently demonstrate a commitment to the sector who work collaboratively and with integrity o Initiatives that grow the sector for both participants who are contributing creatively and audiences o Training & Development programs 

Ideally programs that are accredited and people can receive some kind of qualification for not only skills development but also fro performance to be taken seriously as a profession



Creating partnerships with established drama schools or arts organisations

•

Funding streams that support diversity, that boost smaller arts organisations working with people with disabilities, that contribute to the development of leaders with disabilities and the foster the development of new work made by people with disabilities.

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Additional funding for work made particularly with people with intellectual disabilities due to the pace that needs to be worked to allow a truly inclusive, collaborative & non impositional process.

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Funding bodies making ALL applicants applying for funding to demonstrate their genuine commitment to diversity and access for audiences. o If offering alternate ways of submitting for funding there needs to be guidelines around each alternate way of submitting and a separate criteria for each o Pro bono grant writers for applicants o Face to face meetings to discuss project idea and then real and on going support until the form/ alternate way of applying is completed o Different methods of applying for different groups/ individuals with different disabilities

•

Advisory service that supports artists at every stage of their development with free on going advice from the seed project idea to full production/ realisation of the project. 46

•

A consortium of theatres across the state/ country committing to touring works by people with disabilities and applying together for funding.

•

Succession plans need to be in place for leaders on arts and disability organisations and the fostering of development of emerging arts administrators/ leaders/ directors. o Offering internships & mentorships with arts orgs and arts and disability orgs of people with disabilities. These positions must be adequately resourced and supported for it to be successful. Access needs must absolutely be met.

•

Offering of traineeships and mentorships in the creation and production of the show. A chance to ‘shadow’ creative team members. Again, access needs must consistently and adequately be met.

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Valuing community development work, community capacity building and not just the final presentation.

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Reduced ticket prices and a volunteer theatre escort service for people with disabilities.

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Embedding access within performances, using access as starting point not an after though or add on, embracing the ‘aesthetic of access.’

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Developing a map of opportunities and companies for artists with disabilities across the state/country to provide an easy ‘one stop’ guide to view potential courses, pathways and partnerships.

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Flexibility for performers and artists with disability that are on the Disability Support Pension.

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Theatre programmers and producers committing to seeing works by people with disabilities. o Theatre and arts centres offering Research & Development funding and residencies for artists with disabilities to develop work for their (and other) theatre/s.

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Artists can create a profile on Disability Arts International, www.disabilityartsinternational.org a resource aimed at countering the geographical isolation of Deaf and artists with disabilities, at encouraging international cooperation, and at sharing best practice across borders.

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I can bring about improvements by always continuing to have a person with an intellectual or invisible disability present with me on panels, forums, training sessions and seminars. I will lobby and guide funding bodies to ensure their application process for funding is more accessible for people of all abilities. I will use my international connections to keep NSW and Australia where possible abreast of current trends and discussions and hopefully be in the position to pursue further connections and partnerships. I will guide arts organisations with any assistance they may need in Disability Awareness Training for staff and any consulting work on their Disability Action Plans. I will continue where funding permits to provide on going training to RUCKUS and open workshops up to the greater community. I will continue to be an active and strong advocate for the underrepresented and marginalised and use any connections or influence I may have at a governmental and policy level to instigate positive change.

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REFERENCES Hargrave, M. (2015) Theatres of Learning Disability- Good, Bad or Plain Ugly London: Palgrave Macmillan Fox, A and Macpherson H. (2015) Inclusive Arts Practice and Research- A Critical Manifesto Oxon: Routledge Gardner, L. (2014) Learning Disabled Theatre where is the UK’s answer to Back to Back? The Guardian blog spot www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2014/oct/17/learning-disabled-theatrecreative-minds-diverse-futures McArthur P, Frye L & Sheppard A Disability and Disabled Theater Dismagazine website dismagazine.com/disillusioned/59706/disability-and-disabledtheater/ Wheatley, T (2015) Critiquing Learning Disabled Performance Disability Arts Online opinion piece www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk/opinion-critiquing-learning-disabilityperformance Calvert, D. (2016) paper at Arts, Disability & Health conference in Norway ‘Disability, care and debility: radically reframing the collaboration between non-disabled and learning disabled theatre makers’ Published on University of Huddersfield website http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/29392/ Sutherland, A. (2005) Disability Arts Online www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk/what-is-disability-arts

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