Creative Access

with Robert Softley Gale

A workshop examining the ways in which Birds of Paradise Theatre Company designs access into their work – from new writing through to staged productions. Creatively embedded access makes our work accessible to sight impaired, hearing impaired and other audiences while also providing artistic challenges and opportunities, enriching our creative output as a company and widening access to the arts. This is an opportunity to learn from our practice, successes and failures and explore how thinking about access can enrich your own practice.

Bio

Robert is an established figure in the Scottish arts scene, with over ten years of experience in diverse roles including disability rights activist, actor and performer, writer, artistic director and advocate of equality of access to the arts for disabled people. Robert has appeared in many productions and has developed his own artistic practice – including instigating, co-writing and performing in ‘Girl X’ for the National Theatre of Scotland, directed by Pol Heyvaert of Belgium’s Campo. His award-winning writing debut and solo performance – ‘If These Spasms Could Speak’ – was a hit of the 2013 Made in Scotland programme and has subsequently toured internationally to countries including Brazil and India. Robert joined Birds of Paradise as Artistic Director in November 2012.