{"id":1174,"date":"2017-02-28T15:30:25","date_gmt":"2017-02-28T15:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disabilityartsinternational.flywheelsites.com\/resources\/the-aesthetics-of-access\/"},"modified":"2019-10-17T12:47:06","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T12:47:06","slug":"the-aesthetics-of-access","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.disabilityartsinternational.org\/resources\/the-aesthetics-of-access\/","title":{"rendered":"The Aesthetics of Access"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arts and equalities journalist Paul F Cockburn asks how the consideration of accessibility has influenced the aesthetics of disability theatre and performance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Necessity, according to the old proverb, is the mother of invention\u2014and performance is no exception. Soon after Jenny Sealey MBE became Artistic Director of Graeae Theatre Company in 1997, she faced a significant problem\u2014the company had a commitment to the Arts Council to do another show, but hardly any money. Certainly, there wasn\u2019t anything to pay for the BSL interpreters and audio describers that were, by then, an intrinsic part of any Graeae production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graeae
Jenny Sealey and the cast in rehearsals for The House of Bernarda Alba, a recent co-production between Royal Exchange Theatre and Graeae. Photograph: Tracey Anderson. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI realised that everything had to be embedded in the text,\u201d Jenny says now. \u201cSo I chose Steven Berkoff’s adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher because he had written more stage directions than actual text. Beautiful stage directions; some of them about what was happening physically, some about what the light was like. I thought\u2026 why don\u2019t the actors take on and embody those stage directions? Then we pre-recorded all the BSL signing, projecting the signer so he was like this sort of maverick character in the mirror above the bed, looking down. It was hell on earth trying to do it, but it all made sense, and I realised that everything is in the script about what the accessibility can be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the decades since then, Jenny and Graeae have developed what has been called the \u201caesthetics of access\u201d; essentially, the ways in which accessibility concerns are not simply last-minute add-ons but actually influence and shape the work in wonderful, unexpected ways. \u201cIf you start with that idea that you want to make your theatre accessible, look at the text,\u201d Jenny insists. \u201cAs you start to unpack the text, that\u2019s how you understand what the aesthetics are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results are often unexpected. The cast of Graeae\u2019s production of Sarah Kane\u2019s Blasted spoke every single word she wrote, including stage directions, creating a real sense of claustrophobia. This year\u2019s production of The House of Bernarda Alba incorporated elements of audio description into the script while including signing on stage\u2014Jenny\u2019s cast included three deaf actors and an actor-signer. \u201cFinding the family relationship of the sisters\u2014some who sign, some who use voice, some who are deaf and use voice, and some who don\u2019t\u2014allowed us to explore the authenticity of that family and their relationships, and the show suddenly just went where it had to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garry Robson is an acclaimed actor, director and co-artistic director of Glasgow-based Birds of Paradise Theatre Company; for him it\u2019s all about using access to add something to a performance. \u201cThe first time I saw accessibility writ large was in Graeae\u2019s Ian Dury musical, Reasons To Be Cheerful, which I was with for several years,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe lyrics were captioned in a really exciting way, using a lot of visuals, and all the punters loved it because it was like having a song sheet\u2014they could join in! Also, the audio description was by a character called \u2018Pickles\u2019; a bit of a wheeler-dealer, a very Dury-esque character, who was completely visible on stage. Visually-impaired audience members had him in their ear, but it was all done in character. It got to the stage where people were asking for the audio description headsets because they were enjoying Pickles\u2019 commentary!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graeae
Garry Robson (second from left) in Graeae’s Reasons to Be Cheerful. Photograph: Patrick Baldwin <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Garry accepts that including access for the sake of it doesn\u2019t always work. \u201cYou can clutter a show, you can make it collapse under its own weight by trying to throw too much at it,\u201d he says. \u201cBut the one thing we have discovered (at Birds of Paradise) is that if you\u2019re serious about access, you have to embed it from the start of the creative process. It has to be budgeted for, for example; it\u2019s not cheap to do. But once it\u2019s in there at the beginning\u2014I don\u2019t mean at the start of rehearsals, but from when you\u2019re thinking of putting on the show in the first place\u2014then it makes you think again about everything you\u2019re doing which, as an artist, is always exciting. No one is going to mark you down if you decide you don’t want to go ahead with it, but at least consider it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, \u201cmainstream\u201d theatres have begun to introduce specific, audio-described, BSL-interpreted and autism-friendly \u201crelaxed\u201d performances, but the general approach is not without problems. \u201cI think you often find that things like captioning and interpreting are seen as the realm of Front of House rather than the artistic team,\u201d says Garry. \u201cThat seems crazy to me: if you\u2019re going to have captioning, you need to work with the lights; and not involving the interpreter in rehearsals is just shocking oversight, really.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet there are signs that at least some non-disabled companies are beginning to \u201cget\u201d the aesthetics of access. \u201cI was watching the new Complicite show, Beware of Pity,\u201d says Garry. \u201cA wonderful piece, I thought, but it was kind of almost audio described. Whether that\u2019s just because Simon McBurney is open to working with deaf and disabled companies and performers, or it\u2019s spreading into the mainstream, who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Jenny accepts that there are now aspects of Graeae\u2019s work that can be thought of as \u201ca Jenny Sealey style of doing things\u201d, she\u2019s the first to underline how she\u2019s always learning. \u201cEvery single play offers a different challenge; a new journey, a new exploration,\u201d she insists. \u201cI haven\u2019t got a template. I think the day we have a template is the day I leave Graeae because Art cannot have a template. It makes it boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have the play, I cast the best people for the job,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m really lucky to work with the teams of people I do, because although Graeae calls it an aesthetic, every single team we work with continues to unpack, excavate, renew, and are an inspiration of that aesthetic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch this British Council-commissioned film about the creative uses of sign language and audio description in theatre:<\/p>\n\n\n\n