ARTISTS MAKING ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCE: A WORKING GROUP
ABOUT MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE
Are you interested in making accessible theatre? Can we help?
This is a difficult time for everyone, but we want to use this moment to think about what we want the future of Scottish theatre to look like.
We want to talk about why you are interested in making accessible work and what you think are the barriers to doing so. Whether you’re interested in creating more accessible performances, events or projects, we want to hear from you. We want to support you to come together and move forward in making accessible theatre.
This working group is for theatre makers in Scotland who have an interest in creating accessible work, whether you’re an artist, actor, dancer, director, producer, writer, choreographer or designer. All levels of experience are welcome.
The working group is facillitated by BOP and Andy Edwards, Andy is a theatre-maker, playwright and dramaturg whose recent work includes “In Burrows” – an improvised duet with Sign Language Interpreter Amy Cheskin.
HOW TO JOIN A MEETING
We will host the meeting via a video chat client called Zoom, to join the call you may have to download the app onto your phone, tablet or computer.
We understand that some people who are interested in this subject will not be able to attend the meeting for various reasons. If this is the case, please email Callum at callum@boptheatre.co.uk and you can be added to the mailing list to receive any notes that arise.
This meeting will be made accessible through British Sign Language and captioning. If you require these services please email all@boptheatre.co.uk or indicate this on the Facebook event page to confirm and we will send instructions.
ACCESS INFORMATION
– For BSL select ‘Catherine King’ or ‘Yvonne Strain’ as your ‘pinned speaker.’ To select someone as your pinned speaker:
- 1. Hover over the video you want to pin and click the icon with three dots ‘…’
- 2. From the menu, choose ‘Pin Video’.
- 3. To unpin click ‘Switch to Active Speaker’ in the upper left of screen.
– For Captions – these will be provided by a third party website. Please click on this link prior to the meeting, this will bring up the page where the captions will appear once the meeting begins.
You will need to arrange the captions window and the Zoom window on a way on your device where you are able to access both. The reason for doing it this way is because the captions function within Zoom has a considerable lag to the point where it is not accessible.
Who is this group for? This group is for theatre makers in Scotland (and beyond) who have an interest in creating accessible work. Whether you’re an artist, actor, dancer, director, producer, writer, choreographer or designer, we want to hear from you. Can I join in if I’ve never made accessible theatre before? Absolutely, you’re an important part of this conversation. By running this working group, we want to find out how we can support you to make accessible work in the future. What if I can’t be there for the whole two hours? We all have different schedules and responsibilities, so you can still take part if you’re not able to be there for the whole two hours. There will be an agenda, see below, and we’ll take a 10-minute break around 3pm, so you could always join us for the first or second hour. In any case, we’ll make sure you’re properly welcomed, whenever you can make it. Will the meeting be BSL interpreted or captioned? Yes, but please email all@boptheatre.co.uk 24 hours before the meeting is due to take place if you require BSL interpretation or captioning. How do I submit a question for the discussion groups? To submit a question click this link, or email callum@boptheatre.co.uk. The full list of questions will be made available on the website so people can continue their discussions after the session if they wish. Questions will be anonymised when posed to the group. What if I want to ask a question during the discussion group? What if the Raise Hand feature doesn’t work for me? Don’t worry – just stick your hand up and we’ll make sure to come back to you. I’m working on my own project and I’m looking for advice. Can I talk about this during the group? We absolutely want to hear about what you’re working on but there won’t be time for 1-to-1 consultation about projects. However, if questions do come up during the course of the working group then we’re happy to discuss them. We don’t have all the answers, but we can try and figure it out together. What if these presentations are not relevant to my work? Let us know what is. We want to hear from you. If you have an idea to present on a project of your own, or would like to hear from someone else about a subject you’re interested in, then email Andy on edwards.andrewneil@gmail.comFrequently Asked Questions
You can either write your question into the chat, prefaced by the letter ‘Q’, or put up your hand. You can also put your hand up digitally, using Zoom’s raise hand tool. To use it during the meeting:
Rules of Engagement (please read before joining the meeting)
Welcome to the Artists Making Accessible Theatre working group!
- For captions we will provide a link to a third party website, you will need to have both the captions and Zoom windows open on your desktop.
- For BSL select the interpreter as your ‘pinned speaker.’ The interpreters for the upcoming meeting will be Catherine King and Yvonne Strain.
- If you have a question but don’t want to ask it during a conversation then please write it in the chat, prefaced by the letter ‘Q.’ e.g. Q. How much do BSL interpreters cost? We will try to return to all your questions before the meeting ends.
- We won’t take questions during the presentations, but we will feed them into the discussion if time allows.
- If you want to say something use Zoom’s “Raise Hand” function to get our attention.
- If you have a question but would prefer us to answer it via email, please tell us in the chat or email your question to all@boptheatre.co.uk
- A transcript of this conversation will be made available to those who can’t attend. If you would prefer your contributions to be redacted, please let us know via email.
Meeting links will be added 5 mins before each meeting. You will be prompted to “sign in for the meeting”
👉 MEETING LINK 👈
Previous Events
Make it Accessible 1: April 24th
This conversation was hosted by Birds of Paradise and facilitated by Andy Edwards.
AGENDA
2.00 PM : Introductions (10 mins)
- Welcome to session + introduce house rules. *Everyone Together*
- Introduction from Birds of Paradise, explaining their intention in hosting this conversation and their motivation for inviting Andy to facilitate it.
2.10 PM : Part One: How do you make accessible work? (40 mins)
- Question 1: Who are you? What work do you make?
- Question 2: What does making “accessible theatre” mean to you, and to your practice?
*Breakout to discuss Q1 + Q2*
*Come back together to feed back from both groups + introduce Q3*
- Question 3: How would – or does – a more inclusive approach change the way you work? (in logistical, financial, creative, production terms)
*Breakout to discuss Q3*
2.50 PM : Tea Break (10 mins)
3.00 PM : Part Two: How can we support your practice? (40 mins) *Everyone Together; briefly summarise and introduce Q1*
- Question 1: What barriers do you encounter when making accessible work? Are they practical, financial, creative, societal? *Breakout to discuss Q1*
- Question 2: What support do you need to overcome these barriers? How can Birds of Paradise help? *Feedback both groups together and discuss Q2 as one (it might make sense to set Future Actions before rounding up with Q3?)*
- Question 3: What’s missing from this conversation? If we were to meet again, what needs to be discussed? *This could be directed into the post-conversation questionnaire, if there are a number of outstanding Questions in the chat?*
3.40 PM : Set Future Actions (10 mins) *Everyone Together*
- Based on the discussion, BOP / Andy will write a list of potential future actions to support artists making accessible work. This will be shared with the group following the end-of-session.
3.50 PM : Wrap-up (10 mins) *Everyone Together*
- Thank people for taking part.
- Direct people to Google Questionnaire Feedback Form, which contains further opportunity to offer thoughts and opinions.
- Supplementary information on accessible theatre-making will be made available.
Read a summary of the key points from the meeting:
Read a transcript of the whole meeting:
