Disabled Playwrights Support

How we support disabled playwrights

When Birds of Paradise was founded in 1993, the most urgent gap was in performance. Our early work focused on building the skills, the confidence, and the professional pathways that would allow disabled performers to work at the highest level. That work attracted serious attention. Alasdair Gray — one of Scotland’s most celebrated writers — wrote Working Legs: A Play For People Without Them for the company, a darkly comic inversion of the non-disabled world.

Next opportunity to apply to the Disabled Playwright Mentoring Programme – around October 2026

Disabled Writers’ Room Disabled Playwrights Mentoring Programme

But as that work developed, a structural problem became harder to ignore. Without a diverse pool of writers, directors, dramaturgs and other creative practitioners, the stories available to disabled performers — and to audiences — would always be limited. You can increase diversity on the stage and still find that the plays being performed don’t reflect a wide range of human experience. Representation without authorship only goes so far.

To address this we have launched a number of programmes and activities, often working alongside partner organisations.

BOP’s Disabled Writers’ Room – online playwriting support groups, led by an experienced and skilled disabled playwright
Disabled Playwrights Mentoring Programme – in partnership with Playwrights’ Studio Scotland, provides mentoring to mid-career disabled playwrights
Mary Dick Award – in partnership with Summerhall, supports a disabled artist/disability-led company to bring their work to the Edinburgh Fringe

A young woman sits on a comfy chair looking thoughtfully into the distance. Her right hands props up her chin. Her legs are corssed and her left leg is a prosthetic leg. Balanced on her lap is a laptop.

BOP Writers

BOP Writers offerd a supportive environment for disabled playwrights to develop their skills through collaborative sessions. This programme has now become BOP’s Disabled Writers’ Room

Four actors performing in a script-in-hand reading. A BSL interpreter is overlaid in the bottom left corner.

BOP Writers Showcase 2023

The BOP Writers Showcase 2023 presented new works by 12 emerging disabled writers who participated in the BOP Writers programme over the year.

Jack kneels on the ground, leaning with his elbows on a small wooden stool. Next to him, the Drath Tater sits atop an overhead projector, which is projecting an image of Bec as a toddler sitting in a highchair, with pigtails. Jack's chin rests in his right hand as he smiles confidently away from the camera.

The Mary Dick Award

The Mary Dick Award supports UK-based d/Deaf or disabled artists, providing funding, mentoring, and a slot in Edinburgh Fringe’s Summerhall program.

Something to Say

A development opportunity that worked to amplify seldom-heard voices within radio drama

BOP’s Disabled Writers’ Room

We are excited to launch BOP’s Disabled Writers’ Room – our online playwriting peer support groups for 2026. The Disabled Writers’ Room is a set of collective spaces where playwrights of any level of experience can come together to share their work with a supportive group of like-minded individuals. Sessions are online and led by an experienced disabled playwright.

Each group has up to 20 participants – they’ll meet in the evening for two hours a week over eight weeks. There’s no set theme or curriculum — sessions are responsive to what the group needs, and might include discussion, Q&As, workshopping drafts, or other kinds of writing support as the cohort develops. Once the group is established, there will be opportunities to share excerpts of your work with the other playwrights.

Who is it for? The Disabled Writers’ Room is open to disabled playwrights aged 18 and over based in Scotland, at any stage of their writing life — whether you’re working on your first piece or your fifteenth. There is no cost to take part.

How does it work? Sessions take place on Zoom. They won’t be recorded. If you have access requirements — including captions or BSL interpretation — please let us know in the form. Further information about access is on the form.

If you have any questions, you can email us at all@boptheatre.co.uk, and one of the BOP Team will get back to you. BOP’s Disabled Writers’ Room will follow a similar format to BOP Writers, which you can read about here.

“I found the early sessions…really useful and fun. I liked having small assignments and having my work anonymously appraised — comments/feedback/questions. And I liked reading other people’s work anonymously. Having set ‘exercises’ to do in between our online get-togethers helped my writing develop tangentially.”
BOP Writer’s playwright

Disabled Playwrights Mentoring Programme

A hugely successful collaboration since 2020 working with Playwrights’ Studio Scotland, each year offering support to one or two disabled playwrights with the development of their ideas. We work closely with the playwrights over six months to empower their writing and expand their practice.

Our offer includes:

One-to-one mentoring sessions with an experienced playwright, to explore ideas and help shape the writing
Script development workshops with actors and a director, with live feedback and collaborative input
Sessions with external theatre professionals to build networks and understand the industry side of things
Access to peer community gatherings — meet other disabled playwrights, attend a theatre visit, take part in social events
Financial support to focus on writing (we’re talking roughly £3,240, paid in two instalments).
The support is tailored to the playwright and their — we aren’t teaching how to write plays from scratch; we’re helping you grow what’s already been started

Previous receipents of the programme:

2020: Emily Ingram and Jack Hunter
2021: Joe Brown
2022: Bel Pye
2023: Sarah Farrell
2024: Emery Hunter and Helena Fox
2025: Rachel O’Regan and Jack Mackenzie