Biggest Ever Festive Programme Of Relaxed Performances At Festival And King's Theatres Edinburgh

The Festival City Theatres Trust, Which Runs The Festival And King's Theatres, Is Delighted To Announce Its Full Programme Of Relaxed Performances For Audiences Of All Ages For The 2016/17 Festive Season.

We have been building our programme of 'relaxed performances', for audiences with mild to complex additional support needs, for a number of years. The relaxed performance of The Snowman at the Festival Theatre in December 2012 was the first of its kind in Scotland, and helped foster a new approach in making live performance accessible to all.

This year, we present our fullest ever programme of relaxed performances, which include performances for children from Edinburgh's special schools, and performances for audiences of all ages with additional suppport needs:

· Relaxed Performance of Scottish Ballet's Hansel & Gretel at the Festival Theatre, Tue 20 Dec, 1pm

· Relaxed Performance of the King's panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, Fri 6 Jan, 2pm [SOLD OUT]

· Schools Relaxed Performance of King's panto, Jack and the Beanstalk,Thu 12 Jan, 10.30am

· Schools Relaxed Performances of The Polar Bears Go Up!, The Studio, 22 Potterow 11-13 January 2017.

Schools relaxed performances are supported by sensory storytelling workshops in schools before the children come to the theatre, to introduce the music, the story and the characters and to fully prepare them for their venue visit.

The Festival and King's Theatres are committed to ensuring that people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds have the opportunity to enjoy the theatre in a supportive environment.

To overcome physical barriers to attending the theatres we run MORE ACCESS PERFORMANCES for audiences with sensory impairments throughout the year than any other theatre in Scotland including CAPTIONED, BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETED and AUDIO-DESCRIBED performances. We arrange TOUCH TOURS where visually-impaired patrons can explore the set and feel props and costumes, as well as providing braille, large-print and audio versions of our brochure.

Our programme of relaxed performances - specifically tailored to people with additional needs who would otherwise not be able to access theatre - gets bigger every year. In addition to the activity we programme for our festive shows, we now have relaxed performances throughout the year including the annual creative platform for the children of Edinburgh's
special schools, THE AWFEY HUGE FANTASTIC VARIETY SHOW. Awfey Huge is back at the Festival Theatre in June 2017, showcasing live performance created and performed by exceptionally talented children, giving them their chance to shine.

Cerin Richardson, Head Of Creativity And Diversity At The Festival And King's Theatres Said: 'We Want To Enable Everyone To Access World Class Live Performance At Our Theatres. By Offering A More Relaxed And Friendly Environment In Which To See A Range Of Work, There Will Be Something To Appeal To Everybody.'

Tickets For The Relaxed Performance Of Scottish Ballet's Hansel & Gretel On Tuesday 20 December At 1pm Are Available Through Calling The Box Office On 0131 529 6000.

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