Grand Arena Youth Theatre Will Perform Accessible Performance

Junior members of Grand Arena Youth theatre, who rehearse every Monday evening, performed their very own adaptation of the classic fairy-tale, The Three Little Pigs, at the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton on Tuesday 11th December.

Led by professional drama practitioners, Fran Richards and Alex Turner, The Youth Theatre members spent the last three months devising and rehearsing the production. The piece visually explored the story of The Three Little Pigs through physical theatre, mask work and puppetry, alongside BSL (British Sign Language) and live Audio Description on stage.

The performance piece was designed to be all inclusive for those with access needs, focusing on the visually impaired and hard of hearing. Members of The Youth Theatre worked with industry experts to develop skills in Audio Description, BSL and other areas of theatre access. Members received an Audio Description Workshop led by Sue Howell, Grand Theatre's Access & Operations Manager. The team of Audio Describers for the show were led by Kirsty Povey, Arena Theatre's Access & Inclusions Officer.

Kirsty said: "The Arena Theatre is an inclusive theatre and we believe theatre should be for everyone, so it's been a brilliant opportunity for our members to advocate theatre for all. I'm extremely proud of our members for embracing Access and I hope that in the future we can do more projects like this."

The devised piece featured Junior Grand Arena Youth Theatre members aged 9-13 and reflected a terms' worth of work looking at making theatre performance accessible for all. A Touch Tour preceded the performance which allowed any visually impaired audience members to experience the stage and set up close, exploring and touching pieces of the set, props and costume. A short presentation also followed showing the members process in incorporating Accessible Theatre into their performance and informing their audience what Audio Description is.

The Grand Theatre and Arena Theatre believe that Access should be a part of all theatre and that theatre should not be restricted by someone's ability. Both theatres are passionate about this and champion Accessible performance.

Creative Learning Assistant, Libbie Doyle who administrates The Youth Theatre said: "I am extremely happy that our youth theatre has provided Access skills to our members, as this is something that a lot of professionals in theatre don't gain until later in their careers or ever when it comes to things like Access. The performance also allowed a wider audience to experience and learn about Accessible Theatre in a safe space."

Grand Arena Youth Theatre is a collaboration between the Grand Theatre and Arena Theatre. Members meets on Monday evenings at the Arena Theatre on Wulfruna Street and rehearse from 6pm-7.30pm for Juniors (aged 9-13) and 8pm-9.30pm for Seniors (aged 14-18).

For any enquiries into The Youth Theatre, please contact Libbie Doyle at elizabethd@grandtheatre.co.uk

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