Extant Expands Edinburgh Fringe Accessibility Programme for Visually Impaired Audiences

Extant, the UK's leading professional performing arts company of blind and visually impaired artists, will return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer building on the success of its landmark 2025 programme.

The company will present three ‘Enhance' shows alongside a new showcase, in partnership with Underbelly as principal venue partner. Through this programme, Extant marks a significant step forward in embedding accessibility across the festival while raising the profile and visibility of visually impaired-led work.

In its second year, the programme signals a sustained shift across the sector. Extant is driving change by championing accessibility not as an add-on, but as an integral part of creative practice. This momentum is reflected in rapid year-on-year growth: from an estimated 30–50 visually impaired-accessible shows in 2024, representing less than 1% of the Fringe, Extant's first year of activity increased that proportion to around 2% in 2025, and projections indicate that as much as 10–12% of the programme for 2026 will now be accessible to visually impaired audiences. Thanks to this scheme, Underbelly and ZOO have committed to ensuring every show in their programme is 100% visually impaired accessible by including at least one accessible performance. On top of this, ‘Big Four' venues Pleasance and Assembly, alongside The Space, have also pledged to significantly increase their provisions.

Supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Enhance shows at Underbelly (17th August) will demonstrate Extant's unique ‘Enhance post-production' offer, featuring work from visually impaired artists and collaborators across theatre and comedy. Acts will include Jellyfish by Blah Blah Productions directed by Lillith Freeman (And Then There Were None, Lyric Arts; Only Ugly Guys, Open Eye Theatre) and written by Jess Coppen-Gardner (What's Wrong With Me?-The Musical, The Lion and Unicorn Theatre; Red Flag, Feature Film) featuring performer Teddy Walker (Three Sisters and Them, theSpace) and Aarian Mehrabani's (What's the F**king Point, FlawBored; Hunting Alice Bell, Channel 4) debut stand-up show How's Your Head. Immersive and tailored Touch Tours provide the principal access tool, including presentation of succinct programme notes which get to the essence of the show, and description of any relevant visual elements.

New for 2026, Extant will host a one-off showcase at Underbelly (18th August) to celebrate the breadth of visually impaired-led performance, supported by funding from the Postcode Society Trust, raised by players of People's Postcode Lottery. The programme will feature some of the UK's most exciting visually impaired artists working across stand-up, cabaret, dance, theatre and new writing, including Growing Nostalgia by Ebony Rose Dark (Out There, In Here, The Place; Perspective on Visibility: Outside Inside, Control Shift Network), VIP (Visually Impaired Papa) by Tom Skelton (Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes, Just the Big Room; Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised, Pleasance Dome) and work from Neil Skene (Breakneck!, Aberdeen Comedy Festival, Cabaret in the Dark, C ARTS), alongside All There Is To See by Shashank Sharma (The Bloody Wedding, TIA Theatre Company; A Winter Tale at Shimla, Agastaya Cine Dreams LLP), Half Lights Project by Holly Thomas (Half Light, The Place; CRUNCH!, Velcro Collective) and An Evening with Tito Bone by Amelia Cavallo (Into The Woods, Royal Exchange Manchester; Beauty and the Beast, Theatre Royal Stratford), serving as both a platform for artists and a focal point for wider engagement with accessibility at the Fringe.

Alongside its performances, the company is working with the Fringe Society to deliver targeted workshops on low-cost access interventions. It will also share new guidance through venues and networks to help hundreds of artists embed accessibility into their practice.

Extant will be working with partners Sight Scotland and Visually Impaired Creators Scotland to connect with local visually impaired communities and audiences.

Artistic Director Extant, Dr. Maria Oshodi comments, “Extant has always been a force driving industry change towards higher standards and access for visually impaired people. We're delighted to continue disrupting the status quo at Edinburgh Fringe in 2026, by increasing the number of accessible shows tenfold over the past two years, providing bespoke training and ‘Enhanced' access options, and not least in platforming the very best of visually impaired talent at our showcase event!”

Underbelly's Head of Programming, Marina Dixon, adds, “We're delighted to be working alongside Extant at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to make Underbelly's programme more accessible for visually impaired audiences. Extant do vital work in this field, and this partnership marks an important step in strengthening how Underbelly supports both artists and audiences.”

EXTANT

Extant is the UK's leading professional performing arts company of blind and visually impaired artists and theatre practitioners, producing touring productions and delivering training regionally and internationally. Extant is the opposite of extinct. Formed in 1997 by founder Maria Oshodi and a group of professional visually impaired artists, the company aimed to redress invisibility of blind and partially sighted artists, explore new creative territories and become a dynamic, political space to articulate and celebrate what visual impairment brings to the performing arts.

UNDERBELLY

Underbelly is a UK-based live entertainment company founded in 2000 by Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood that specialises in producing and programming ground-breaking theatrical productions and the creation of city-centre cultural events and festivals across the UK, USA, Asia & beyond. Underbelly, alongside ATG Productions, is the lead and originating producer of the Olivier Award winning Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Other recent productions include Macbeth alongside Wessex Grove starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma, The McOnie Company's Nutcracker at the Tuff Nutt Jazz Club at Southbank Centre, Cabaret Royale at the Gaillard Centre in Charleston, Tweedy's Massive Circus on a UK-wide tour starting at The RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2024 and the 20th anniversary of La Clique in Edinburgh and London.

ZOO VENUES

ZOO is one of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe's leading venues, based across two central venues - ZOO Southside and ZOO Playground, known for presenting bold, original and boundary-pushing performance from around the world. With a long-standing commitment to accessibility, innovation and internationalism, ZOO platforms emerging voices alongside acclaimed companies across theatre, dance, circus, and cross-genre work. In 2025, ZOO became the first venue at the fringe offering visually impaired audiences access across all of its shows, including 3 Enhance shows in partnership with Extant, reflecting its mission to make world-class performance open to all.

VISUALLY IMPAIRED CREATORS SCOTLAND

Visually Impaired Creators Scotland, known as VICS, are an award winning group of artists who work both on our own projects and as a team to inspire, promote and encourage the work of visually impaired artists through sharing of ideas, collaborative performances, workshops and monthly newsletters.

SIGHT SCOTLAND

Sight Scotland are one of Scotland's oldest charities and have been dedicated to meeting the challenges of visual impairment for over two centuries. We're a diverse charity with an expanding range of services. All that we do is delivered by experienced and knowledgeable experts.