Theatre Royal to inspire disabled young people with drama

Splashing in water and smelling flowers is all part of a unique, interactive performance coming to Plymouth specifically designed for young people with profound disabilities.
The Theatre Royal and Plymouth City Council have teamed up with Nottingham Playhouse to bring the production ‘White Peacock’ to the city – a story of Sam’s long summer break from school, and the adventures that await him.

The production has been created specifically for young people aged 11 to 25 with profound and multiple learning disabilities, including autistic spectrum disorder, and is aimed at promoting independence. It’s about independence from family, the discovery of friendship and the challenge of being able to make choices.

The multi-sensory tale will play on all the senses of the 72 disabled young people from three of the city’s special schools attending the performances to make it a truly memorable trip to the theatre.

Each performance will cater for six young people, with a companion, at TR2 , the Theatre Royal’s Education and Production Centre in Cattedown where they will be treated to a tale of adventure designed to help them make the tricky move from child to adulthood, known as ‘transition’.

The audience do not have to sit still or keep quiet during the performance; they can move around and are encouraged to participate in the play. The young people are invited to dip their feet in the pond, smell the scent of the flowers, handle real grass and soil, and play musical instruments.

The play offers a unique experience rich in action, colour, sound, touch and emotion. An initial tour in 2010 reached an audience of over 200, and had an extremely positive response.

Councillor Nicky Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, will be lucky enough to enjoy one of the 12 performances in April.

She explains: “As we all know, it’s often tough for your average teenager to visualise and articulate their hopes for the future so it can be very difficult for young people with learning disabilities to describe their dreams and ambitions. With this production, we not only hope to breakdown some of the barriers which mean young people with learning disabilities cannot enjoy a trip to the theatre, we also hope explaining and showing them what is possible can help them to form ideas and express themselves. This is a high quality, tailored performance to stimulate imagination and spark inspiration.”

The production is by invitation, but organisers are keen to stress that this is just the beginning in their efforts to provide opportunities for disabled people in the city to enjoy the arts, in particular drama and theatre.

Victoria Allen, the Theatre Royal’s Creative Learning Director said: “This is designed to be a relaxed performance, where everyone can feel comfortable and able to be themselves. Parents can sometimes feel as though they cannot take their disabled child to the theatre because they cannot guarantee they will be quiet or stay still during a performance.

“During our production, it really doesn’t matter - young people can move around, make noise or get involved in the production. This is part of our efforts to ensure that there is a general shift in culture which means those with learning disabilities are included and have opportunities for involvement with theatre and drama groups. Watch this space for more information later this year…all I’ll say at this stage is ‘Funky Llama!”

White Peacock is a groundbreaking production created specially for young people with profound learning disabilities and autism. It is performed inside a specially constructed micro theatre to just 6 young people at a time, each accompanied by a companion.

Aimed at 11-25 year olds, it tells the story of the last night of Sam’s school holidays. Sam is alone in his moonlit garden; high up in the tree the white peacock is calling and the scent of rose and lavender hangs heavy in the air. But suddenly his solitude is broken when a young girl strays into the wild garden, thinking it’s part of the wood. So Sam meets Phoebe and their adventure begins.

White Peacock is made especially for severely disabled young people and offers lots of ways for them to engage. The audience is fully involved through sight, sound, smell and touch; when they explore the garden with Sam and Phoebe, there is real grass to touch and smell, a real pond to dip their feet into and the smell of flowers. The audience can lie under Sam’s favourite tree and shelter from the storm in his den. They are with Sam as he experiences the tingle of excitement of a first kiss and discovers something amazing about the white peacock.

The micro theatre is a space of around 10x7m, big enough for 6 audience members in wheelchairs to be able to move around in freely. The micro theatre also creates a neutral space in which things can happen – making it very clear to audience members that this is separate from their ‘real life’ experiences. The normal rules of theatre don’t apply; the young people can see outside the micro theatre at all times and can make noise and move freely, even coming and going from the space as they wish.

White Peacock will be performed at TR2, the Theatre Royal’s Education and Production Centre in Cattedown from Tuesday 23 April to Saturday 27 April.