Resource Category: Artists

Resources for artists interested in sensory theatre

Positive Risk

Two white women in their 20’s on a beach. The beach is covered in slushy snow. Behind the women you can see wiggly wheelchair tracks. One woman is wrapped up in a coat, with the furry hood up and a red woolly hat underneath, she has a big pink blanket on her lap and is sitting in a wheelchair, this is Mary. The woman next to her is standing up, they are holding hands. This woman is also wrapped in a thick coat with the hood up. This is Esther. They look cold but they are smiling.
Listen to the audio version of this blog

Oily Cart are collaborating with contemporary circus company Ockham’s Razor, known for their spectacular shows that blend circus and visual theatre. Last time we worked together, we created a show that took audiences up into the air!

For this show, we’re excited to explore the unexpected again, and play with positive risk and the kinaesthetic sense (the sense of movement). We spoke with Esther Veale about her sister Mary, and the value of risky experiences for people who experience the most barriers to access.

What does Positive Risk mean to you and your family? 

When I think of positive risk I think, with my heart full of love and of pride, of my older sister. Mary was born in April 1983 with severe disabilities and lived a life full of colour and music and outdoor adventures. She lived far longer and more fully than the doctors at the time suggested she would. Very sadly, Mary died in 2017, just a month before turning 34, but through positive risk taking, Mary was able to wring every wonderful ounce out of life.

Two white women in their 20’s on a beach. The beach is covered in slushy snow. Behind the women you can see wiggly wheelchair tracks. One woman is wrapped up in a coat, with the furry hood up and a red woolly hat underneath, she has a big pink blanket on her lap and is sitting in a wheelchair, this is Mary. The woman next to her is standing up, they are holding hands. This woman is also wrapped in a thick coat with the hood up. This is Esther. They look cold but they are smiling.
Mary and Esther on a snowy beach.

Can you tell us about some of Mary’s riskiest adventures? 

Mary loved to cycle using a wheelchair tandem called a Duet: eyes wide and exhilarated at going fast downhill, then giggling as we would very slowly struggle, pedalling up the other side. My family would often paddle in canoes up and down a nearby canal in all seasons, and take walks in the beautiful Devonshire countryside with Mary using a wheelchair called a Rough Rider. With will and determination from Mary and family and friends supporting her, there were few places that we couldn’t get to. Moorland, muddy paths, pebbly beaches.  

Being by the sea was really important. Not just being by it – it was important for Mary to be on it and in it! A local surf shop made an accessible wetsuit so she could stay warm enough to play in the water and bounce around in a dinghy in the waves.

This photo is taken from the top of a climbing wall on a sunny day. It shows Mary in her late teens, wearing green trousers, a teal jumper and a red climbing helmet. There are ropes attached to her wheelchair with several knots and slings. Next to Mary is an instructor wearing shorts, tshirt and an orange climbing helmet. He has one hand on the handle of Mary’s wheelchair and one hand on the rope. Both Mary and the instructor look focused but relaxed.
Mary abseiling.

Mary loved drinking tea. She would communicate that she wanted a cup of tea by smacking her lips. One of my most striking memories of Mary is of her abseiling. Just before going over the edge, Mary communicated that she wanted a cup of tea, so a tea break was had partway down the abseil, 15 feet up in the air! 

Later on in Mary’s life, her physical and medical needs meant a change of pace but positive risk taking was still important. It meant delaying the fitting of a gastrostomy tube until it was needed rather than as a precaution, so Mary could continue to enjoy tasting and swallowing those favoured cups of tea for that bit longer.  

From your perspective what is the value of risk for people who experience many barriers to access? 

I think there’s a good understanding that taking positive risks is vital for anyone’s wellbeing; we acknowledge that it is by taking risks that we achieve and grow.

If you don’t experience barriers to access, you can make these decisions about risk for yourself. If you are dependent on others for your basic needs to be met then you are somewhat reliant on others around you to manage the experiences that you have. As friends, family, teachers and supporters of people with physical, sensory, communication and cognitive differences it is our duty to listen deeply to what the people we love and care for are telling us about what they experience and what they enjoy and to provide more of these. We need to be brave, willing co-adventurers. 

This shows Mary in her late teens, she has light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and is wearing sunglasses. Mary is lying in a yellow and red dinghy,she is wearing a purple and black wetsuit and neoprene gloves cover her hands. Someone out of shot is holding Mary’s hands and both of their hands are in the picture. There is movement in the water around her and Mary has a broad smile, you can see her teeth and the dimples in her cheeks.
Mary in a dinghy

Why should theatre makers consider kinaesthetic sense (the sense of movement) and risk when they are making shows that are inclusive for everyone? 

We all have a need to experience movement, be that hang gliding, or drumming fingers to a beat. When your bodily movements are restricted because of your physicality, there is a risk that this need to move is unmet, or that it happens in functional ways like being hoisted or pushed in a chair. We need to consider kinaesthetic experience for fun, creativity and expression too. It seems a natural fit with theatre: as an audience member, you want to go on a journey and be emotionally moved, and being physically moved can be an important part of that. 

Mary is pictured here in her early 30s in some woodland in early Spring. Mary is seated in an electric wheelchair, with a pale leg cosy covering her lower half. Mary is looking upwards and to her left with a beaming smile on her face.
Mary in woodland

There is a powerful connection element to this too; sharing an experience of movement together can shorten the distance between people who understand and experience the world in very different ways, and invite communication without words. I felt very connected to Mary when we cycled together. We would both notice the differences in speed and respond with synchronicity through squeals and giggles! “Did you feel that lurch as we went over the bridge? Me too!” Here we are experiencing the same thing together in this very moment and isn’t it thrilling? For Mary, connection and communication could happen at their deepest through kinaesthetic experiences. Movement has the potential to be moving.

In honour of Mary’s life, the ‘Mary’s Beat’ fund has been created which awards grants to disabled people in Devon and Somerset so that they can access musical or outdoor adventures 

Note: Oily Cart follows the social model of disability. We acknowledge that different people use different language, as reflected in this interview.

Why loos are important

A spacious Changing places toilet. The far wall is blue, the wall to the right is white. There is a sink and bin on the left. A toilet and seat are on the back wall with grab rails and support walls. There is a hoist in the ceiling, and a blue change bench on the right.

Talking about loos used to make me squirm with embarrassment. But since being diagnosed with a chronic pain condition 15 years ago, I’ve realised just how important they are. Did you know, you’ll spend more of your adult life on the toilet than you do at school, or socialising, or laughing? We all need access to safe, clean facilities, which is why the Changing Places campaign to install toilets for disabled people who experience the most barriers to access is so vital…

The pandemic forced us to talk about toilets. At the start, we stockpiled Andrex; later on, a socially-distanced drink in the park became a quest to find places to pee. The closure of many public loos during lockdowns meant that the next best option was a secluded bush – or just staying home watching Tiger King (again). This limit to people’s freedom impacted not only on personal wellbeing, but created a public health risk.

As a nation, we’ve collectively experienced the frustration and indignity of a lack of loos. So we should collectively exercise empathy – and action – for those who experience this as a daily reality, even after the lockdowns. What’s known as the ‘urinary leash’ impacts marginalised communities the most. The lives of women, pregnant people, disabled people, the elderly, trans people and others can be majorly restricted based on the availability of public facilities. Like many, my disability means I plan my day and my movements around access to loos. Like many, I have intentionally dehydrated myself, spent hours in pain, or been trapped at home. 

Blue circular symbol. Figure by changing bench on the left. Figure using a wheelchair underneath a hoist on the right.
The Changing Places symbol

Today, public toilets are under threat, for instance half have been closed in London over the past decade. But even the available toilets are not accessible for everyone. A quarter of a million people in the UK need Changing Places toilets. Changing Places toilets provide the space and equipment, like a bench and hoist, needed by disabled people who experience the most barriers to access. Without them, the only option is to be changed on the floor – or not leave the house at all. This is, as the Changing Places Consortium says, ‘dangerous, unhygienic and undignified.’

The number of Changing Places toilets is rising, but there are still nowhere near enough. Lack of a suitable toilet might make the difference between a child being able to go and see a show or not, and yet theatres are still being built without these facilities. The Changing Places Consortium is campaigning for Changing Places toilets to be installed in all public venues so that spaces we all have a right to – like the theatre – are accessible for everyone.

Why are loos important? Because offering free, clean toilets is one of the easiest ways to improve individual and public health and make the community accessible to everyone. Loos offer us freedom, and their availability, upkeep and closure is a political statement about who is welcome, and who belongs.

You can find ways to support the Changing Places campaign here.

Removing barriers for people with invisible disabilities

Illustration of a woman of colour standing with her hands on her hips. She is wearing a pink top, yellow shorts and red roller skates, and winking. Next to her is text in red: 'Not all disabilities are visible'
Flossie Waite, Communications & Advocacy Officer

I’m one of the 70% of disabled people with an invisible (sometimes called hidden or non-visible) disability. Many disabilities aren’t immediately, or ever, visible, including mental health conditions, autoimmune conditions, and neurodivergence.  Though my disabilities can’t be seen, that does not mean I don’t experience barriers to access.

For me, a huge part of my experience of having an invisible disability is the struggle to be believed, both by society but also by myself. I struggle with other peoples’ assumptions – I look fine, so I must be fine – but also my own internalised ableism: that I’m not disabled, I’m just making a fuss. I’ve often policed myself, choosing not to use disabled toilets or seats on the tube for fear of judgement from others that I don’t ‘look’ disabled.

I want to share some things the arts industry can do to remove barriers for employees and freelancers with invisible disabilities. These are based on my personal experience, so they balance practical tips with strategies for lifting the burden of proof that I, and maybe others, feel. I’d encourage everyone to also look to other incredible artists and organisations like Daryl & Co, Graeae, TourettesHero, Birds of Paradise, Unlimited and Access All Areas for guidance on how to work inclusively.

  • avoid disabled people having to advocate for or explain their needs. In my experience, it can be easy for people to forget what they can’t see, so the responsibility falls on the disabled person to offer reminders. This can feel like having to evidence your disability, which is daunting.
  • ensure that access audits and access riders are active documents. (You can find an example access audit here and access rider template here). The Access Lead should be really familiar with the contents and offer regular opportunities to update the information
  • don’t ask people to disclose more than they want to. The hidden nature of invisible disabilities can make it difficult to understand how they impact a person’s life. However, it’s important to accept and believe the access information offered to you.
  • frame accommodations as a statement, not a question. Rather than asking if someone would like a break, or like to use the Quiet Room, build breaks into all sessions and make clear the Quiet Room is always available. Making lots of choices can be tiring, and when your choices might impact on the people you’re working with – for instance, by pausing a meeting – it’s easy not to prioritise your needs.  
  • don’t be afraid to be proactive. For instance, an artist might need regular rest breaks but get into a work flow and lose track of time – it’s okay to gently draw attention to the time and suggest a pause.
  • be aware of dynamic disabilities. Some invisible disabilities mean a person might be able to do certain things on some days but not on others. Create an open, flexible environment so that this can be communicated and accommodated without judgement.

Finally, remember that many people have both visible and invisible disabilities. The most important guidance is perhaps the most simple: “Do not make assumptions. Everyone’s experience is unique.”

Header image by Ananya Rao-Middleton. Ananya is a disabled illustrator and activist. You can find out more about her work here

‘Being With’ in Sensory Theatre Report

A young boy smiles at his reflection in a mirror framed with white lights. Two adults dressed in white look on, one holds the mirror. The image is lit with mauve tones.

A new report from Oily Cart Researcher in Residence, Dr Jill Goodwin and Artistic Director, Ellie Griffiths

‘Being With’ in Sensory Theatre investigates what we can learn from people with different perspectives and grapples with the difficult questions that arise in the making of our work.

The report offers a shift in how we experience art together in ways that mean something to all of us. It focuses on the theatre experience for audiences who experience the world in radically different ways and looks at how sensory shows can create equal opportunities for all theatre goers. The authors also dig into the often feared areas of language and labelling and agency and personhood to provide some clarity and suggestions.

We hope our research will be of interest to anyone who works creatively with disabled children and young people who experience the most barriers to access.

This report is available in different formats, if you require something not listed below please get in touch with us: access@oilycart.org.uk

Read the Report

You will need the latest version of Adobe Reader to view this report

Being With in Sensory Theatre DIGITAL VERSION

Accessible versions of the report are below. Please contact us on access@oilycart.org.uk if you would like the report in another format.

Being With in Sensory Theatre LARGE PRINT WORD VERSIONDownload
Being With in Sensory Theatre EASY READDownload

Watch

We have made three short films that introduce the key findings of the report. Watch the report’s authors, Dr Jill Goodwin and Ellie Griffiths, in conversation with Miss Jacqui one of the report’s contributors.

‘Being With’ in Sensory Theatre, Part 1: Introduction – Language and Labelling
‘Being With’ in Sensory Theatre Part 2: Agency and Personhood
‘Being With’ in Sensory Theatre Part 3: The Role of the Supporting Adult

Learn more about Jill Goodwin’s work here: www.jillgoodwin.uk

Associate Artist, Jo-anne Cox

Jo-ann is seated on stage with her cello against a black backdrop. Photo: Oliver Cross

Introducing Oily Cart’s 2022 Associate Artist

Jo-anne Cox is a cellist who creates mesmerising sensory and digital compositions and soundscapes to connect with her audiences. We are beyond delighted to welcome Jo-anne as our 2022 Oily Cart Associate Artist. She brings to sensory theatre a fierce creativity and radical care which seeps into all her thinking and ideas. We are particularly excited to be focusing on music and sound this year with Joanne, who has been experimenting with making her compositions interactive and co-created with young people who experience the most barriers to access. We are intrigued to see where her creative explorations take her and us!

Jo-anne, seated, plays her sparkly purple electric cello.
Jo-anne performing on her electric cello. Photograph: Oliver Cross

“I am looking forward to exchanging skills and knowledge around inclusive working practices and artistic process. My residency will be an opportunity for deep exploration of sensory engagement and immersive storytelling. I am passionate about interacting creatively with children who face multiple barriers to accessing high quality artistic experiences. As Associate Artist I will be leading a residency with students and teachers in John F. Kennedy specialist school in Stratford, east London.”

More about Jo-anne’s work

Jo-anne discovered a love of sensory engagement during her role as an Early Years music teacher at Music House for Children, where she was mentored in musical storytelling by founder and managing director Emma Hutchinson who has been influential in her artistic development.

For her Arts Council England (ACE) funded Research and Development project Defiant Journey, Jo-anne explored the use of the cello and vibrotactile technology (sound you can feel) in partnership with disabled artists at Together!2012.  Later, supported by Help Musicians UK Jo-anne went on to work with David Bobier of VibraFusionLab to prepare vibrotactile technology for touring.  

Jo-anne works in cross continental collaboration with creative technologist Charles Matthews of Blurring the Boundaries. Having previously explored cello and audience responsive lighting they have just completed an ACE-funded Research and Development project, Define Your Journey, which features an audience interactive digital instrument that has been designed with access in mind.

To try out theDesign Your Journey digital instrument and cello please visit https://blurringtheboundaries.org/dyj 

If you would like to find out more about Jo-anne Cox’s work please visit  https://cello.joannesonia.live/

Read more about Associate Artists programme here.

Associate Artist Rhiannon Armstrong: Pollination and Ripples

Rhiannon, a white person with long brown hair, is standing holding a microphone up to record some bubbles popping.

Developing my sensory practice with Oily Cart by Rhiannon Armstrong

As we prepare to announce Oily Cart’s new Associate Artist, we want to share and celebrate some of the incredible work of our former Associate Artists, that happened mostly behind closed doors throughout the pandemic.

Rhiannon, a white person with long brown hair, is standing holding a microphone up to record the sounds of some bubbles popping.
Rhiannon recording bubbles popping

Rhiannon Armstrong is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work is sensitive and interactive. We felt a natural synergy with the ways Rhiannon works so we invited her to come and play in a sensory way.

How did I get here?

I hear a lot of talk about ‘challenging work’: this is usually presumed to mean work that challenges its audience, rather than the audience’s capacity to challenge the assumptions and processes of those that are doing the making.

There is a radical inclusivity at work at Oily Cart that I wanted to immerse myself in, so when Ellie Griffiths became Artistic Director and invited me to be Associate Artist, I readily said yes.

Like many aspects of my life, my evolving work in sensory performance now lets me sit astride two worlds. Depending on the context:

  • I am both enabled and disabled
  • I am both a migrant and a national
  • I am both a young people’s sensory maker and an experimental performance/live artist

Being in both worlds stops me getting too comfortable in my perspectives and helps me question mine and others’ assumptions. I also get to bring philosophies and practices from each context and let them influence one another. I intend to keep melding, percolating, pollinating worlds.

What did I do as an associate?

I began by working as dramaturg on Ellie’s first two productions as Artistic Director: ‘Jamboree’, and ‘All Wrapped Up’. This was a great way into sensory theatre for me. I brought experience and skills in ensemble performance-making to the company while also expanding my understanding of sensory theatre, and the barriers faced by audiences and collaborators alike. 

All Wrapped Up production image. Young audience members, joined by a performer, stick scraps of paper to strings of sellotape hanging overhead. The image is dark with purple tones.
Scene from All Wrapped Up

An associateship can give both company and individuals space to develop successful long-term working relationships. I was collaborating artist on ‘Something Love’, and commissioned to create a sound work for ‘When The World Turns’, with Oily Cart and Polyglot Theatre (Australia).

My final act as associate was to travel to BIBU for my first taste of the international sensory theatre scene. As an independent artist it is rare to be able to attend these symposia and festivals. Oily Cart’s invitation to join them at BIBU to meet and network with international colleagues was meaningful indeed.

Making my own sensory work

Oily Cart also encouraged me to seek funding to begin creating my own sensory work, providing mentoring, in kind studio and production support, and introductions to families and schools.

The Covid-19 pandemic derailed a lot of my plans but thanks to support from Oily Cart and my funders (Unlimited, Jerwood Arts, and Paul Hamlyn) and their belief that I had something unique to offer and would make a good sensory performance practitioner I was able to engage in hugely rewarding research and collaborative explorations with staff and students at Swiss Cottage School; Sam and Lucy Bowen; and Tim Spooner.

The idea was to use field recordings from home life with Sam and Lucy Bowen and some information discussed in interview to create tracks through a mix of collage and musical response. The process would be particularly attentive to Lucy’s musicality, considering possibilities for remote creative collaboration across time and distance, and without relying on linguistic communication (Lucy is non verbal).

Following an online interview exploring the role of music in Lucy and Sam’s life, I received recordings from Sam (Lucy’s mum) of Lucy playing and vocalising at home. I compiled and composed the resulting tracks as an attempt at remote, time-lagged, non-linguistic, creative collaboration.

This work was research and development (under the title Cradled, The White Noise Factory, and then Tilde), and as such there is no “finished product” (yet). I am letting the ideas percolate, relationships grow, and influence whatever comes next.

Tilde listening device. Two beings connected by an arm (or maybe it's one being with two bodies). Cream canvas, red stitching, a pink or red fabric-lined speaker embedded in each body. On Tilde's long arm are a series of bangles of different textures: soft and fluffy, hard and spiky, etc.
Tilde listening device
Tilde listening device being tested at Oily Cart headquarters. Two people are lying down using each part of Tilde as pillows.
Testing Tilde at Oily Cart HQ

What do I want to say about my time as Associate Artist

The main thing I want to emphasise is how much of a ripple effect my time as Associate has had. I have just finished a spell as artist in residence at Ashmount School in Loughborough with Attenborough Arts Centre. I would never have undertaken this residency before or have even known about it. Tim Spooner and I made a whole new sensory listening device which has already travelled with me to specialist schools and into family homes as part of remote and in person sensory sound collaborations. This was Tim’s first experience of making work for those who face the most barriers to access: our conversations about intended audience and the complex and intense nature of barriers to access have recurred in my work with other companies who don’t have experience in the sensory sector.

You can find some of Rhiannon’s Instagram posts from Bibu here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdxf7RlIxAf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdxoJs4o7t0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdx1gZvoix0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdyM0n_o2GZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Oily Cart’s Associate Artist programme champions and supports disabled artists to develop their sensory theatre practice and develop leadership skills to create a more representative sensory theatre making sector. Our 2022 Associate Artist will be announced soon.

Read more from our Associate Artists here.

Associate Artist Franki Ayres: The Shape of Me

Shadow of tree with bare branches falls on green grass. The shadows of two figures making shapes with their arms sit beneath the tree.

A sensory project about identity by Franki Ayres

As we prepare to announce Oily Cart’s new Associate Artist, we want to share and celebrate some of the incredible work of our former Associate Artists, that happened mostly behind closed doors throughout the pandemic.

Let us introduce you to Franki Ayres (our 2020-2021 Associate Artist), a brilliant multi-disciplinary artist whose work spans playful and relational inanimate objects, visual tactile art, sculpture and film. Franki loves working with objects, with bodies and with people, especially those who aren’t always listened to. His projects are often led by the young people he works with. We felt a natural synergy with the ways Franki works, so we invited him to come and play in a sensory way!

Hands with fingers splayed dip into a swirl of blue and white paint. A piece of sandstone sits in the paint in the space between the two hands where the tips of the thumbs meet.
Exploring Sensory Imagination – Paint
An upright green plastic straw at the bottom of an escalator. Green, red, yellow and turquoise plastic balls are scattered over the steps of the escalator.
Sensory Imagination – Straw

During his residency, Franki explored identity and visibility. He was interested in how sensory creativity could be used as an expressive outlet and support to young people who identify as both disabled and trans / gender diverse. Prevented from working directly with young people by the pandemic, Franki drew on his experience as a listener in youth work spaces and as a mentor with Gendered Intelligence to design a series of accessible, online sensory workshops for young people holding that dual identity (often amongst others). Franki was passionate about creating content that could be enjoyed even if the young people couldn’t leave their bedrooms because of barriers to their access.

“I wanted to have a space that was inclusive and accessible but optional, so you can participate without being physically in the space. The workshops are designed for Zoom with accompanying sensory packs for participants to use in the workshops or by themselves.’

Space to be seen. Space to be heard

The Shape of Me was about making safe, creative spaces where trans and gender diverse young people who also identify as disabled and/or neurodivergent can be seen, heard and validated.

“I naturally thought about sensation and shape…the shape of me and taking up space.”

Franki envisaged an expressive outlet for disabled, gender diverse young people that wasn’t medicalised, pathologised or dominated by talking therapies.

One way that Franki ensured that the trans/disabled young people felt comfortable and welcomed into the space, was to make sure that they could see themselves and their own identities reflected in the facilitators and all visual cues in the sessions. For example, videos included hands with varnished nails in the colours of the trans flag. These signals were never pointed out or made explicit. There were many layers of careful detail put in place to ensure that every participant felt welcome and seen.

Sensory Making – “Squish”
A young person sits crosslegged on the grass wearing blue denim shorts and jacket embroidered with pink flowers. In front of them on the grass there is a sheet of white paper with a folded yellow paper shape, black headphones, and a lump of turquoise "squish" (like plasticine). The scene is filmed by a phone camera suspended above the paper.
Sensory Making – work in progress
Franki blows bubbles in Trans colours.
Sensory Imagination – playing with bubbles in trans colours

Sensory Imagination

Many people in the trans community have chronic pain and chronic fatigue. Franki wanted to acknowledge this by beginning each of his sessions with a body scan or creative meditation, which he often uses himself to manage pain and listen deeply to his body.

“Until I started [this project] I hadn’t realised how ableist the language around meditation is…It’s all body normative, two hands, two legs (when you are doing a body scan for example). And being alert means to ‘sit up.’ So along with changing my language and making it universal, there’s room…to reaffirm there is no right or wrong way. Going at your own pace and making your own settled, sensory landscape where you feel safe, comfortable and supported. That could mean bringing your pet, a favourite drink, or food or scent or texture into your space.“

Franki named this beginning visualisation a ‘Sensory Imagination’, which were pre-recorded videos (to leave space for rest for the facilitator, as a way of building access into the workshop structure.) In the Sensory Imagination everything’s suggested, not dictated. You can lie, sit, move around; you can listen, opt in or out or simply watch the video.

Sensory Making

Franki took great time and care in choosing and experimenting with using different tactile materials to make sure there were multiple entry points into creating, regardless of barriers to access. After initially playing with light and shadows to create new body shapes, he then introduced the use of trans flag coloured ‘squish’ (soft, malleable material) and wire as a way of “drawing by feeling.”

A green-tinted image of a smiling man in a dark jacket open over a bare chest. His shape makes a distinct dark shadow against a green background.
Franki in shadow clothes

In each workshop the young people use a different material to create a visual/tactile representation of the different dimensions of their identity. Sensory theatre techniques then reveal the many dimensions of the mini sculptures, and the participants end with their own unique shape. “Me/the shape I am.”

What next? 

The Shape of Me represented the first step of a longer-term project Franki envisions, named ‘Gender Journeys’ which he hopes can open up more creative and inclusive ways of supporting trans / gender diverse young people, giving them tools to be with their own bodies on their terms, and to express themselves in a process that can too often be dominated by medical professionals. He hopes this will in turn give them greater agency in the process of their transitions, or coming back to themselves.

Franki has partnered with Gendered Intelligence to deliver these workshops and is on the look-out for more accomplices and partners to continue the work he has been developing to be able to reach as many young people as possible.

During Franki’s residency, we were struck by the depth, care and detail that Franki went into the creation of this safe space. It is only when people feel safe that you can expect them to feel comfortable enough to play, explore and create. He is clearly at the tip of the iceberg in terms of the potential of this work, as he hinted,

“I would like to find a way to have an exhibition or an installation where young people could, if they wanted to, share and learn about their identities.”

Franki’s residency opened up a new application of Oily Cart’s sensory theatre practice. We were delighted to see how our sensory approach has potential to break down barriers for young people who clearly deserve more support and creative nourishment than is currently available to them. We are privileged to have been a small part of Franki’s own journey in developing his ideas.

Franki’s has contributed to a Harper Collins anthology of 12 stories around mental health entitled Will You Read This, Please?  to be published in 2023.

Read about Franki’s collaboration with Oily Cart on Something Love

Contact Franki to find out more about his work or enquire about collaborations at franki.a.ayres@gmail.com

Follow Franki on Instagram

Oily Cart’s Associate Artist programme champions and supports disabled artists to develop their sensory theatre practice and develop leadership skills to create a more representative sensory theatre making sector. Our 2022 Associate Artist will be announced soon.

Read more from our Associate Artists here.

Work Experience Student Kian: Away With the Trolls for a Weekend

A performer playing the part of a scary troll bares his teeth and snarls at a young man. The young man's face is partly obscured by an enormous red fabric feather. He looks up at the troll in troll in mock alarm. He wears a white t-shirt with the words Oily Cart written across the front in black. The troll wears a red and blue striped waistcoat with a pale khaki coloured colour and matching hat decorated with leaves. Behind the young man, a purple fabric bird looks on behind the young man.

Our work experience student Kian didn’t know what he was letting himself in for when he signed up for a week at Oily Cart.

To call this week of work experience unconventional would be putting it lightly. As friends tell of their taxing, painstaking days, agonising over accounting details or sifting through old case documents, I have been chased by trolls, built caves out of tents and waved maracas while wearing a hat that would rival that of the royal family. Needless to say it’s been an eventful time.

Never had questions of smell or feel of props ever occurred to me…they became just as vital to immersing the audience as sights and sounds

As a year 12 student planning to study acting, being thrown headfirst into the world of sensory theatre the past few days have provided an enlightening insight into a lesser explored area of performance, and the unique difficulties and opportunities that come with it. Drafted in to support performances of The Cart for the Wandsworth Fringe gave me a whole new perspective on theatre.

Take prop design for example. Sensory theatre, after all, focuses on appealing to senses and props are one crucial way of doing this. Never had questions of the smell or feel of props ever occurred to me, though here, because of the audience’s close handling of them, smell and feel suddenly become as vital to immersing the audience as sights and sounds.

Never before have I seen an audience so utterly captivated by a performance

Equally, the unique acting style shown off by the performers, requiring close contact with the audience, though at first quite unfamiliar, makes every performance that bit different from the last, providing near-constant learning opportunities. The sheer energy that the actors were able to retain right through to the end of the show is a testament to the importance of the age-old lesson of putting yourself out there, or, as one of my colleagues put it, “it doesn’t matter whether you crash and burn, you’ve just got to go for it”. And indeed, that is exactly what they did (the second bit – not the crashing and burning bit) and as they sang and danced their way around the stage, it was a struggle not to get up and join in at times, with this contagious atmosphere not loosening its grip until long after the performance ended.

Truly the performances did not end with the final line, but only once all the audience had walked out the gate. The children continued to talk and play with the actors for some time after the show had finished – evidence that it had worked its magic. This was perhaps what surprised me the most: the involvement of the children. Never before have I seen an audience so utterly captivated by a performance, telling of the incredible power of theatre to reach a group often left excluded in the arts.

The experience has left me with a newfound appreciation of sensory theatre

I’ve had a great time, be that desperately trying to stop a tent from blowing away or flapping people’s arms up and down like wings, the sheer variety of stuff I’ve gotten up to has provided a wonderful few days, only made better by the warm, welcoming team. With them I’ve been rescued from falling off a chair mid-performance, had some illuminating discussions about the theatre industry (and the new ‘Elvis’ movie – not worth it), and have even been to Pret A Manger for the first time (also not worth it).

Regardless, the experience has left me with a newfound appreciation of sensory theatre, renewed enthusiasm for working in the industry and the jobs opportunities available, and songs that I shall have stuck in my head for the next couple of months. And for that, I am nothing but grateful.

This is the Way We Roll

Illustration on a blue background. Children interact with a red and white spotted cart, stuffed with colourful sensory items. Image from The Cart, credit Ananya Rao-Middleton

A Musical Blog about the making of The Cart

Listen to the Start of Cart

“Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!

You’re all invited

We’re so excited

So come away and play with The Cart

Ready…steady…it’s just about to start…”

‘The Cart’ is our latest touring project, celebrating 40 years of Oily Cart and of sensory theatre. The company started with the founders travelling around in an old van packed full of colourful props, puppets and instruments. They pitched up anywhere and everywhere, bringing stories to life with children from all different communities.

40 years on, ‘The Cart’ is travelling around the UK, pitching up in different specialist schools, packed full of sensory props, puppets and instruments so that teachers and pupils together can bring stories to life as the performers and audience! This is our way of celebrating sensory theatre, where it all began.

It’s here! The Cart arriving at a specialist school

Let’s Celebrate

Listen to Let’s Celebrate

Of course, you can’t have a show without music! Music has always been a huge part of Oily Cart shows.

A middle aged man stands in front of a shop window with buildings reflected in the glass. He wears a black/grey tweedy cap, a black leather jackets, grey/blue check scarf and a grey and black patterned shirt. He is wearing glasses with dark frames.
Max Reinhardt, musical director of The Cart

Max Reinhardt, co-founder of Oily Cart and musical director of ‘The Cart ’, has always championed boundless sonic explorations, collaborating with exceptional musicians from musical traditions across the globe.

You can listen to a few tunes from some of our other shows, co-composed by Max and the featured musicians, here:

Jamboree  

A photo of the Jamboree band on stage. They are wearing colourful costumes and sparkly makeup, and holding their musical instruments. They are gathered around a huge drum.
Listen to Balkan Music featuring members of Don Kipper and The Destroyers

Hush a Bye

A kora musician sits on a green stool upon a cream coloured carpet decorated with light and dark green leaves. Two large decorate leaves frame his head. The musician balances the base of the kora between his knees above the floor. The kora is a large gourd with a long neck traversed by 21 strings. The man wears a light blue cordoroy jumpsuite, yellow socks and blackshoes. Around his kneck is a yellow and blue frilled collar with a matching cape attached. On his head he wears a yellow cap with three small fabric horns attached.
Listen to Mande music featuring kora virtuoso Kadialy Kouyate

Kubla Khan

A woman sits on the floor playing a sitar. She is dressed in a bright blue jump suit and a matching bell boy hat decorated with a gold circle; the toe nails of her bare feet are painted dark blue. Behind her right shoulder stands a large bronze gong; a wooden beater with a red furry head, hangs from the gong.
Listen to a sitar led Raag/ English folk fusion featuring Sheema Mukherjee

Even though we can’t yet have Oily Cart performers touring around the schools, we still wanted to make sure that pupils and staff could experience amazing live music that they could feel and hear and move to. So somewhere along the road, we decided that ‘The Cart’ itself should become a travelling musical instrument for staff and pupils to play together. Jamie Linwood, who makes instruments for schools, playgrounds, sensory gardens, parks and public spaces worked with Designer Amanda Mascarenhas to create The Cart. Jamie has worked with Oily Cart for many years, to make some of the most memorable musical creations in our shows. This has ranged from: instruments that move around on a tricycle in RING A DING DING to the floating marimba (or marine-ba) used in hydrotherapy pool show SPLISH SPLASH, and instruments made of pipes: plastic drain, sink and underground pipes for TUBE

Ring a Ding
A marimba (a percussion instrument consisting of a set of wooden bars) floats in a pond of dark water. The pond weed covers the surface of the water and green vegetation grows at its edges.
A floating marimba
Several bendy, corrugated yellow plastic pipes are suspended from a wooden frame to make a musical instrument.
A plastic pipe instrument from The Tube

(All of these shows were written and directed by Tim Webb, designed by Claire de Loon, with music by Max Reinhardt)

Embaire Music

The design for the travelling musical Cart was inspired by Embaire music from Uganda. Embaire is music a whole community plays together on a huge wooden xylophone which is dug into the ground.

You can watch an Embaire being built, here.

The Embaire is the perfect instrument for our audiences, as it creates deep vibrations, music which feels just as good as it sounds. Many of our audience members relate to music primarily through touch.

A close-up of the back of The Cart. The Cart is painted in bright blue and red stripes with yellow trim and wheels. From the back of The Cart hang two long, dark oxidised metal bells. Alongside them hangs white laminated paper instructions for ways to use The Cart.
You can feel and hear the sounds of The Cart
A close-up picture showing six long wooden bars (embaire bars) fixed to the side of The Cart with shiny metal screws. The bars are painted in orange and white checks. The base of the cart is painted in blue and red stripes with a yellow trim. One of The Cart's wheels painted yellow with red spokes is visible. The Cart is parked on a blue floor.
Embaire-like bars have been fixed onto the side of The Cart

The Embaire was the ideal vehicle for us to create a show to celebrate music with our community of D/deaf and disabled children and specialist school staff across the country. Jamie fixed Embaire-like bars onto the Cart itself, which could be played by students and teachers. A resonance chamber was created within the cart, so that young people can sit inside and feel the vibrations, while their teachers, supporting adults and classmates play their live contributions over the soundtrack.

The soundtrack music, which also springs out of our miraculous musical cart, is the result of an online collaboration between four Embaire musicians in Nakibembe Village (in Busoga, Uganda) and Max and Mulele Matondo, a Congolese multi-instrumentalist (here in the UK). The Nyege Nyege Tapes Record label in Kampala Uganda sent their producer and sound recordist DonZilla Lion to record the musicians in Nakibembe Village, which has no mains electricity. The fact that there were no multi tracking facilities and that he only had a digital recorder to hand, didn’t stop him making some incredible recordings.

Here’s a video of the village which DonZilla shot on his phone.

Musicians in Nakibembe Village (Credit: DonZilla Lion)

Derek Debru from the label commented:

“ Nyege Nyege has been able to facilitate bringing the ancient traditional xylophone from Eastern Uganda to the UK, as well as promote the incredible musical heritage coming from Uganda, and specifically the Embaire. It is even more commendable that a lot of this project was worked on remotely due to covid restrictions, yet all the musicians involved, Amiisi Makaye, Kapado Faizo, Adaya Shalifu, Amuli Hassan, Donzilla from Uganda and the UK based artists Max and Mulele Matondo have been able to bring us closer together…”

And Donzilla Lion, who recorded the musicians in Nakibembe village, added: 

“It was very challenging for Amiisi, Kapado, Adaya and Amuli at first because they were used to play as a group at the same time. They were happy that they were able to actually face the challenge. They loved the project so much as well and they said that we should bring more of these positive projects to them”.

Max then worked on the tracks sent from Uganda, selecting and digitally editing riffs and hooks, processing sounds with electronics, adding song and Carty Party melodies. Mulele truly filled the sound out, adding melodies and riffs on his Madimba , a Congolese xylophone. Max added real sound to fit the scenes of the story where appropriate and some sparkling storytelling by writer /narrator Amani Naphtali, who collaborated with us to write the story of ‘The Cart.’

The PRS Foundation’s The Open Fund were a crucial part of making this collaboration happen. We were delighted to receive their support to make it possible. Music is the most universal language. It has been an intrinsic part of Oily Cart’s work throughout the decades, with a  particular focus on sonic vibrations and resonance, so it was a really natural and joyful fit.

What are

‘The Cart’ has rolled around to four schools across the country so far. The feedback  has been great.

“The music was amazing and really helped with the atmosphere throughout the story.”
“[The children] loved joining in with the music (clapping).”
“It was a really nice experience and made me consider how I can use music in sensory stories going forward.”

Teacher, Humberston Park Special School, Grimsby:

“I’ve loved delivering the story of the Lost Feather to the children in my school.  It’s so exciting seeing their reactions of joy, intrigue, request and rejection as they engage with The Cart, exploring the sensory props.  Even the children who are most in their own world find something that connects and elicits response, almost always positive, but the negative is of course just as valid.“

Julian, Teacher, North wales

We are loving seeing photos of the sensory story inside The Cart being brought to life. We are particularly enjoying seeing the costumes and the smiles on staff and pupils dancing and moving round the school together in the parade at the end of The Cart’s visit. Now the pandemic is almost over, it’s time to celebrate together.

From us, to you, let’s all have a ‘Carty Party’ like it’s 2022!

A girl and a boy in wheelchairs are pushed through a school playground by their female teachers. The girl is wearing a pink and blue straw hat. Her teacher is wearing a multicoloured umbrella hat. The boy's chair is decorated with a multicoloured netting cape. A Cart performer in a top hat decorated the orange feathers brings up the rear. All the adults are wearing medical masks.
Let’s Celebrate! The Cart Parade

Carty Party

Listen to Carty Party

Follow Max on Twitter and Instagram @imaxreinhardt
Jamie Linwood @JL_xylophones
Nyege Nyege @nyegenyegefest

Written by Ellie and the Oily Cart team

Max Reinhardt is supported by PRS Foundation’s The Open Fund

Black and white photo of two performers on stage addressing the audience. They both have surprised expressions on their faces. The man on the right is wearing a bobble hat and playing a guitar. Next to him stands a man wearing a striped t shirt and a paint-spattered apron. He is holding a paintbrush.

Conduct your own Sound Symphony

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new interactive website that allows you to conduct your own Sound Symphony! To access the site please visit www.soundsymphony.co.uk

The video is optimised for operation on a Desktop so the videos can play simultaneously. See below the Explainer Video for how to operate this via Desktop, or you can access this directly from the interactive website. You can also download Desktop instructions in Easy Read from the interactive website.

To view Easy Read instructions click here or visit the interactive website.

You can also view the site from a mobile or tablet, but the videos will play individually. Alternatively you can view the videos on our YouTube channel playlist.

The Sound Symphony Interactive Website is commissioned by The Space.

Sound Symphony is a sensory show made for and with Autistic young people. It is a co-production between Oily Cart and Independent Arts Projects.

The Uncancellable Programme Report

Panel of four photos of young people experiencing Space to Be at home. One is looking at patterned lights inside a blue gauze tent. Another is shining a wrist torch on a shiny mirrored sheet. Another is playing with the kalimba. And the last is resting on a velvet double-length pillow, underneath a velvet blanket with embroidered patterns.

The Uncancellable Programme by Oily Cart
Sensory and inclusive theatre created for and with disabled children, young people and their families during and post-COVID-19 times

Report by Dr Maria Varvarigou, October 2021

The report is available in different formats, if you require something not listed below please get in touch.

Oily-Cart-Uncancellable-Programme-Report-Condensed-2Download

Oily Cart Uncancellable Programme Report (Condensed) WORD

Oily Cart Uncancellable Programme Report (Condensed) LARGE PRINT

Oily Cart Uncancellable Programme Report (Full) WORD

Oily Cart Uncancellable Programme Report (Full) LARGE PRINT

Something Love: Accessible Creative Practices

Zoom screen with 3 participants, including a young person sat on a rug surrounded by different colour and shaped plastic balls and holding two orange balls. The other participants are also holding up one plastic ball to their eye and holding their other hand up close to the camera in a C shape.

When the pandemic began, we found we weren’t allowed into theatres and schools, or any of the places we normally perform. We couldn’t create close-up, interactive shows that used touch as a central technique, either. We quickly realised we needed to reimagine the entire format of how we usually work. We called this our ‘Uncancellable Programme’. Our priority was to make sure that audiences who have barriers to access were still being served during Covid-19 and did not become invisible. We took our shows onto doorsteps and into playgrounds, delivered performances through Zoom and posted packages. And, for the first time, we did an R&D to ask the question: how can sensory theatre translate into film work?

The project was called Something Love, and it was made for and with neurodivergent and Autistic young people. It was process-driven, rather than outcome-driven, to give us plenty of space to play without pressure, and to explore how to make the creative process accessible. Standard creative processes, even those with some access built in, can create barriers for disabled and chronically ill artists, including expected working hours, lack of flexibility, and physically inaccessible and / or non-relaxed spaces. Something Love stemmed from one of the artists reflecting that the creative solutions found for remote working when the pandemic hit did not feel wholly positive. He had not been able to work in the industry for a decade as it was deemed not possible to structure processes in a way that he could access; suddenly, working remotely enabled him and it became clear that there were approaches that could have worked all along.

Zoom screen with 3 participants, including a young person sat on a rug surrounded by different colour and shaped plastic balls and holding two orange balls. The other participants are also holding up one plastic ball to their eye and holding their other hand up close to the camera in a C shape.
Zoom creative session

We wanted to understand what creating remotely offered us, that we could take forward as accessible working practices when Covid is over. Here are some thoughts from the Something Love creative team, with thanks also to the many incredible companies and artists like Graeae, Access All Areas and Daryl Beeton who are so generous in sharing accessibility best practice.

Firstly, one of the biggest things that makes a creative process accessible is its structure. To understand what structure we needed to build, we sent access audits to the whole team at the very start (with the option to go through this together on the phone and / or have a follow up chat), and welcomed access riders (there’s more information about access riders and templates here and here). Whilst the creative team spoke at the beginning of the project about access being everyone’s responsibility, we also found it really helpful to have someone leading on access, whose role it was to ensure all access requirements were being supported. By having this person present, and their role reinforced at every meeting, they became the go-to person for the whole team for anything related to access. Some artists may also want to work with a Creative Enabler – a term coined by Graeae theatre company for a support worker who collaborates artistically with the creative.

Working remotely, it was important to find ways to keep the team connected. Before the first meeting, we sent everyone a red squishy heart (an image connected to the project) which we all had to hand in meetings and sessions. We set up a Slack channel where people could share footage, images and audio of what they’d been working on and keep in touch. And to mark the end of the process, we organised an online premiere, with a pack of goodies sent to each person as a thank you.

Agendas and plans were sent out a couple of days before any meeting or session. All meetings were held on Zoom, in a relaxed format – we started each session with a reminder that everyone was welcome to turn their camera and mic off and on, to move around and stand up, leave and come back as needed. We limited the length of meetings to an hour and a half, including a 20 minute rest break, and finished with a ‘soft ending’ – 15 minutes after the end of the meeting agenda for anyone who wanted to stay online to ask a question, give feedback, make a point or just have a chat.

Zoom screen with four participants, all holding up a red squishy heart.
Zoom creative session

It’s important to put as much in place to support mental health and wellbeing as you do any other illness or disability. We found that emotional support is required for this – a member of the team was a Mental Health First Aider and we also worked with an external artist wellbeing consultant. During this process, we had a wellbeing check-in mid-way through the creative process with each member of the creative team – just an informal phone call or Zoom to see how they were doing and whether there was any additional support we could put in place for the remainder of the project. This might be something you consider doing more than once during a creative process.

Of course, creating remotely might not be the most accessible format for everyone – that’s something the access audits and chats can help you to understand at the start – so as the world opens back up, you could consider a blended approach that allows for both ways of working.

It’s important to acknowledge that there were things we found hard, we got wrong, and we would do differently next time. It was difficult giving the clarity needed for timetabling and planning, for instance, in a devised process where the project was constantly shifting and the team was figuring it out as they went, creatively. Whilst having a range of ways to keep in touch was positive, in future we will have a focus for how each platform is used, and limit who from the organisation delivers information, to reduce communication becoming overwhelming or confusing. We also found it can be tricky to create budgets that balance supporting flexibility within the process, with having the widest reach and impact for the audience. And there are limitations on how flexible you can be as a small company, which is possibly why many organisations focus on access for either audience or artists. As part of an inclusive cultural recovery, we should all want to move towards projects being accessible for both.

Top Tips on working more accessibly from the Something Love team:

  • Elements of the creative process, or the whole creative process, can be done online, which can really open up access for some artists. It allows for shorter bursts of activity where energy is focused purely on the project rather than travel etc.
  • Do Access Audits and welcome Access Riders from the whole team at the beginning of the process to ensure you can put the right support in place, like working with Creative Enablers.
  • Slow the process down – allow plenty of time and be flexible to meetings needing to be rearranged last minute.
  • Be mindful of language. Using phrases like ‘it will just take a minute’ or responding to requests for support with ‘Don’t worry, it shouldn’t take too long to do together’ can minimize the experience of artists who, for instance, have energy management conditions, and reinforces an expected speed of working that creates barriers.
  • Listen. No one gets it right all the time – the most important thing is to really genuinely be trying to listen to the stuff that is difficult to hear.

Jeremy Harrison: The Sound of Stars

A Black man shines his wrist torch onto a piece of shiny material with mirror triangles. This causes colourful light patterns on the wall behind. Photo from Space to Be, credit Suzi Corker

How the music for Space to Be was made using the sound of real stars, by composer and musical director Jeremy Harrison

The notion of space was an ever-changing concept throughout the development of Space To Be. The piece was about sharing space, enabling families to come together, to just be, inspired by the work of Dr. Jill Goodwin, whose research underpinned the project. And yet we were making the show during lockdown, alone in our own spaces, scattered across the country. On a practical level we were negotiating space. Exploring different ways of sharing ideas: sending things to each other through the post; exchanging messages and sharing files in digital spaces. Ultimately, we were each spending long periods of time alone. Ferreting away. Making and re-making.  Cocooned in the internal space of the imagination. Early conversations about the natural world led to a flurry of work inspired by nature. This move to the outdoor space was extended for many of us by regular walks, to break up the day and allow for reflection. My morning runs became a space to think and try out ideas, and as always, the dream-space of sleep also brought interesting new ideas or reshaped existing ones.

Grid of three photos. On the left is a young boy leaning on a bright green mat playing the kalimba. In the middle is a girl sitting on a green carpet playing the kalimba. On the right, two sisters play the kalimba together.
Families playing ‘Lyra’, the kalimba we were using as the central sound for the show

It was Ellie Griffiths, Oily Cart’s visionary Artistic Director, who first introduced the idea of outer space to the project. She had been listening to the soundtracks of space films, searching for a sonic starting point of her own. In one Zoom meeting, Pythagoras’s notion of the Music of the Spheres was mentioned. This link between the physical movement of the universe and sound, had always interested me and so I quickly leapt into a Google rabbit-hole, searching for inspiration. As I crawled through the web I found references to sonification, eventually landing on NASA’s website, which charted the extraordinary work of their Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Sonfication is the process of converting aspects of astrological data, such as brightness, or frequency of electromagnetic radiation into sound. NASA has been leading this field, working with musicians and composers to create music from this data, as well as collecting pure sounds generated from the digital signals picked up by the Chandra X-Ray deep-space telescopes. At the time I was also listening to a BBC radio programme, ‘The Uncommon Senses’, about the work of Professor Barry Smith. Smith is interested in the interconnectedness of the senses, which really resonated with my practice, and the way sensory theatre experiences connect with audiences. The idea that we might experience sound through feeling vibrations, was part of the way Oily Cart has approached accessibility for audiences when it comes to music. This interplay between the senses felt familiar and so I continued to click my way through NASA until I found a page detailing the work of Wanda Diaz Merced.

Wanda Diaz Merced is a blind astronomer who developed the existing technique of sonification, as a means of presenting data, while she was an intern at NASA in the early 2000s. She developed software that could map astronomical data into sounds, using pitch, rhythm and volume to make it more accessible, an idea which she made the focus of her 2013 PhD at the University of Glasgow. Her research revealed that this approach led to a more nuanced knowledge of star systems, knowledge that could be missed when dealing only with visual data represented in graphs. As with the sensory theatre world, Wanda Diaz Merced was championing an approach which exploited the rich experience we get from multi-sensory engagement. As she puts it in an interview for Nature, published online on 24th December 2019:

Right now, we are missing discoveries because we are only focused on some visual ways of interacting with the data… we should be focusing on… all the different ways of approaching research. It would mean that visually impaired people, as well as others who are marginalized, could participate equally

The work of the astronomers was reinforcing and overlapping with the multi-sensory approaches we were adopting in our process. As Brian Smith’s research reminded us, the interconnectedness of the senses is an integral way in which we all interpret and understand the world around us. As NASA astronomer and musician Matt Russo puts it ‘instead of telling someone about how a star works you can really make them feel it if you convert it into music’.

Box 5 audio

Over the course of the next few days I began collecting various audio samples from the NASA web resource, along with material published by Paul Francis, an astrophysicist from Australia National University. Francis’s work included sonification data from star systems with magical names such as the Crab Nebula and Arcturus, Spica and Rigel. The sounds of the individual stars and star systems were distinctive and characterful. A world of whooshes, deep humming and rhythmic crackles, that took the music of Space To Be into new and unearthly territory. I began to use star sounds to create crackling background atmospheres to hold the dialogue that the wonderful Jacqui Adeniji- Williams recorded, as the shows ever present narrator. Sound Designer Joe Wright and I then explored ways of building miniature galaxies in a tin, to accompany designer Sophia Clist’s beautiful kaleidoscopes that were the centre-piece of Box 3. When it came to the finale of Box 5, I used a short sample from Matt Russo’s sonification realization of the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our Solar System. It provided a haunting and gentle chord progression which I converted into digital signals that were used to trigger sounds that came from the kalimba we were using as our central sound for the show. I love the thought of our families lying together in their own constellation, listening to music that comes from the very stars that float above them in the night sky. It is an image that lies at the heart of a quote by German poet and novelist Rainer Marie Rilke, that Ellie brought into the rehearsal process very near the beginning and that I will use now as my ending:

Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side-by-side can grow, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against an immense sky.

You can learn more about NASA’s sonification work here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/news/data-turned-into-sounds-of-stars-galaxies-black-holes.html

If you want to learn more about Wanda Diaz Merced you can watch her TED talk here:

Jamboree: Sensory ideas to try at home

Production image from Jamboree

Here are a few ideas for sensory activities that you can try at home. These are inspired by our recent show Jamboree, which was created for and with disabled young people.

Black speaker against pink background



Bring music from the Balkans into your home
Enjoy musical vibrations by sitting close to or around high-quality speakers.

You may want to look up the following musicians: Taraf de Haïdouks, Esma Redžepova, Boban Marković, Ivo Papazov, Fanfare Ciocărlia, Iva Bittová, Věra Bílá


A performer wearing red sunglasses and with red feathers on his head talks into a red cone directed at an audience member's ear.

Voice cones
Make a voice cone big enough that the young person can place their head in the wider end. Put a mini speaker at the other end so they can be absorbed in sound. You can also try: humming, storytelling, sound effects and intensive interaction.

Performer's outstretched arm with pleated, winged white sleeve. In the foreground is the silhouette of a figure shining a torch on sparkly material which is reflecting colourful patterned lights onto the sleeve.


Light patterns
Create reflections using a torch – you might want to try inside a tent, to make a starry sky on the ceiling, or inside an umbrella. Shining a light on tactile sequin fabric works well.

Blue rope with colourful beads and bells hanging from it, laid on pink fabric.

Jamming
Make noise together with objects found around the house or, like the audience in Jamboree, with strings of bells. Let the young person lead the jam session and only make sounds in response to theirs. Where available, use a microphone the young person can speak or make vocal sounds into.

Dr Jill Goodwin: From ‘doing’ to ‘being’

Image inside a golden fabric tent, with a golden cushion and stool.

Dr Jill Goodwin is an installation artist with a background in primary and special education.  We will be working with her over the next few months on a new installation project designed for use in school, hospital and community settings.  Jill’s doctoral research sits at the heart of the project, and she explains a bit about this, and her connection with Oily Cart below. 

During my teaching career I was particularly captivated by the challenge of working with learners who are non-verbal communicators.  My connection to the wonderful work of Oily Cart goes back to when I took part in one of their Summer Schools in 2006, which was a ‘Eureka!’ event for me.  The experience prompted me to integrate my work as an artist with my work as a teacher, practices I had previously seen as very separate.  It also helped me to recognise that my work in both spheres – my interest in atmospheric art installations, and my use of music, story, drama in the classroom – was already very ‘theatrical’.  When I later left the teaching profession to concentrate on my artistic practice, I used my learning experiences with Oily Cart as my guide. 

You can see one of my multisensory installations in use here:

In July 2019 I completed my PhD study, ‘Sharing an Aesthetic Space of Refuge within a School for Pupils with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities: Golden Tent’.

Dr Jill Goodwin ThesisDownload

Over the course of the study I took my practice in a new direction by focusing on the quality of the “in-the-moment” contact between someone with, and someone without, profound disabilities.  I had noticed that my own “busy-ness” sometimes got in the way of me really attuning with an individual with PMLD – particularly someone whose physical impairments made them appear passive and whose cognitive impairments made their response times different to my own. 

Image of large golden fabric tent inside a school hall.

I became interested in how the arts might help support-partners to shift from a busy “doing” mindset to a stiller “being” mindset.  Golden Tent was created as part of the research process and was presented in school as a sensorially immersive space within which participants were encouraged to simply experience the colour of the space, and the soundscape surrounding the tent.  Conceptualised as a ‘space of refuge’ away from the demands of busy classrooms, staff were encouraged to temporarily let go of pupil learning targets in order to simply share the aesthetic experience together. 

Image inside a golden fabric tent, with a golden cushion and stool.

Analysis of staff feedback showed that they valued this escape from the classroom, and also that they saw the space as somewhere pupils could ‘express themselves’ free from expectation, potentially revealing more of themselves.  The atmosphere and immersive experience of Golden Tent was seen as pivotal to this process.  I am delighted to have the opportunity to further extend the impact of my research and to continue exploring ideas of mutual sensory-being with the Oily Cart team.

Find out more about Jill and her work here: www.jillgoodwin.uk

Lee Phillips: Performing with Oily Cart

Lee Phillips was one of the performers in All Wrapped Up, our first inclusive show created for under 5s.

All Wrapped Up was non-verbal, and the narrative was communicated through movement, music, shadow and light. Our Artistic Director Ellie asked the performers to write their character’s version of what was happening on stage. Here, Lee tells the Shadow Man’s story…

All Wrapped Up – Shadow Man’s Story

I see a big light outside and wait, a shadow… A female shadow, playing with paper. I’ll hide and wait for the lady to come and play. Shall I introduce myself…? I feel her following the light.

All Wrapped Up production image

How about I let her in…? She joins in with her light. Gold and blue. Big and small let’s have some fun…

Time to reveal my head shadow to the girl. She does the same. What should I do?! This is a mistake. Must get out of the light… She wants me to come with her. Fat chance. I’m staying in the dark.

All Wrapped Up production image

I hear my good friend the sound sorceress, DJ Bea jump into action. The lady loves it… Time to reveal my spotlight dancing, shadow style… Wait. Where’s my shadow?… What?… I’ve been exposed. I’ve gotta hide. But how? Look in the box… I’ll cover myself with the bubble wrap and cover my face with the box. Better beware of the little ones… The girl stops me, now what…? She takes the box off my head. No, no, no!!!  Put it back, put it back… Please!! Phew! Now what is the girl up to?

She taps the box, does she want to dance?… Ha, ha, ha, okay! I’ll dance, you follow… Step-by-step. Sweet. Woo-hoo. Wait. Why am I feeling a little light? Why am I feeling this breeze? The girl took my bubble armour and turned it into a light ball.

All Wrapped Up production image

Let the ball fly around the little ones. Grown-ups too. Come dance along with it… Time to put the glowy bubble ball away… Wow. I see the little ones everywhere.

All Wrapped Up production image

I’ve got a present for the girl. Sticky tape!! Shall I give it to her? She loves it. Let’s play. It’s like an obstacle course! Phoebe, the guardian, is gathering all the little ones to play, sticking lots of papers to the tape and… Wow, there’s a paper bird flying around.

All Wrapped Up production image

Time to untangle the tape. Uh-oh. I turned it into a ball… I’ll give it to the girl… Whoa. She made a head for the bird… The bird is looking at me. Time to create an animal with my shadow. WOW. I created a moose… WOW. The girl created a Dragon out of paper. The Dragon is flying everywhere… Uh-Oh. I smell the Dragon breathe. It’s spitting fire everywhere. Time for the little ones to make fire noises…

All Wrapped Up production image

Time for the Dragon to go back in the gold box. Good. Whoa, that was wild!! Box lights? Box lights for the little ones to play with and don’t mind if I join them…

All Wrapped Up production image

Playtime comes to an end. Oh no it’s time to go… I don’t know how to say goodbye to the girl. Or the little ones. Oh no, the shadow world is going to sleep and I’m turning into a shadow. Time to turn into the spotlight… Goodbye.

Making Jamboree: A Blog from Ellie

Jamboree co-creation workshop

Jamboree is Oily Cart’s new piece of sensory gig-theatre made for and with teenagers with profound and multiple disabilities. It will tour in Autumn 2019 and Spring 2020. Here Artistic Director Ellie Griffiths talks about the creative process…

The idea

I love going to gigs and am often struck by how much more relaxed and welcoming they can feel in comparison to theatre. Last year I was at a Balkan music gig where we could feel the vibrations of the tuba through the floor. Everyone, of all ages, was up and dancing. It was a really inclusive, sensory experience, where the audience were able to express themselves just as much as the performers. By making a piece of sensory gig-theatre, I wanted to make something age appropriate for a teen audience, that made space for each person onstage and in the audience to be the boldest version of who they are. (I also just wanted it to be really fun. I’ve been inspired by organisations Sprog Rock and Bubble Club, who take their fun extremely seriously!) 

The process

In making Jamboree we have explored a co-creation process with teenagers labelled as having profound and multiple disabilities. This began by embedding two musicians in a school to jam with young people who communicate in a huge range of ways. The musicians had to follow each pupil’s lead and value their input as equal musicians, which often challenged their own biases of what music ‘should’ sound like. We grandly labelled this a ‘co-composition’ process, soon realising (with the help of evaluator Joe Wright) that to do this meaningfully would take much more time and contact than we could achieve within the scope of this project. 

Child's foot resting on bell of a sousaphone which is being held by the musician, in order to feel the vibrations when it is played.

We did however find a way of growing the show out of seeds of input from young people we jammed with. In one case this was a melody line based on a vocalisation. One pupil’s interest in the noise of a metal slinky rattled against a wall led us to make a slinky instrument which leads a whole noise jam section of the show. 

“The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed – to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is”

Parker J Palmer

All the creative work rippled outwards from these seeds of input, to build an experience directly inspired and influenced by our collaboration with the students. The musicians and Musical Director Max Reinhardt created compositions which centered around them as musical ideas. Flavio Graff, the Designer, and I then created sensory and visual effects to compliment these compositions and structured them into a satisfying atmospheric journey through the show. The co-creation approach threw up surprises that were greater than any show I could’ve thought up in my head. 

Feeding into this as a core band member was Jovana Backovic, a folk singer from Serbia, with a PhD in Balkan music. She identified a synergy between the ways we were making the show and the natural journeys of folk music: from source, to being interpreted and passed on orally. In the tour, each week the band will arrive at a new place and jam with young people there to influence the music in the gig at the end of that week, so each will feel distinct and unique to the young people in the audience. 

Attempting an Inclusive process

A learning curve for me in this project was making our creative process more inclusive for our diverse cast. Robyn Steward, who is a cast member but also an internationally respected autism consultant, gave me great advice on using visual scores and scripts. She highlighted how many of the standard ways we devise work can create barriers. A lot of this is finding ways to make people feel safe in all the unknowns, and making sure the performers have a sense of ownership and control at every point. It’s always confronting and difficult to realise areas where your well-intentioned efforts are failing. I was continually faced with my own assumptions and neurotypical biases throughout this process. I’m hugely grateful to Robyn for her generosity and patience!

Panel of images, drawn in red pen. The first image is stars at the end of lines coming out of a person's mouth. The second is a clarinet. The third is a stick figure jumping on top of a drum. The fourth is hands clapping. The fifth is arrows shooting towards a clarinet. The sixth is footsteps coming out of a sousphone, lines indicating noise coming from a person's mouth, and a tortoise.
Visual script from Jamboree rehearsals

The future

At Oily Cart we all feel really passionate about the themes of this show – about young people who are non-verbal being listened to. So much power in this country is rooted in verbal language. We hope to use our #amplify campaign over the next year to amplify the voices of young people who are non-verbal as artists and creators that can and should have influence on the world we live in.

Family in the audience of a Jamboree performance interacting with the sousaphone player and feeling the instrument's vibrations.

Multi-sensory Adventures in Japan

Photo from installation Image from workshop at TYA Inclusive Arts Festival in Japan.

This project was funded by the National Lottery, through Creative Scotland.

This January, I was delighted to be invited to be part of the wonderful Theatre for Young Audiences Inclusive Arts Festival in Tokyo Japan. A big part of this was presenting a film I made last year in collaboration with Geraldine Heaney and pupils from St Crispin’s School. We made ‘Frame’ as part of an Imaginate artist residency. It’s still one of my favourite projects, with fond memories of working with the staff and pupils over ten weeks. At the festival, we presented the film as part of an interactive installation or play space, with an accompanying workshop and presentation. The Inclusive Arts Festival featured artists, performers, audiences and participants with a range of diverse needs. It’s been a hugely nourishing experience to meet people from across the globe, all working towards a common goal of making the arts more open and accessible. It was also fascinating to understand the Japanese perspective, where the word ‘inclusive’ has not been commonly used to this point. In many ways, the 2020 Olympics has opened up this conversation, as the London games did for the UK in 2012.

Oily Cart Artistic Director Ellie Griffiths at the TYA Inclusive Arts Festival

During the festival, I was inspired by how easy it was to communicate regardless of the language barriers. It’s made me think a lot about listening. Sometimes listening is through body language, eye contact, touch, sensory play. Sometimes it’s about leaving space. Does spoken language sometimes actually stop us from (really) listening? It was fascinating being absorbed in the many different cultures, D/deaf and hearing. It made me think harder about how to open up creative processes to performers and collaborators with different needs. 

Image from workshop at TYA Inclusive Arts Festival in Japan.

For me, new into being Artistic Director of Oily Cart, a particularly special aspect of being at the festival was seeing two new sensory performances that have been made for young audiences with complex needs in Japan. This is the direct impact of a trip made two years ago by Tim and Amanda Webb, who did a series of training workshops with local artists.

It was extremely moving to hear the artists talk so passionately about this area of work and to see how invested they are. At the heart of this shift is the brilliant Kaori Nakayama who has tirelessly created opportunities for young audiences with complex needs since first meeting and training with Oily Cart several years ago. It’s so exciting to see more and more sensory performances crop up across the globe, and it makes me feel extremely proud and happy that Oily Cart have been at the centre of this movement. I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves with this brilliant company, connecting outwards, and continuing to share our practice as widely as possible.

Huge thanks to St Crispin’s School, particularly the young artists in the film. Thanks to Geraldine, my partner in crime, the whole team at the TYA Inclusive Arts Festival. And finally thank you to Creative Scotland, and The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, without whose support the trip would not have been possible.

Photo from installation Image from workshop at TYA Inclusive Arts Festival in Japan.