Resource Category: Behind the scenes

How We Made When the World Turns: The Branches

Two performers in a dimly lit tent. They hold their torches up towards plants encircling the tent pole, casting shadows onto the textured roof,.

Every so often you are part of a show that makes you want to linger in the imaginary world indefinitely, somehow there’s always more to discover. Although its more than 5 years since the inception of When the World Turns, to this day it continues to grow with a life of its own…

This is the second of two blogs by Oily Cart Artistic Director Ellie Griffiths, sharing how the show was made. The first part is about the origins and early development of the project: How we made When the World Turns: The Seed

A young woman with short brown hair sitting in her wheelchair. A middle aged woman with short grey hair and glasses sits next to her. They are inside the When the World Turns performance space, with a billowing tent overhead and surrounded with wooden crates and plants all around. There is atmospheric low lighting, illuminating their faces with a golden glow and casting shadows of the plant leaves. Hanging just above them is a metal bin lid.
R&D Collaborating Artist, Greta Chambers McMillan, experiencing the final show. Credit: Roswitha Chesher.

De-centring humans

In the show’s immersive environment we created, every sensory dimension is just as important as the humans in the show. The surround-sound scape (designed by Max Reinhardt and Steph O’Hara) is built from field recordings of nature. One of my favourite ‘tunes’ in the show is a track featuring the sounds of real mosquitos with different pitches, layered together in harmony. The lighting (designed by Marty Langthorne and Richard Vabre) is imbued with the colour tones and dynamics of natural light.

This hierarchal shift has a synergy with how I have witnessed many audiences of disabled children interact with sensory performances over the years. Despite theatre’s default of centralising the human story, often I witness audiences of individuals who might be just as interested in the shadows, by the sources of sound, by the smells in the room, by the texture of their seat, as they are in performers. In this way, each person authors their own ‘story’ of the show.

This shift of traditional hierarchies, of de-centralising the human in both theatre and the living world, has a satisfying resonance. Here you are welcome to interact with every aspect of your environment. Here all living beings and parts of the eco-system are valued equally.

Two performers in a dimly lit tent. They hold their torches up towards plants encircling the tent pole, casting shadows onto the textured roof,.
When the World Turns. Credit: Suzi Corker.

Being Still

There were times in the process where we had to grapple with the balance of inclusion and sustainability (for example, the use of plastic as a robust material that can be cleaned easily when passed around for interaction with lots of audience members). This was unlocked by the theme of stillness.  What this young audience often bring to a space is a sensory presence, and a natural focus on ‘Being rather than doing’ (a phrase coined by the researcher and artist Dr Jill Goodwin).  By celebrating the value of being still, we hint at how much could be learnt from this community about our relationship with the natural world. When you let go of focusing on rushing around and ’doing’, you have time to notice the layers of life that are around you all the time. You start to value things differently. In this way, sustainability and inclusion need never be placed at odds with each other.

Variation

We (Oily Cart and Polyglot… Sue and I) set out to make the same show together. One thing I’ve found surprising is how simply ‘re-planting’ the first version of the show in a new culture and creative eco-system didn’t work out in the ways we anticipated. With each new iteration, new artists and collaborators have invested their ideas and input. The materials, smells and textures are different here. This is alongside the producing company’s different models, and unique history of Sensory Theatre work in each place.

All of this has fed into the two versions of the When the World Turns show feeling more like siblings. As Sue reflected, from seeing the UK show at Edinburgh International Children’s Festival recently: ”They have the same DNA, but distinct personalities”. Although not our original intention, this has brought us to a way of international co-producing that feels aligned with the values of eco-scenography: There is room for variance, evolution and transferring rather than parachuting into new environments. The soil we plant in is unique to place. The When the World Turns sister shows share values and practice, and both continue to evolve and be shaped by audiences they meet around the world.

Since premiering the first version of the show in 2022, there have been many off-shoots; an At Home version, A World Beneath Us, and a new show for babies and their grown-ups, Great Big Tiny World.

A mother holds a baby in her arms. They both look up in wonder at small firely lights held towards them by a performer. In the room's blue light, the mother and baby's faces are illuminated by the lights.
A smiling mother holds a baby facing her on her knees. They are both looking with wonder across at something out of shot. Behind them are crates filled with plants. The lighting illuminates their face with a golden glow.
A mother sits on the floor, supporting a baby to sit on a chair next to her. They are both looking up at a speaker above them with wonder. Behind them are wooden crates filled with plants.
Great Big Tiny World. Credit: Suzi Corker.
A panel of 3 photos of families experiencing A World Beneath Us. Photo 1 is a girl shining a torch on the mycelium mat. Photo 2 is a girl reaching into a bowl of water which is illuminated by a torch underneath. Photo 3 shows the a young person in a darkened room, looking at a coloured shadow of leaves projected on a sheet.
A panel of 3 photos of families experiencing A World Beneath Us. Photo 1 is a girl with a mycelium mat on her lap. She looks up, smiling with her hands raised. Her face is illuminated with a pink light. Photo 2 is a young person lying on a textured mat of a forest floor covered in mushrooms. They look up at the ceiling. Next to them, pink light illuminates a bowl of water, to create shadows overhead not visible in the photo. Photo 3 is a young person looking up at water shadows rippling across a white ceiling.
A World Beneath Us. Photos provided by families. Photo 3 credit: Suzi Corker

Over the last year our Associate Director Rhiannon Armstrong has taken on creative leadership of the UK version of When the World Turns. I can see it growing and shifting once more, guided by the careful hands that nurture it now.

When the World Turns is filled with the love of making, of growing together and apart, and the love of all living beings in their unique glory.

I want to thank the of hundreds of makers, production managers, producers, gardeners, artists, performers past and present, across the globe who have realised this vision as an eco-system… (The director always gets too much credit for something created by many hands and minds.)

To Mary and Wendy who planted that original seed. I hope they are proud of the continuing impact their vision is having around the world.

Both shows continue to tour in both countries and beyond. Long may they thrive!

When the World Turns, a collaboration between Oily Cart (UK) and Polyglot Theatre (AUS), was originally commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne for arts and disability festival Alter State 2022.

How We Made When the World Turns: The Seed

A person stands outside in a plant-filled patio surrounded by trees. The top half of their body is covered with leaves and branches, resembling the shape of a head, chest and arms. Their lower body and legs are visible, and bent as if they are about to run away.

Every so often you are part of a show that makes you want to linger in the imaginary world indefinitely, somehow there’s always more to discover. Although its more than 5 years since the inception of When the World Turns, to this day it continues to grow with a life of its own…

This is the first of two blogs by Oily Cart Artistic Director Ellie Griffiths, sharing how the show was made.

A person stands outside in a plant-filled patio surrounded by trees. The top half of their body is covered with leaves and branches, resembling the shape of a head, chest and arms. Their lower body and legs are visible, and bent as if they are about to run away.
Photo from the first UK R&D. Credit: Suzi Corker.

The Seed

The project began with the vision of Mary Harvey and Wendy O’Neill of Arts Centre Melbourne, who commissioned Oily Cart to collaborate with Polyglot Theatre to make a new piece of Sensory Theatre. Strategically, this was to change the fact that, at that point, there were no companies making theatre for children with multiple and complex barriers to access in the region.

As a new Artistic Director, who had long admired Polyglot’s practice, it was a dream gig to collaborate with former Director Sue Giles, who is a prolific theatre maker and thought leader in the field of theatre for young audiences. Both our practices are child-led theatre to the core, but we were working with different forms and methodologies, which provided scope for rich cross-fertilisation.

We quickly found a shared spark; dreaming up a show that honoured the atmosphere brought by young people most likely to be ‘parked’ in a theatre experience. Rushed past, because their responses and communication may be less recognisable to performers, and they appear to be more passive. We were motivated further by a conversation with a family who had a disabled child, who said they were often made to feel they didn’t belong in natural spaces. This came from not only a lack of physical access to wilder spaces for wheelchair users, but also a felt attitude from others that their way of being in the world somehow wasn’t ‘natural’. More than anything, we wanted to make a show that makes this audience feel that ‘you belong here’, and that belonging isn’t bound up in action or productivity.

Red and black shadow shapes appear through a long stretch of brown paper. A ball of scrunched up paper is in the foreground.
A person crouches on the ground of a dimly lit space, in front of two fans. They hold a sheet of white gauzey fabric, which is being blown upwards, obscuring their face. Indistinct shadows, like a murmuration of birds, are projected over the wall and fabric. The room is tinged a slight sunrise pink.
An extended arm holding a circle of brown cardboard. The shadow of a bird in flight is projected onto the card. Behind them, the wall has been lit with pinks, purples and blues. The shadow of plants stretch up towards the cardboard circle.
Photos from UK R&D. Credit: Suzi Corker.


Eco-Scenography

This led us to the work of the ecological designer Dr Tanja Beer, to join us as a core collaborator. Tanja is an award-winning designer and researcher who has established a new field of ecological stage design called ‘Eco-scenography’. When the World Turns was built around these principles of a circular way of making, where the sourcing and re-distribution at the end of a project is considered as rigorously as the event of sharing the work. (No small task for an immersive art-form that often uses a lot of ‘stuff’!)

Over several years of remote collaboration, across time and space, and many, many Zoom conversations with Sue and Tanja (that were stimulating, challenging, sometimes baffling and always fascinating), the show began to slowly take root. Each country hosted creative developments with local creative teams. One team would make a response to what had been created and explored in the other country.

Young artist Greta creates an artwork of vibrant white, pink and orange, on the eyegaze screen that is attached to her wheelchair. Her mum sits next to her, and her dad stands above, taking a picture of the art. They are in a dimly lit room, with a corruagedt cardboard sheet surrounding them. In the distance, branches reach up the white walls.
Collaborating Artist, Greta McMillan, during the UK R&D. Credit: Suzi Corker.


Biophilic Patterns

A big lightbulb moment in the creative process for me was when Tanja introduced us to the biophilic patterns, which are patterns in nature that can be weaved into design, to create ‘living’ environments that have a soothing, regulating effect on people who spend time in them. We devised around these patterns, such as ‘dynamic and diffused light’, ‘presence of water’ and ‘risk and refuge’. These felt like such natural meeting points of our ecological and sensory practices.

The patterns became the basis of the design and content of the show. The set is made up of hundreds of live plants, who fill the atmosphere with fresh oxygen and natural scent, creating a living breathing sensory environment. Plants have more sensory receptors than humans, which I think creates the ultimate responsive environment. What the audience does affects what the performers do, which affects the plants, which affect how people in the space feel… one of my favourite things is seeing how different people (adults and children) look in their body language and faces when they leave the space, from when they went in. The effect is tangible and is a focus on Tanja’s ongoing research.

A panoramic view of the When the World Turns performance space, which is inside a circular tent shape. Textured, billowing cream tent material hangs overhead, held up a central pole. Wooden and plastic crates and metal bins filled with plants circle the pole, the perimeter of the space and are dotted in amongst wooden chairs. Some are lit by yellow light. Wooden fishing rods emerge behind leaves, with glowing lamps underneath metal bin lids hanging from them.
When the World Turns (UK Performance Space). Credit: Suzi Corker.

Read the second blog for more on the creative process, international collaboration, and how the show continues to grow…

When the World Turns, a collaboration between Oily Cart (UK) and Polyglot Theatre (AUS), was originally commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne for arts and disability festival Alter State 2022.

Introducing Rhiannon Armstrong, Director of When the World Turns

Rhiannon is a white person with a brown bob and blunt fringe, wearing a black shirt. They are smiling and looking intently into the camera. They are a in a room - maybe an art studio - with white walls, a paint covered wooden ladder leant against a wall, and various plants and pots.

Our current touring production of When the World Turns is directed by award-winning interdisciplinary artist, Rhiannon Armstrong. We’ve been lucky to collaborate with Rhiannon on different projects and in different ways over the past few years, from dramaturg on Jamboree to joining Oily Cart as our first Associate Artist in 2019.

Rhiannon is a white person with a brown bob and blunt fringe, wearing a black shirt. They are smiling and looking intently into the camera. They are a in a room - maybe an art studio - with white walls, a paint covered wooden ladder leant against a wall, and various plants and pots.


Rhiannon first worked on When the World Turns to create an audio piece for a work in progress sharing as part of Bibu Festival, Sweden. As a live artist working in relational practice, we were excited by the wealth of new skills and ways of thinking they would bring to Oily Cart and When the World Turns as Director.

An extended white arm with fingers outstretched. On the wrist is a bracelet of black and white straws. There is a sense of movement, as though the arm has just twisted, sending the straws to wave outwards in different directions. The diagonal black and white stripes of the straw are mirrored by the white wall in the background, with diagonal stripes of shadow.
The White Noise Factory. Photo: Jemima Yong.


We wanted to share the blog Rhiannon wrote in 2019 at the end of their time as Associate Artist: at the bottom of the page there is also a video introducing their current project, The White Noise Factory:

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 an inclusivity at work at Oily Cart that I wanted to immerse myself in. 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. 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. Photo credit: Suzi Corker.

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.

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) I was able to undertake collaborative explorations into sound as a form of touch and intimacy without social interaction, with staff and students at Swiss Cottage School; Sam and Lucy Bowen; and Tim Spooner.

Rhiannon, a white adult with a brown bob and blunt fringe, kneels in front of session musician Lucy, a white teenager with pink glasses, a yellow gilet and using a wheelchair. Lucy and Rhiannon look intently at each other, as Rhiannon holds a tambourine to Lucy's mouth. Lucy's mum Sam sits close by. Sound equipment is in the foreground.
Working with Lucy Bowen (session musician on The White Noise Factory).

The resulting project is now called The White Noise Factory. Its process is particularly attentive to young people’s inherent musicality, and considers possibilities for collaboration across time and distance, without relying on linguistic communication. The work explores what happens when we privilege sensory meaning-making over intellectual meaning-making.

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.

Watch a short video about The White Noise Factory (currently seeking development support):


Follow Rhiannon Armstrong @armstrongtactic

New international At Home sensory show InSideWays to tour Sweden and the UK

The windows of a dark purple block of flats. All the lights are off - except one. Wiggly, colourful shapes are visible inside, and some are even bursting out of the window. Underneath, pink, slightly wonky, text reads: InSideWays.

A major new international collaboration, InSideWays (InUtsikter in Swedish), is set to land not in theatres, but in the heart of people’s homes.

This first-of-its-kind collaboration between pioneers of Sensory Theatre Oily Cart, Sweden’s trailblazing sensory producers Scen:se and regional theatres Folkteatern Gävleborg and Estrad Norr marks the first time an At Home show has been programmed as part of their main theatre season. Launching in Sweden in Autumn 2025 and touring the UK from January 2026, InSideWays is an exciting milestone, showing how Sensory Theatre continues to grow and reach new audiences around the world.

Imagine a world that is sideways…

A world where you can taste sound and feel colour.
Where straight lines wiggle, and stories don’t stay on the page.
Where creativity flows through the kitchen taps and brushing your teeth is magic… 

The windows of a dark purple block of flats. All the lights are off - except one. Wiggly, colourful shapes are visible inside, and some are even bursting out of the window. Underneath, pink, slightly wonky, text reads: InSideWays.

Created for and with disabled children and young people and their families, InSideWays provokes new ways of playing together, to gently tilt perspectives of our homes, and those nearest and dearest to us. The show will land on each family’s doorstep and, through a series of sensory experiences, will immerse the whole home in sounds, music, smells, light, colour, textures and even taste. Rooms will gradually transform over two weeks, revealing the extraordinary in the everyday. 

Oily Cart created their first At Home show for families during the Covid-19 lockdowns. InSideWays builds on what they learnt: that when the same artistic rigour and resource are invested in shows for people’s homes, world-class theatre becomes accessible to everyone, even if they have barriers to accessing public venues. “Sensory Theatre is for everyone,” says Eva von Hofsten, founder and artistic project director of Scen:se. “and through this collaboration we are gaining towards our ambition to reach everyone.”

“InSideWays has led us all into new creative territory,” says Ellie Griffiths, Artistic Director of Oily Cart. “We’ve spent the last year tasting sound, sensing patterns and creating stories that won’t stay on the page.” The creative process involves artists across the UK and Sweden, including the Bowen Family. Young artist Lucy Bowen is a music maker who explores sound in different ways, combining acoustic sound with physical, tactile touch, and even taste. “We are excited that Lucy will be working with artists from the UK and Sweden to develop this immersive experience,” says Sam Bowen, multi award-winning specialist museum consultant, founder of the SEND in Museums Campaign, and proud mum of Lucy. “As a family who has greatly enjoyed Oily Cart’s theatre, both outside and inside of the home, having this opportunity to directly shape a production is a dream come true for us,”

The show will continue to be developed over the next few months, before premiering in Sweden in October. “This show, more than many, tickles my brain,” says Ellie. “I genuinely feel the possibilities are endless. I don’t know where we will end up, but have a giddy exhilaration that it’s going to be VERY fun when we get there!”

Creative Collaborators: Laura Blake, Annika Bromberg, The Bowen Family, Ellie Griffiths, BK Sannerud, Karl Seldahl, Eva von Hofsten
Creative Researcher: Aaron McPeake
Pedagogues: Andreas Dahl, Linnea Lundberg, Maka Marambio de la Fuente

Oily Cart will share how UK families can express their interest in booking InSideWays later this year. Follow us for updates: in the Oily Cart newsletter, and on Facebook and Instagram (@oilycart). 

My Placement with Oily Cart: A Journey into Sensory Theatre

From left to right: Access and Wellbeing Officer, Maka; Placement Student Billie; and Executive Director, Zoë. They smile widely. They are standing in the rehearsal room at Oily Cart, a white studio space with tall windows, plants and a speckled large blue musical egg prop behind them.
Billie, with Access Officer Maka (left) and Executive Director Zoë (right)

About Me
My name is Billie Antimony, (@billie_antimony) I’m a performance artist, facilitator, producer, and student currently pursuing my BA(Hons) in Theatre and Social Change from Rose Bruford College. My art explores themes of neurodiversity and disability, often with queer identity. I aim to create art that represents minoritised groups and amplifies marginalised voices, with a focus on how these identities can intersect. I’m passionate about making theatre more inclusive and accessible, I believe in the power of performance to ignite social change.

My journey with Sensory Theatre began when I worked with Ella McGran, a previous Oily Cart placement student, on her dissertation project. Through Ella, I was introduced to the transformative world of Sensory Theatre and Oily Cart’s groundbreaking work. This experience sparked my interest in the field and ultimately led me to apply to pursue my final year producing placement with Oily Cart—a dream come true and an incredible opportunity to deepen my understanding of this incredible, unique art form. I also gained a deeper understanding of how Oily Cart prioritises access, develops audiences, and situates themselves as pioneers of the industry. Their innovative approach to Sensory Theatre—creating immersive, multi-sensory experiences for audiences with the most barriers to access—felt like the perfect environment to grow as a producer and artist, and gain invaluable industry experience.

Gaining Industry Experience

Stepping into Oily Cart’s world was like entering a creative playground. From day one, I was completely immersed in the practicalities of running a theatre company that prioritises inclusivity and accessibility. I got to see how a small but mighty team collaborates to bring their visionary ideas to life, and talk with individuals about how their particular role fits into the system. Whether it was observing how they adapted their processes to meet the needs of their audiences, actors, and staff, or learning about the logistics of touring sensory performances, every moment was a lesson in how to make theatre truly accessible.

A Crash Course in Sensory Theatre

Beyond the practical experience in the office and rehearsal room, my placement also gave me a crash course in the theory behind Sensory Theatre, with oodles of resources to read though, videos to watch, and interviews to dissect. I learned about the importance of sensory integration, the role of neurodiversity in audience engagement, and how to design performances that are inclusive from the ground up. Being able to talk with inspiring artists such as Rhiannon Armstrong and Ellie Griffiths was truly an honour, the opportunity to witness their creative process live was an education and a half. These insights have not only deepened my understanding of Sensory Theatre but have also influenced how I approach my own work as an artist.  

Experiencing Sensory Theatre Firsthand

One of the highlights of my placement was experiencing Sensory Theatre in action. Oily Cart’s work is deeply rooted in creating intimate, personalised experiences for their audiences. I had the chance to observe how they use sound, lighting, touch, smell, and movement to engage audiences in ways that traditional theatre often overlooks. It was inspiring to see how much thought and care goes into every detail, from the textures of the props to the pacing of the performance.

Observing Rehearsals for When the World Turns

The When the World Turns white canopy roof. Unseen bowls of illuminated water below have cast circles of dappled, rippling light above. There is a yellow circle in the centre, with a ring of blue circles around the outside.

A particular highlight of my placement was observing rehearsals for Oily Cart’s new tour, When the World Turns. This production is a beautiful exploration of the ecosystem we are all a part of, designed for young audiences with the most barriers to access. Watching the creative team work was like witnessing magic in the making. The way they experimented with sensory elements—like the sound of rain on our paper shelters, or the feeling of a shoe-brush-snake as it wiggles across arms—was both artistic and deeply care-centred. It was fascinating to see how they embodied creativity and playfulness to create an experience that would resonate with their audience.

Having the chance to sit in as an audience member during dress rehearsals was an experience I will never forget, and it has inspired me to pursue creative positions within Sensory Theatre. I was bought into a world where the only thing that mattered was my unapologetic, radical joy in this sensory moment. I was able to stim, tic and verbalise as I needed, something that I am not all that used to. My favourite moment was watching the lights dancing on the top of the tent, as it reflected off the water I was moving with my own hands.

Being a Disabled Artist: Unmasking in a Professional Space

As a disabled artist, I’ve often felt pressure to mask or downplay my disability in professional settings. But at Oily Cart, I felt seen and valued for who I am. The team’s commitment to accessibility and inclusion isn’t just limited to their audiences—it extends to their artists and staff as well. Hearing members of the creative and producing team talk openly about their own access needs was incredibly healing. This environment allowed me to unmask and fully embrace my identity as a disabled creative. It was a powerful reminder that my disability isn’t something to be hidden, but something valued that brings unique perspective that can enrich the creative process. Me and my disability have intrinsic value at Oily Cart. I may have started in November a nervous wreck, but by February I was sitting with my collection of fidgets and headphones typing away without any fear of judgement.

Final Thoughts

My lived experiences, and degree in Theatre and Social Change, have shaped how I view the role of art in society: it is a vital part of telling the story of those who many think have no voice. My time with Oily Cart reinforced the importance of this mission. Seeing how they centre their audiences—most of whom are neurodivergent and / or disabled —in every aspect of their process was incredibly affirming. It reminded me that theatre can be a powerful tool for social change, especially when it prioritises inclusivity and representation.

My time with Oily Cart was more than just a placement—it was a transformative experience. I walked away with a deeper appreciation for the power of Sensory Theatre, a stronger sense of confidence in my identity as a disabled artist, and a wealth of knowledge that I’ll carry with me throughout my career.

If you’re an artist or theatremaker looking to expand your horizons, I can’t recommend Oily Cart enough. Their work is a testament to the fact that theatre can—and should—be for everyone.

Why Support Inclusive Arts?: with Fundraising Assistant, Shania Selvendran

A photograph of Shania, a mixed raced Sri Lankan woman in her early-mid 20's. She has long black hair in a plait along her right shoulder. She is wearing a black headband, a strip pink-white long sleeve top, black dungarees and a small green bag with the strap across the left shoulder. In the photo, she is smiling and happy, looking as though she is having an engaging conversation with another fellow peer. The image was taken at a networking event run by peer-led group, Young Arts Fundraisers. 

We sat down for a chat with Fundraising Assistant, Shania Selvendran, to talk about her time with the company this year. In this blog, Shania lifts the lid on why supporting inclusive arts is vital now more than ever, paving the way for a thriving creative sector where everyone holds the power to make change.

A photograph of Shania, a mixed raced Sri Lankan woman in her early-mid 20's. She has long black hair in a plait along her right shoulder. She is wearing a black headband, a strip pink-white long sleeve top, black dungarees and a small green bag with the strap across the left shoulder. In the photo, she is smiling and happy, looking as though she is having an engaging conversation with another fellow peer. The image was taken at a networking event run by peer-led group, Young Arts Fundraisers. 
Shania Selvendran

Let’s get straight into it! Why do you think supporting inclusive arts matters?

Creativity is a human right. The act of supporting inclusive arts in today’s world matters more than ever: to reclaim spaces; to disrupt assumptions placed on marginalised communities; to better address the inequalities echoed in society from a radical new perspective.

One of the major obstacles is the huge gaps in public funding. The pandemic and cost-of-living crisis brought to the fore the lack of high-quality accessible arts experiences available in the UK. While the new government sets out its plans to unlock Britain’s £126 billion creative industries, there is still much more progress that needs to be made in the sector to celebrate disabled voices at the front and centre of the world stage.

By supporting inclusive arts, we can together build the infrastructure that supports a pipeline of extraordinary work that will challenge the world. Experiences that are bold, ever-growing, ever-innovative. Experiences that open up fairer, and equalising, spaces for all.

There is much untapped potential in the private sector too. Individual supporters can play a critical role to invest in the high value growth and sustainability of inclusive arts, now and forever.

What has been your journey into fundraising?

It all started when I hosted my own art fair at the age of 12 to raise money for a local cause… 12 years on, I’ve been bridging a career between the UK arts and charity sector, using fundraising as a catalyst to challenge attitudes, develop inclusion and ignite shared activism. I’ve not looked back since!

I’m also a Board Member with Young Arts Fundraisers – a peer-led professional network led by volunteers with a mission to champion the next generation of early-career fundraisers in the arts, cultural and heritage sectors.

A photo from the rehearsal and development of Joyride. An adult and young person are seated next to each other in a specially-created vehicle. They are outside in a school playground. The vehicle has a yellow bar across the front, and a folded-down red canvas roof and big wheels at the back. On the right, the vehicle is attached to a bicycle being ridden by a man in a white shirt and sunglasses. Two women stand on each side of the vehicle as it passes. Their arms are raised jubilantly as they release colourful balls into the air.
A panel of 3 photos of families experiencing A World Beneath Us. Photo 1 is a girl shining a torch on the mycelium mat. Photo 2 is a girl reaching into a bowl of water which is illuminated by a torch underneath. Photo 3 shows the a young person in a darkened room, looking at a coloured shadow of leaves projected on a sheet.
A baby sits in their mothers lap. They are looking up with a slight smile on their face at firefly lights held above their head.

Current projects during Shania’s time with Oily Cart. 1. Our co-production with Ockham’s Razor, JOYRIDE (working title). 2. At Home show, A World Beneath Us 3. Baby show Great Big Tiny World

What does supporting inclusive theatre look like?

Every piece of inclusive theatre has a tiny thread of rebellion in it that binds all of us. Throughout the history of disability rights, leading activists used performances as a form of live protest, to communicate campaigns around identity, visibility, unity, connection and justice. Breaking barriers, their movement (alongside allies and clear public support) changed the law and made extraordinary artworks born out of collective action, igniting a new wave of pioneers within a forward-thinking disability culture.

From my viewpoint (and that of many peers), how companies raise money should always come back to collective action.

What are 3 best practices to think about?

  • Through co-production with disabled people, the communities’ voice, influence and power should be at the heart of fundraising efforts – what they want to see happen, how a campaign is run, and how their story is told. This is what I’m calling ‘expanded listening’, where strategic business development is really led by lived experiences, and to see this ripple out towards change.
  • We are all a philanthropist*: It is important to note that the idea of being a ‘Supporter’ is not only exclusive to high-net individuals, and becomes part of a bigger strategy. A cake sale, nature trail or even a sponsored run, theatre is better when we are all in this together.
  • The true spirit of giving is one where everyone holds the power to change: from one-time donations to major, multi-year gifts, you, I and the rest of society can ignite a big movement that advocates with and alongside inclusive theatre for years to come. An approach whereby every person can contribute to a democratic giving ecology is one that we should fully back.

Is there anything you’ve learnt over the past year that you’d like to share?

The art of being a fundraiser is to always really interrogate, deeply reflect and question what we do and how we do it. A key aspect is how we communicate about lived experiences that might not be our own across all our fundraising efforts.

Everything we do at Oily Cart is guided by the social model of disability. From funding proposals through to grassroots campaigns, the language we use should always come from a place of ownership led by disabled people.

I think, as charity sector professionals, we can all do better through active learning, active training and active responsibility. To review best practices and share failures. To be more responsive to where we can improve, and the decisions we make, today and into the future.

A young woman with short brown hair sitting in her wheelchair. A middle aged woman with short grey hair and glasses sits next to her. They are inside the When the World Turns performance space, with a billowing tent overhead and surrounded with wooden crates and plants all around. There is atmospheric low lighting, illuminating their faces with a golden glow and casting shadows of the plant leaves. Hanging just above them is a metal bin lid.
Performance tent cast in deep blue light. The textured, billowing tent roof, large central plants and audience are dimly visible. The performers wave small lights through the air. The longer exposure of the camera means these fireflies leave a light trail that captures their flight through the air.

Current projects during Shania’s time with Oily Cart. 1. Our Associate Artist (2023-25), Greta Chambers-McMillan. 2. Sound Symphony: Sensory Film 3. When the World Turns

What would you like to see happen in the future of arts fundraising?

In the future, I would like to see more organisations look to perhaps reimagine the role of being a ‘Supporter’ as being an ‘Activist’, to offer a more ethical, powerful approach to fundraising, i.e. Ambassador led patron and membership schemes or setting up a community-led fundraising board in every organisation to support with all funding streams.

Growing up as an unpaid carer for my brother, shared activism is really important in everything I do. Activism is a form of collective action, and I believe that this is the key to the future of fundraising where equality is infinite – in the arts, cultural, and heritage sector and beyond.

Let’s Donate Together; Be Together
Oily Cart, alongside a growing community of disabled young people, families, artists and allies, are a force to be reckoned with. To join us in our mission to fight for inclusive and equal access to theatre, please support us and become part of a loyal network of supporters.

*Key terms:

Philanthropy: the giving away of money, especially in large amounts, to organisations that help people (Cambridge dictionary). Greek playwright Aeschylus coined the term philanthropy in the 5th Century BCE, ‘philan’ means “the love of humanity”.

Connect with Shania on LinkedIn.
Check out the Young Arts Fundraisers website to see the latest events, and opportunities to get practical tips on all things fundraising. You can follow them on LinkedIn or Instagram.

Inclusion in Theatre: Insights from an Access and Wellbeing Officer

Behind the scenes of filming for A World Beneath Us. Six people, including Maka, surround a white table in a field. They are all feeling the pile of soil on the table. A boom mic is suspended overhead.
Listen to the audio recording of this blog
Maka is a Latinx in their 30s, with a short brown hair, and wearing a grey hoodie and jeans. Maka looks over their shoulder at the camera smiling. They are on a path in a greenhouse during filming for A World Beneath Us. Trees and plants surround them and condensation-covered windows are in the background.

Hi, my name is Maka Marambio de la Fuente, a neurodivergent queer Latinx. I’ve spent the last year working as the Access and Wellbeing Officer at Oily Cart, a theatre company that creates Sensory Theatre for young audiences. My work is all about making sure that everyone feels welcome and included in theatre, no matter their background or needs.

In this blog, I’ll talk about why inclusion, access, and wellbeing are so important, share what I’ve learned so far, and explore what I’d love to try next. I’ll also offer some thoughts for other organisations looking to make their work more accessible and inclusive.

What does an Access and Wellbeing Officer do?

At end of the day, I want people to be in the best environment possible for them, to have the best possible experience, whether that’s as an audience member, freelancer, core staff team or trustee. Consistently considering access and wellbeing, and embedding inclusive practices into everything we do, is how we make that happen with and for everyone in our community. That looks like lots of different things day-to-day: from creating preparation resources to being an in-person access support at rehearsals or events.

Access and wellbeing has a big scope and many dimensions; when we have a person in a role like mine that is dedicated to it, general oversight, close connections and creative growth is possible. It’s a role that challenges my empathy, creativity and knowledge, to present every person we interact with the best strategies and support for their personal and communal wellbeing, and access to spaces and information.

What have you learnt in the past year?

NOBODY EXPECTS PERFECTION EVER.

Particularly in times of inflation, austerity and crisis, it’s so hard to not be overly critical with oneself. The funding landscape is increasingly competitive, for instance, which can add a huge pressure to present perfectly polished creative ideas. Joining the Oily Cart team, I’ve learnt that just as I don’t expect perfection from others, no one expects 1000/10 or even 10/10 ALL the time from me. It’s okay to send a draft; you can always ask for help.

Around that, I’ve learnt the massive value of reassurance. As a sector, we are doing unique, difficult work; as an individual, I’m a migrant that has changed my environment, moved hemispheres, and is doing this very nuanced work in a language that is not my own (but I’m making it my own). That’s huge! It’s important we stop and recognise those achievements, personally and collectively.

What do you want to try in the future?

I would love to explore Sensory Theatre that is connected to migrant communities, because our shared sensory memory is different.

I pass a tyre shop on my walk to the Oily Cart office, the sounds and smells really make me feel at home. I realise it’s because my grandparent’s house in Chile was near a neighbourhood with lots of car workshops, and my grandad had a workshop in his house too. It’s a sensory memory that’s specific to me, but I think it has wider cultural resonance: it taps into a working-class, Latin American sensory memory. Whenever I walk past, I take a deep breath.

These small sensory moments are also familiar, culturally-connected experiences. That’s so important to a family who are far away from their home. I think sensory, non-verbal experiences created with and for migrant communities, that tap into their individual and shared sensory landscapes, could create a really important, beautiful experience of sensory belonging.

What are your key insights to share with other organisations?

Nothing About Us Without Us: It’s essential when thinking not only about access and wellbeing, but across all our work, We need to constantly push to connect with the disabled community and work with disabled people  It’s essential when thinking not only about access and wellbeing, but across all our work,

Challenge yourself: I regularly say to myself, “We are ok, how can we be better?” This leads me to constantly be mindful of processing times and rest, both for the people we’re working with but also myself, which is important as it’s common in this industry to burn out

More time: I am a fan of allocating buffer time for rest, for travelling time, having longer breaks, giving processing time after certain sessions and so forth.

Interview with Flossie Waite, Communications and Advocacy Officer at Oily Cart. Flossie is a disabled person with experience in journalism, including founding the UK’s first website dedicated to covering theatre for young audiences, Children’s Theatre Reviews, and editing Arts Council England’s Voice Magazine, a magazine created by and for young people. They have recently been accepted to the PYA England Steering Group.

For more on how we create and share our shows, and our research and resources, visit Resources for Artists.

When the World Turns: Manifesto of Care

The front cover of the manifesto. There is a photo of a child sat on a floor surrounded by plants. They are hugging a stone-coloured globe-shape. At the top of the image is the Oily Cart and Polyglot logos. Text towards the bottom reads: When the World Turns Manifesto of Care. How to make sure all living beings in our show are cared for. Created with Dr Tanja Beer.

When the World Turns is a collaboration across time and space with Polyglot Theatre (Australia). Together, we headed into, as co-director Sue Giles called it, ‘gloriously unknown territory.’ Just a few of the juicy questions we tried to answer together were: How do you collaborate internationally in a sustainable way? How can biophilia – humans’ innate love for, and need to connect with, living beings – inform the design? And how do you create and tour a show that includes hundreds of plants? Collaborating with leading eco-scenographer Dr Tanja Beer pushed our practice forward, for this show and all our future work.

We used what we discovered during our four-year collaboration to create this Manifesto of Care. It’s a guide, and commitment, to caring for all the living beings who were part of the first UK tour of specialist schools, and will help us navigate the future tour of public venues.

When the World Turns Manifesto of CareDownload

Easy Read: When the World Turns Manifesto of CareDownload

Interview with Mark: Associate Director of The Lost Feather

A photo of Mark and Stella in their red, blue and gold striped costumes from The Lost Feather. On the left is a Black man with a shaved head, with his right hand in the air waving. On the right is a white woman with short dark brown hair with her left hand in the air waving. Both are smiling. They are standing in front of a brick wall.
Audio reading of this blog
A photo of two people in red, blue and gold striped tops, blue trousers and gold shows. On the left is a Black man with a shaved head, with his right hand in the air waving. On the right is a white woman with short dark brown hair with her left hand in the air waving. Both are smiling. They are standing in front of a brick wall.
Photo of Mark and Stella Farina from The Lost Feather.

Mark is the longest-serving creative with Oily Cart. He is a learning disabled artist and performer who has worked with us for 25 years, performing in 14 shows so far. In 2022 Mark took on the new role of Associate Director, for our specialist school show The Cart. As part of this, he co-created the story of The Lost Feather, the sensory story which came out of The Cart. He also created the images that were the basis of the show’s design. The story was shared with more than 2,750 disabled and neurodivergent young people across the UK.

This year, we adapted The Cart into a sensory storytelling adventure called The Lost Feather. Mark’s story will be shared with even more children and families as it tours libraries, festivals and hospitals this summer. You might even see Mark pop up as a performer from time to time during the tour…

We spoke to Mark to find out more about his creative process.

Interview with Mark

What is your role for The Lost Feather?

I invented the story, and the puppet, always drawing. Like Fred the nightingale, fly to paradise.

How did you come up with the pictures and the story?

The idea was I saw a parrot on a Tv advert for Cadbury’s. And I got the picture and I started designing it. I brought it to Oily Cart on paper.

This is what I drew to go inside the story. That is Fred the nightingale, that’s what I drew. It’s like a puppet, all different colours, with a tail and wings where it flies and it’s got eyes, its own feet and a big feather tail. Next to it is another picture of Fred the nightingale. He’s got big wings and a rainbow-coloured tail. It’s got rainbow colours, blue wings, coloured head and a beak and wings and when it flies on a string. This is what I created – another parrot – a long time ago.

Drawing of Fred the nightingale parrot by Mark. A pen drawing of a parrot with a big head plume, one win larger than the other, and a large tail feather.
Drawing of Fred the nightingale parrot by Mark
Photo of Fred the Nightingale Parrot puppet. Fred's body is purple, with a crest of purple feathers on his head decorated with circular mirrors. The underside of his wings is yellow with red trim. He has yellow circles with red detailing around his eyes and a red beak. He has a big tail of multi-coloured feathers.
Fred the nightingale parrot puppet

The designer Amanda Mascarenhas used Mark’s picture to design the puppet – you can see, for instance, that one of the wings is bigger than the other in both the original drawing and the final puppet. The collaborative team enjoyed this rejection of symmetry and sameness. The final puppet was made by Alison Alexander.

How did you develop these ideas in rehearsals?

Me and Amani (Amani Naphtali, Collaborating Artist / Writer of The Cart) did a poetry story to do this show. I called myself a sensory name. I called myself “Captain Sensory” and come up with a story with nice and sensory stuff.  Super sensory superpower is vibration box. I was doing movement, rhythm, the beat of the story and sound, the beat and it keeps going. We were doing the movement with the sensory stuff with Stella (Stella Farina, Creative Enabler on The Cart and The Lost Feather) and Amani and it worked. Amani and me and Stella, we did our voices like making sounds and it did work.

Can you tell us about some more of your drawings and how they connect with the show?

Drawing in black, red and yellow pen by Mark. In the middle is a Cart with the words "oily cart jamboree" and "04" in the centre. There are two cart wheels. At the top are drawings of people dancing. There are other abstract and sensory images around the page that give a feeling of movement.
Drawing of The Cart by Mark

I designed the Oily Cart Cart. That is the Oily Cart instrument. That’s like a magical wizard that gives all the magic. And there’s music and the magical stuff coming out of the cart. Teachers were dancing to the music of the cart. The music of the wheel is a triangle when it goes around.

Colourful drawing of the Finale by Mark. In the centre is the cart, with people dancing around it. There are balloons, streamers and big red feathers surrounding it, and a rainbow sparkling waterfall coming from it. At the bottom is a boy smiling, enjoying the finale. To it's right, Mark has signed 'by Mark' in yellow pen.
Drawing of the finale of The Cart by Mark

That’s the finale of the Cart. That’s a finale of rainbow colours and everyone can dance. I wanted a rainbow sparkling waterfall. That’s a boy enjoying the finale – he’s got a good smile. Finale rhythm – come together, where they can dance and do movement. When we take it out to festivals, everyone can do the finale! This is a festival finale – you see it and it’s good.

What would you like to say to audiences coming to The Lost Feather?

Children, find this feather. If you find it, you’ll be sparkling special. You can dance with this feather and make the Fred nightingale smile. If you find it, you can dance with this parrot as your friend.

The Lost Feather is on tour until August 2023. You can hear Mark talk about one of his favourite Oily Cart shows from the past 25 years in our timeline.

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.

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.

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:

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.