Resource Category: Families

Resources that families can enjoy at home

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.

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). 

The Importance of Research in Sensory Theatre: Celebrating Alison Mahoney’s Contributions

Alison Mahoney (she/they) has blond cropped hair, wire glasses and a green blazer. They smile at the camera. Behind them a brown building with clapperboard details is visible.

Sensory Theatre is a bold and boundary-pushing form of performance, creating new ways to engage audiences, particularly disabled audiences who have historically been marginalised. Despite its significance, academic research in this area has been limited, leaving a gap in understanding and recognition of this unique art form.

Alison Mahoney

That’s why Alison Mahoney’s work is so vital. By focusing on this pioneering practice, Mahoney highlights how Sensory Theatre challenges conventional ideas of performance while unlocking new possibilities for creativity, inclusion, and accessibility. Their research not only fills the critical gap but underscores that Sensory Theatre—and its audiences—deserve greater attention and recognition.

With its ability to offer diverse ways to experience and interact with performances, Sensory Theatre has the potential to make the arts more open and accessible to a wider range of people. Mahoney’s work demonstrates how this innovative approach can shape the future of theatre, ensuring it becomes more inclusive and welcoming for everyone.

Below, we highlight two key pieces of Mahoney’s research, illustrating how their work is helping to broaden understanding and elevate the reach of this forward-thinking form of theatre.

Oily Cart’s Space to Be: Exploring the Carer’s Role in Sensory Theatre for Neurodiverse Audiences during COVID-19

Oily Cart, a pioneering London-based Sensory Theatre company, responded to COVID-19 restrictions with a season of work presented in various formats in audiences’ homes, and their production Space to Be marked a shift in the company’s engagement to include an emphasis on the carer’s experience.

Using this production as a case study, Alison argues that the pivotal role adopted by carers during the pandemic has the potential to shape future in-person productions, moving practitioners toward a more holistic, neurodiverse audience experience that challenges a disabled–nondisabled binary by embracing carers’ experiences alongside those of neurodivergent audience members.

[Link to journal article: Oily Cart’s Space to Be: Exploring the Carer’s Role in Sensory Theatre for Neurodiverse Audiences during COVID-19]

‘Severe’ Sensory Theatre: Building Relational Disability Politics during UK COVID Lockdowns

This article examines the COVID-era shift in the disability politics of Sensory Theatre artists in the United Kingdom who create work for neurodiverse young audiences, arguing that the pandemic pushed them toward a more expansive and overtly political understanding of disability.

Alison examines the work of three companies – Oily Cart (London), Frozen Light (Norwich) and Spectra (Birmingham) – who adjusted their practices to embrace their audiences’ shifting access needs, including those in caregiving roles.

These changes move Sensory Theatre into a more politicized realm, echoing calls from crip studies scholars and disability justice activists to reimagine disability as a relational category from which solidarity can arise that does not hinge entirely on medical diagnosis. These artists’ renewed commitments to relational access provide lessons for performing artists and audiences navigating how to care for one another through the massive death and disablement of the ongoing pandemic.

[Link to journal article: ‘Severe’ Sensory Theatre: Building Relational Disability Politics during UK COVID Lockdowns]

About Alison Mahoney

Alison Mahoney is a PhD candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, where their research and theatre practice centre disability and neurodiversity in performance. Alison was the founding artistic director of Bluelaces Theater Company (New York), which produces Sensory Theatre for neurodiverse audiences; with Bluelaces, they directed the devising process for Out There! and SUDS.

They also directed the regional premiere of Will Arbery’s Corsicana at PittStages and have worked as a director, creative access consultant, and teaching artist with several organizations and productions, including for Paola Prestini’s new opera Sensorium Ex (Omaha), Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (New York), CO/LAB Theater Group (New York), and Stage Beyond (Derry). Their scholarship has been published in Theatre Survey and Theatre Research International. MA Contemporary Performance Practice, Ulster University; BS Theatre & Gender Studies, Northwestern University. 

Take a look at Oily Cart’s research, including ‘Being With’ in Sensory Theatre Report and The Uncancellable Programme Report.

What Families Thought About A World Beneath Us: An At Home Sensory Show

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.

About A World Beneath Us

In Summer 2024, we sent our At Home show, A World Beneath Us, to 50 families across the UK. Inspired by our collaboration with Polyglot Theatre (AUS) on When the World Turns, this interactive show created an immersive world right in each family’s living room.

Credit: Supplied by family / Suzi Corker

What families thought

How does it feel receiving theatre through the post? What’s it like when sensory experiences transform such familiar surroundings? We’re excited to share what families had to say about this At Home show:

“A World Beneath Us was amazing… My daughter was so happy and proud and excited for me to share her experience. It was wonderful and very very special.”

“It was wonderful to have something that was so engaging not only for her but also for the rest of the family and lovely to be able to enjoy it together.”

“It was like Christmas receiving your box of wonderful goodies – and a gift that will keep on giving.”

“Honestly one of the best experiences”

“Wow, how amazing and well thought out. Thank you to all involved for giving us this opportunity to explore the theatre in a sensory way and a relaxed environment, was fantastic and well received by my daughter”

“I’m just stunned at how amazing the whole show is, very well presented and I can see how much thought has gone into making the show as accessible to all as is possible, I’m very grateful to all”

“It’s a lovely resource to keep and return to taking on a different experience each time.”

“Was great to have the box over the holidays to use and experience. We enjoyed the whole experience from lifting out all objects from the box to seeing the finished product.”

Credit: Supplied by family / Suzi Corker

[My child] was at times mesmerized by it and other times shrieking away with joy. It was great that she got to enjoy it together with her sister too.

“This was a really fun and exciting experience for us.”

“absolutely magical”

“the care and details that have gone into it are amazing”

“It has opened up a world to explore both inside and outside when we are able to access it. The forest is an incredible place and we can now appreciate it on a different level.”

“Another calming experience as though we were transported into another world”

“the quality of the components and the thought that went into creating are just amazing”

“excellent, well thought out and put together experience which my son enjoyed.”

A big thank you to all the families for their feedback. You can also find out what families have said about Oily Cart and our other shows.

The Importance of At Home Shows: Making Theatre Accessible for Everyone

Lucy is a white girl with purple glasses and brown hair tied back. She is holding up a bespoke nightlight to cast shadows on the blue gauzy tent material overhead. This is part of At Home show, Space to Be.

Sam Bowen is an SEND in Museums Consultant, founder of SEND in Museums, award-winning inclusion campaigner and mum to Lucy. Her family have experienced all of Oily Cart’s At Home shows.

The Covid-19 legacy

As a shielding family with a disabled child at home in lockdown, it was extremely isolating for all of us. We missed the cultural experiences we had before, like going to Sensory Theatre.

Unable to make the in-person shows we had always enjoyed attending, Oily Cart began experimenting with new formats that would bring sensory theatre to audiences in a safe way.

One of these formats was At Home shows. These send the magic of theatre through the post, directly to each family. Together, the family unwrap a series of sensory packages that gradually build a narrative, at a time and in a space that works best for them.

We were lucky to be one of the families sent Space to Be. This was the first At Home theatre experience by the team at Oily Cart, and I can honestly say it was a profoundly moving experience. 

Sam with her partner and daughter Lucy. It's a selfie, with their heads close together looking into the camera. Lucy has a sensory blanket from At Home show Space to Be wrapped around her shoulders.
Lucy and her family during the Space to Be experience

Our Journey with At Home experiences

Each Space to Be box had different activities in. The first was just for me as the carer parent. In 13 years, no one had ever acknowledged my emotional needs in the way this box did. I put on the eye mask, held the tactile sculpture and listened to an audio track that spoke to me directly and brought me to tears. Here I was seen, valued and even thanked for the role I have been playing that’s so hidden from society, but that Oily Cart knew was pivotal to my family.

We unpacked a new box each day and enjoyed them as a family. One had a self-build sensory space which made a dark den. We all lay in it together, my husband and I with our daughter between us. Instantly calmer, nurtured in a safe space together. Our daughter played the Lyra musical instrument whilst we listened to the audio track on the Bluetooth speaker that was in the box. 

At one point the non-word voice of a disabled child spoke out and our daughter responded, vocalising back. I thought I’d dreamt it: what had just happened in this magical ‘tent’ hadn’t happened ever before. What had the child on the speaker said that my daughter had understood and responded to? That I couldn’t understand but she did made it all the more powerful and empowering for us.

We bought our own sensory tent after this with lights and a Bluetooth speaker and regularly now use it as a family to chill out. We were so moved by the Space to Be experience.

Lucy is a white girl with purple glasses and brown hair tied back. She is holding up a bespoke nightlight to cast shadows on the blue gauzy tent material overhead. This is part of At Home show, Space to Be.
Lucy inside the Space to Be tent

Why At Home shows are essential

Through Space to Be, Oily Cart learnt that At Home experiences are often the most accessible, or even the only, way that some families can experience Sensory Theatre, even once lockdowns ended. So few opportunities for families like ours are available outside the home and that’s a desperate shame.

There can be so many barriers to attending live theatre, from lack of transport or physical access, to unpredictable medical and care needs which make booking and turning up to a show stressful or impossible. Families who experienced Space to Be shared that it was ‘nice to do something as a family where there were no barriers to everyone being included in the experience’, that being in a private, familiar setting meant young people could ‘relax and fully be themselves’, and that it gave them the space and opportunity to ‘just be together’.

The future of accessible theatre

So, Oily Cart have committed to making At Home shows part of their main programme, putting the same level of resource, craft, creativity, and rigour into these formats as the live touring show. 

Lucy experiencing A World Beneath Us

This summer, families across the country, including ours, received A World Beneath Us, a sensory show about the invisible world beneath our feet: mycelium. Through a sensory film and accompanying sensory experiences, the show unearthed these magical, natural networks to explore the hidden world in the heart of each home, reflecting and celebrating each family as its own ecosystem. Again, it gave us new ideas. The shadow play with the shadow boxes and canvas screen was really effective. Such a simple idea but one I hadn’t thought of before! Another moment involves water being lit from beneath; seeing the movement this made on the ceiling was mesmerising.

As a family, A World Beneath Us reminded us why we love getting the chance to play with Oily Cart. At Home activities are not only more accessible, they can be revisited time and again and then adapted or added to with other items at home. A different At Home experience we enjoyed, Sound Symphony, has completely transformed bathtime every night in our house. One activity box has literally had a life-changing impact on all of us. You can’t really put a value on that.

Oily Cart are bravely stepping outside the box by delivering magical shows full of meaningful moments of wonder right into the homes of those who need and deserve them. At Home shows are important because they see, value and celebrate children like mine, and families like ours.

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.

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 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.

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

Space to Be: What families thought

A parent and child lie holding hands on a soft white rug in a tent with shimmery blue and green gauze walls

Space to Be was Oily Cart’s first show created to be sent to audience’s homes and experienced remotely. From March – August 2021, it toured for 20 weeks and to 70 families across every region across the UK, from the Scottish Highlands to Cornwall.

Panel of three family photos. The first is a parent and child lie holding hands on a soft white rug in a tent with shimmery blue and green gauze walls. In the second A child lies on a purple carpet looking at light reflecting off colourful mirrored sheets. A kalimba is on the floor nearby. The third is a child lying on blue bed covers with white fish looks up at the colourful light patterns being created by a hand on the left of the image holding up a shiny mirrored sheet.
Families’ photos of Space to Be

Here’s some of the families’ feedback:

“Deep, meaningful, powerful and profound experiences which were new to us as a family and were very special.”

“it was amazing! And it was lovely to see all of the family be able to access and enjoy the same activity!”

“It was incredible and awesome- so well thought out and the attention to detail was amazing.You are futures ahead of what theatre can do. We were very lucky to have experienced this”

“Was nice to do something as a family where there were no barriers to everyone being included in the experience”

“This has been one of the most wonderful experiences that has helped bring us together as new stars.”

“It has been wonderful taking time out of our busy lives to ‘just be’.”

“Each day we were so excited to open a new box and discover another lovely experience (…) Many thanks again for a wonderful and magical week!”

“This was amazing to be able to have this experience at home to feel safe, we shielded for such a long time”

“I was very moved by how well thought out the activities were to engage children with complex additional needs – we felt included. It also gave us something to look forward to each day and after each experience we felt very positive; I felt calm, my sons felt happy and relaxed. It was lovely to share together.”

“Thank you so much for an absolutely fantastic week spending time together as a family enjoying “Space to Be” sensory boxes. Each and every day we were filled with excitement and anticipation to open the next box. You have filled us with inspiration and ideas of more ways to create lovely sensory experiences”

“Thank you for ensuring our family carved out ‘space to be’ together this week. An amazing sensory experience for us all that was out of this world! A high quality experience that will be a positive memory for us all.”

Panel of four family photos. First photo: Young blond child sat on an orange cushion underneath a tent with blue-green gauze fabric. They are looking up at star projections which are reflected on their face. Second photo: Young person holding a wrist torch towards a shiny mirrored sheet in their lap. Third photo: Young person sitting on a green carpet playing the kalimba. Fourth photo: Young person lying underneath a blue velvet blanket with embroidered patterns on it, with their head resting on a blue velvet double-length pillow.
Families’ photos of Space to Be

“The whole experience was amazing and was something we could all enjoy equally as a family.”

“it felt so special to have a beautiful experience that connected us all.”

“I asked our younger son what he wanted to say about Space to Be and he gave a thumbs up. I asked what he liked about it and he said ‘everything'”

“a memorable, quality experience.”

“It gave us something to look forward to each day and after each experience we felt very positive.”

“Thank you so much for this lovely week of togetherness, it was perfect.”

“We enjoyed the whole experience so much!”

“this was really special to do during half term and will stick with us for a very long time.”

“thinking about us as parents and carers who need time to relax and just be was very special and an important.”

‘It was lovely to do something at home but all together.”

“Couldn’t praise the whole experience highly enough. Absolutely brilliant.”

“It was a magical and powerful experience which has lived with us and opened our eyes to the power of a sensory space at home.”

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:

Doorstep Jamboree

Panel of three photos, separated by orange bars. The photos show three musicians, each in colourful costumes, performing during Doorstep Jamboree.

The restrictions of the pandemic mean we have had to dig deep and get creative to continue performing for the young people and families we make work for and with, many of whom are shielding. In Autumn 2020, we toured a re-imagined version of our show Jamboree. The band popped up on doorsteps, in playgrounds, and through Zoom screens across London. Watch the video to find out how it went …