Camden People's Theatre launches a new festival this summer, celebrating disabled and d/Deaf-led performance, creativity and community.
Running from Sunday 29 June-Sunday 13 July, Every Body Festival is a series of live theatre, digital premieres, cabaret, workshops and panel events, all led by disabled and d/Deaf artists, and billed as "what the future of theatre can and should look like."
Among highlights on the two-week bill are The Only Brown Deaf Man in England, tracking a Deaf Bengali man's journey through racism, rebellion and resilience from 1970s Brick Lane to post-9/11 Britain; Balancing the Books, a timely panel discussion on Personal Independence Payments (PIP), Access to Work and disability rights; Lighting The Fuse, a one-off showcase of BSL-led theatre created in just five days; and live music cabaret These Wheels Are Made for Walking, set in a not-so-distant future, in which disabled people, left to fend for themselves, set out on a quest.
Says Rio Matchett, Camden People's Theatre's Artistic Director, "Camden People’s Theatre strives to model the future we want to be part of — where there is equal, intersectional access to the arts for both creatives and audiences... Alongside platforming voices and stories that continue to be marginalised — or fetishised — by the theatre industry, every event in the festival includes some form of integrated access: from creative captioning and multilingual BSL/English performance to work curated specifically for neurodivergent audiences and artists."
Camden People's Theatre — a champion of bold, inventive theatre that embraces the world's complexities — is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
Every Body Festival, Camden People's Theatre, Sunday 29 June-Sunday 13 July
