If you make your way down the labyrinthine (yet accessible) corridors of The Traverse, you arrive in, what seems like, the bowels of the earth. It is down here that Birds Of Paradise are cooking up their latest offering. A darkly comic thriller set in the near future, which takes on the dehumanising disability benefits assessment process. Written by Rob Drummond (Bulletcatch, The Majority) and directed by Robert Softely Gale (Purposeless Movements, My LeftRight Foot – The Musical) the show boasts fully integrated BSL, AD, and captioning – all built into the narrative. Sitting in a rehearsal, I saw firsthand the impressive set and attention to detail. BOP understands that accessibility can be an innovator in theatrical expression rather than just ‘tacked on’ as an afterthought.
I sat down with some of the performers and asked about their experiences of the benefits system and how it’s informed their approach to the play.
Neil John Gibson, who plays Able, told me of attending his own father’s PIP assessment, and that if he hadn’t been in the room to tell the assessor ‘no he doesn’t have to answer that question’, his father may have been denied his benefit. It is an all too common example of the benefits system’s court-room style, as if you are in the dock, being interrogated by the prosecution. I asked if this is reflected in the play. ‘Definitely, there are a lot of parallels’.
Nicola Chegwin who plays Jude, was a little cagey, explaining that if she told us too much about her role it may spoil the drama. This is because Nicola plays the dreaded PIP assessor, who Nicola describes as ‘far from me as it’s possible to get; right-wing, full of internalised ableism’. Despite her own experience as a disabled actor, who had to attend 4 DWP tribunals to get their benefit, she still found a way to empathise with her character, no mean feat in the face of it. It struck me that the actors prided themselves in bringing this lived experience to the play’s development.
Gillian Dean who plays the lead Chris, told me of her own issues claiming PIP, as a sight impaired actor, the very forms she was given were completely inaccessible. It was the RNIB who helped her in the end. She explained how as an actor, she relies on ‘Access Riders’, a preemptive document sent to theatre companies, to make sure her accessibility needs are met. ‘I hope you’ve told the rest of the cast to get those done?’ I asked half-jokingly. Although from the laughter of recognition, I think Gillian has spread the word to great effect.
Both Nicola and Gillian told me about how well Birds of Paradise understand the adaptations that are needed, and how as disabled actors they are learning to understand each other’s needs too. It may be that BOP are the only company to deliver full disability training to all cast, crew and venue before the start of rehearsals.
There was a lot of love in the room for this project. A subject as deathly and hard as the benefits system could feel dry and uninviting, but Birds of Paradise are the right company to tell this story, and they have assembled a team that will do it justice. It is heartening to see our communities reshape the conversation around an aspect of our lives that affects us greatly, yet are never usually asked about.
Simon Jay was talking to the cast of Don’t. Make. Tea.
Don’t. Make. Tea. Opens at The Traverse Wednesday 5th October 7.30pm and runs till Saturday. Tickets available here
