A consortium that promotes inclusivity for disabled and deaf people in theatre were honoured at a celebration of musical theatre this week as a ‘thank you' to National Lottery players who have helped support the industry during the last 20 months.
Led by New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich, Ramps on the Moon saw their work represented and were able to amplify their message of normalising the presence of deaf and disabled people both on and off stage.
The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals, which was hosted by Jason Manford on January 24, saw performances from best-selling West End musicals and touring shows such as FROZEN The Musical, Dear Evan Hansen and Back to the Future at the AO Arena in Manchester to celebrate the £228 million received from The National Lottery to fund arts in the UK. The show aired on BBC One on Saturday 29 th January at 7pm and is available for 30 days afterwards on BBC iPlayer.
The collaborative network of six National Portfolio Organisation theatres - Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Nottingham Playhouse, Leeds Playhouse, Sheffield Theatres, and strategic partner Graeae Theatre – is brought together by Ramps on the Moon, with each theatre staging their own production that is directly part of the group’s main programme.
The event in Manchester captured the magic of theatre, shining a light on the difference it makes in communities and to individuals, while also showcasing incredible musicals from across the UK – and Ramps on the Moon were thrilled to have been a part of it.
Ramps on the Moon’s Director for Change, Michèle Taylor, who has worked in promoting inclusivity in the theatre industry for over 30 years, said: “We went to the Arts Council England and The National Lottery because we saw their work as being absolutely aligned with our own.
“They have been making really significant and important noises about supporting and increasing diversity of the industry, while we were implementing a strategic initiative that had a real possibility to change how theatre is made, change what theatre organisations look like, change what audiences expect and change the status of disabled and deaf people within mainstream theatre.
“Without the funding, none of it could have happened – it's enabled our partners to make the shows and implement initiatives across their organisations that mean disabled and deaf artists are being developed. It's allowed us to do absolutely everything!”
Ramps on the Moon was inspired to keep putting on a host of theatre productions across England after its first show of The Threepenny Opera was a rousing success in 2015 – and as a result, put in an application for National Lottery funding through Arts Council England, and successfully received £2.3million that same year.
Since then, Ramps on the Moon have put on The Who’s Tommy – which won the 2017 UK Theatre Award’s Best Touring Production – Oliver Twist and Our Country’s Good, while later this year, Sheffield Theatre will be making Much Ado About Nothing, having also received another £2.1million in 2018 due to their amazing partnership with Arts Council England and the National Lottery.
Commenting on The National Lottery’s work with the theatre industry and how it makes a difference in the community, Taylor applauded the one-of-a-kind night of musicals at Manchester’s AO Arena.
Taylor added: “Several people from Leeds Playhouse went along and had a great time.
“It was fantastic to be invited and have our work featured - it's brilliant to get the work in front of that many people and for it to carry on the mission of normalising the presence of disabled and deaf people in theatre.
“Theatre is vital - it's storytelling and people need to hear and tell and share and explore and examine stories. If ever we've realised that it's right now. Funding from the National Lottery to keep our theatre industry alive is absolutely crucial.”
And the collaboration admitted they have been inspired by the recent performances of Eastenders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis and her incredible Strictly Come Dancing journey and the profile it has created for deaf and disabled people in theatre.
“It was an amazing moment for Rose to be on Strictly and be really explicit and outspoken about what it meant for her,” said Taylor
“And also talking about the fact that as a deaf person she's limited, not by the fact that she's deaf, but by the fact that other people limit her.
“That's a really important message to get across. I really hope more deaf and disabled performers will be inspired by her. I think it's equally important to see people like Rose, or Cherylee Houston on Coronation Street or Liz Carr in Silent Witness, who are disabled and deaf performers, who are just a part of our TV viewing as well as our live theatre viewing.
“It really is that normalisation - that we stop as an audience seeing a disabled person on stage or on the screen and going 'they're obviously a baddie' or 'they're someone we need to feel sorry for' - no, they're just a regular person, and they bring their experience of being disabled to the character.”
