Does The Fringe provide adequate facilities for disabled performers and audiences?

Debate at Pleasance Courtyard, 12.40pm, 21 August

In the year of the London Paralympics opportunities for disabled people is an increasingly visible and discussed topic.

At the Fringe, due to the temporary nature of most venues relatively few spaces are wheelchair friendly – although there are notable exceptions.

One Fringe producer has decided to open up the debate at a special session on Tuesday 21st August at The Pleasance Courtyard.

The invited panel includes Pleasance Director Anthony Alderson, severely disabled writer and performer Pete Edwards (performing FAT, 12.40pm Pleasance to 26 Aug), comedian Laurence Clark and The Fringe’s Venues Manager Barry Church-Woods with Anthony Roberts, Producer of Escalator East To Edinburgh who will be in the chair.

Escalator East To Edinburgh is supporting Pete Edwards show FAT at this year’s festival. His process has revealed just some of the multitude of obstacles and issues that face both artists and audiences.

Anthony Roberts said ‘For Escalator East To Edinburgh to work with Peter Edwards has been a steep learning curve for me personally on the issue of access at every level. I'm sure we all carry the sentiments of inclusion around with us but this is severely tested in the nitty-gritty practicality of finding spaces in the festival that can accommodate work for people with disabilities. Let alone audiences. ‘

‘I feel that, for whatever reason it seems to have slipped off the priority list for arts organisations and we wanted to do something that would help put the urgency back into the situation. With the help of The Pleasance who are hosting our debate, we have a great panel and I'm looking forward to it enormously.’

Contact Steve Forster 07939 221192 steve@sfppr.co.uk for further details.

Listing info:

On The Move With Escalator: Shifting disability debates on access to the festival
Tuesday 21 August
Pleasance Beneath (Courtyard) 12.40pm (60mins)
FREE unticketed

muddymouth , PR , 17/08/12 , 7 AP

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'Everyone kept leaning in closer and closer' The Guardian's Tom Lamont on IdeasTap funded 'One Hour Only'
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Vicky IdeasTap , Designer , 06/08/12 , 1,082 AP

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Hi, I'm in Edinburgh with a new theatre company called Half Remembered Dreams. Our show is Bryony Lavery's More Light and it is being performed from the 1st to 27th of August at C Venues (ECA Studio C) at 7.15pm! The play is about the Emperor's concubines who are buried alive in a tomb with him. Trained only for beauty and pleasure, the women must adapt or die. Starving, they find the strength to face their Emperor; even in death his power over them lingers on. Yet a base instinct to live takes hold in one fragile sister. She takes a sword from the Bronze army, steals herself and begins to dismember the Emperor. The women become used to this existence. Under the ground, they are finally free to create their own art and realise their own individual talents by using the materials which they find around them, where previously they were only used to being viewed as objects of art themselves.

You can also find out more info on our website:
http://halfremembereddreams.co.uk/content/more-light

We would be extremely grateful if you can help us promote our show in any way! Thank you!

liliantsang , Actor , 03/08/12 , 1,093 AP

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http://www.ideastap.com/LiveEvents/Event/8066fe8e-b661-4b01-868b-a0a1014ad2fb
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Hannah18_05 , Actor , 03/08/12 , 13 AP

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