About
 Urban Access – Graeae Theatre In 2012, London will become a world stage for
the Olympic and Paralympic Games, an event which celebrates the diversity of the world through understanding. The project set out to support schools in exploring the concept of access, and encouraged them to consider, ‘How can young people in London lead the way in celebrating the inclusive nature of our society by placing disabled people centre stage?’
This project was tailored to meet the needs of each school, offering them a range of creative opportunities. From responding to the idea of creative access in making theatre, to the participants’ environment or local area, to Graeae’s core street arts programme for 2011, participants developed music, ideas and understanding to inform the company’s latest outdoor theatre extravaganza, The Iron Man.
Across ten schools, the project reached around 390 young people, including up to 50 young disabled people.
The schools:
Ealing
West Acton Primary – young people from the school’s Gifted and Talented across KS 1 and 2 developed the ways they think Independently, communicate and creative problem solving.
Greenwich
Hawksmoor Primary – up to 58 young people explored the theme of ‘difference’ through drama and puppetry, using the story of The Iron Man by Ted Hughes as the central theme.
Hackney
Nightingale Primary – over six weeks, Year 1 pupils developed key skills in team work and initiative, then took ownership of their large Iron Man puppet in a year group performance.
Islington
St Jude and St Pauls – year 4 explored the narrative of The Iron Man story through physical drama activities and creations of life size puppets focusing on the central theme of ‘difference’.
Lambeth
Kings Avenue – a class of 30 Year 3 pupils spent three days collaborating with our artists to create their own stories for their Iron Man puppets, around how it overcomes a challenge and helps or adds something to its community through ‘difference’.
Redbridge
Wanstead High – up to 30 Year 8 students explored the Graeae aesthetic of accessible theatre inspired by Ted Hughes’ story of The Iron Man, resulting in a final performance to their year group.
Southwark
St Michaels Catholic College – year 7 students successfully developed creative and practical skills by developing an accessible marketing campaign inspired by Graeae’s production of The Iron Man, for print and radio.
Southwark
Tuke School – two classes from KS3 came together in a promenade performance with the Iron Man, that showcased their learning in movement, storytelling and music.
Waltham Forest
Brookfield House – working with up to 18 students and specialist outdoor and carnival artists, a large scale Iron Man and Space Bat was created and brought to life in a procession performance.
Westminster
St Marylebone CE School – over six weeks, Year 7 students took part in master classes on Audio Description, Visual Story Telling, and inclusive performance techniques resulting in a final theatre performance and film.
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Download the poster here...
Lead organisation:
Graeae Theatre is a disabled-led theatre company that
profiles the skills of actors, writers and directors with physical and
sensory impairments.
www.graeae.org
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