Guest Post - Emma Purcell co-founder and editor of the online disability magazine Crip Life
The performing arts is a diverse and inclusive place for all ages, backgrounds and abilities. Many people with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments enjoy getting involved in acting, dancing, music, singing and many other aspects of performing as a way of expressing themselves, enjoying freedom and escapism and being whoever they want to be.
Emma Purcell is the co-founder and editor of the online disability magazine Crip Life™ and when she is not busy producing content and interviewing disabled artists, she loves attending theatre groups in her spare time.
Here, Emma shares her experiences as a wheelchair user and a visually impaired person, attending a variety of amateur dramatic groups over 20 years and how it has benefited her mental health, well-being and social life.
For most children, extracurricular activities usually consisted of Scouts and Guides or playing sports. But for me, living with cerebral palsy and later being registered blind, I found it challenging to find a hobby I could participate in and enjoy until I discovered theatre. For two decades, I've joined multiple theatre groups and performed in school productions.
I’ve never considered myself a professional performer and never would want to. This doesn’t mean disabled artists cannot be professional. As a freelance journalist for the past 12 years, I’ve interviewed many disabled actors and performers who have gone on to do extraordinary things.
I simply just love the fun of pretending to be someone different, escaping real-life dramas and forgetting I'm disabled while performing. Plus, I’ve met so many incredible people over the years and even made friends for life.
In this article, I would like to share my journey through my drama group experiences from a 10-year-old girl to the present day and some of the mayhem caused along the way.
Helen O'Grady Drama Academy
At the age of 10, a friend from school invited me to a taster session at her drama group, Helen O'Grady Drama Academy. I was instantly hooked and joined the group, attending sessions weekly.
After a year, I was moving house but luckily there was another class run by the same company in my new town. We did a variety of scripted and improvised work, verbal dynamics and occasionally movement, body language and dance – some of these exercises I still remember to this day.
Every term we'd perform what we learnt to our friends and family then in the summer term we would put on a big show of a scripted play, performed at a college theatre. The ages range from 5 to 17 years olds with three different class groups.
This was also the place I met my best friend and almost 20 years on, we're still as close as ever (despite living in different parts of the country).
School productions
In 2008 I left Helen O'Grady Drama Academy so I could attend Treloar's School & College. At school, I hoped to choose Drama as a GCSE but unfortunately, there wasn't as there weren't enough students choosing it as an option. Instead, I took the Entry Level classes (below GCSE) and assisted the teacher in directing the other students.
As my teacher knew I'd pass the course in five minutes, she gave me the job of writing their script for the Year 11 exam. As we were doing Romeo & Juliet in English, I created a modern version of Shakespeare's play.
Also at Treloar School, we have a school production every other year in the summer term. In 2010, I got the chance to play the Wicked Witch of the West in our production of The Wizard of Oz. Nearly every student in the school had a part and we had an accessible stage in our school hall to perform on.
Phoenix Theatre
At college, I joined a drama group along with other Treloar students at the Phoenix Theatre in Bordon, which was specifically tailored for those with disabilities. The teacher was also disabled, which felt more equal and she had first-hand experiences of acting with a disability. We didn't get a chance to do much performing but I enjoyed the classes, workshops and making friends. Unfortunately, the group closed a year later.
The Young Company
When beginning university to study journalism, I hoped to join a performing arts society via the student union but unfortunately, there was no such thing. Plus with my lack of quality carers and a uni social life non-existent, creating a society was impossible at the time.
Then one day when I was sitting in the uni canteen, I came across a brochure for a place called the Farnham Maltings that had a drama group called The Young Company.
I attended it from 2014 to 2016 and took part in numerous performances. My highlights were taking part in the National Theatre Connections competitions. This event brings schools, colleges and theatre groups together to compete for a chance to perform at the National Theatre. We took part in 2015 and 2016 but were unsuccessful in getting a place at the National Theatre.
However, we did get the chance to perform at the Capital Theatre in Horsham in 2015 where I famously had one of my wheels fall off the stage and an audience member had to push me back on before I fell. Then in 2016, we performed at the Lyric Theatre in London, which had incredible disabled facilities including a ceiling hoist in the toilets.
West End Centre
The West End Centre is a local live music venue and performing arts theatre in Aldershot, Hampshire. They run a variety of theatre groups ranging from primary school age to adulthood.
I was introduced to the adult drama class by a member of my previous drama group, The Young Company. I went to watch their performance of Technobabble in July 2018, which I enjoyed, then applied to join earlier in September.
In the classes, we work more or less on a three-term structure that takes us over the year. In the autumn term, we work on a Christmas show, which features all four classes (around 40 actors) from eight years old to not quite 80 to put together one big show that is performed for two nights at the centre in December.
The spring term is solely workshop-based and helps actors with new skill sets or more experienced actors fine-tune those skill sets. Plus, we spend time brainstorming ideas for the summer production.
The summer term is about writing and directing as well as acting. This is the term where the adult company can if they want to, submit original material (usually around 10-minute long pieces) and see it acted in front of a live audience in a July performance. It’s always great fun and very exciting.
I’ve been attending the West End Centre drama group for almost six years (with a bit of a hiatus from 2022 to 2024). I love how we don’t take the classes too seriously but we still learn a lot of skills and still do our best on performance nights.
My favourite shows have been a fairytale pantomime we did at Christmas, where I played the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and our most recent summer production where we did sketches focusing on AI.
We also recorded a virtual Christmas production during the pandemic. And one year when I couldn’t attend the production in person, I recorded myself playing a social media influencer called Roxy.
In terms of my accessibility needs and accommodating my sight loss, the West End Centre is really good. The building is all on one level, so no need for lifts or ramps here. The teacher running the class sends me scripts in advance so I can adapt them to my phone beforehand, allowing me to be able to read the script during rehearsals.
So, as you can see, I have attended many Drama groups over the past two decades and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all these experiences. This just goes to show that no matter your impairment or knowledge of the performing arts, anybody can take part and make the most of the fun, laughter and escapism on stage.