Relax with Robin Hood

This year at Circa Theatre something special will be taking place; for the first time in New Zealand, Circa's summer pantomime will include a Relaxed Performance of Roger Hall's Robin Hood, directed by Susan Wilson.

A Relaxed Performance is a stage production different to your usual theatre show.  It is constructed with the needs of disabled audience members in mind, particularly those with intellectual disabilities and those who are on the autism spectrum. Here at Circa we understand that, for certain groups of people, the theatre can be a difficult place to navigate with all its codes and conventions.

People with disabilities, especially children and their families, can find it near impossible to be comfortable in a theatre environment; especially when staying quiet and siting in your seat for the duration of the entire show is out of the question!

A RELAXED PERFORMANCE

Circa theatre's Relaxed Performance will be aimed at youth with disabilities, both mental and physical. It will construct a safe environment for them to watch and enjoy a live theatrical experience. Relaxed Performances in England have been a great success with parents of children with disabilities remarking how the theatre allowed for an open and friendly space that was comfortable for their children. It provided a lovely environment for a family friendly experience; many remarked on how they would return for other relaxed performances.

Circa theatre will prepare the young audience members; showing them photos of the performance space in advance, the show will be conducted in less intense lighting, less loud noises, the house lights will probably remain on, the children can roam around the space and sit where they like, there will be a break-out space, and they will also be shown images of the actors in and out of makeup so there are no nasty surprises.

This relaxed performance will not isolate members of our society who are different; instead it will celebrate their differences, conveying to them an important message that we are able to accommodate their differences and they will not be ostracised. For children, this message is extremely important because it will teach them that they are not limited because of their disabilities. Families will be able to spend time together without worry of embarrassment or agitation, not leaving members of their family behind who do not understand theatre conventions.

Watching theatre can be channelling at times and through the relaxed performance we hope we are able to achieve a different perspective of the theatre experience, which is more family orientated and enjoyable.

A COMMITMENT TO ACCESSIBILITY

Circa is committed to making theatre accessible, and we have provided Audio Described performances as well as New Zealand Sign Language interpreted performances to accommodate the blind and Deaf communities. Now they seek to help make the theatre a comfortable place for children with disabilities through the conventions of a Relaxed Performance.

If you believe everyone has a right to enjoy theatre than please donate to help Circa do something unique and truly special.

Circa Theatre is creating something meaningful; but to do this we need your help. The Relaxed Performance requires extra training for our actors and a smaller audience for our theatre space.  Cost is a barrier to many families who have a family member with a disability, and so we are aiming to subsidise the ticket cost.

We also want to use this Relaxed Performance as a way to upskill the New Zealand theatre community.  We want to bring our colleagues from theatres around New Zealand to Wellington to see the performance and learn from it for their own accessibility programmes.  This will include the creation of resource to support the performance.

The overall cost for this project is $15,000; we are coming to you, our audience, to help raise $2,500 to make this important performance happen.

We live in a time where society is more accepting of differences. We need to start accommodating these differences, making them a normal part of everyday life. We are extremely passionate about bringing amazing theatre to the masses; please help us to pay it forward to make theatre available to everyone.