Inclusion and access do not have a finish line. It is not something that can be declared complete or solved once and for all. It is a practice that changes as our communities change, as new voices emerge, and as different forms of access become visible. It is also a creative resource, offering new ways to think, collaborate, design, and imagine.

This publication provides insight into the framework we are working with at Rosendal Theatre. It draws upon Battersea Art Centre’s relaxed venue framework, which was developed in collaboration with Jess Thom and Tourette's Hero, with the additional wisdom of many arts organisations, artists, practitioners, and thinkers who have expanded our understanding of what welcoming environments can be.

For Rosendal Theatre, the relaxed framework brings a clear agenda. It asks us to pay attention to and address the many barriers' people face because of systems that discriminate based on background, disability, orientation, income and age.

In this publication, disability is understood as an interaction between people’s bodies, minds, and sensory experiences and the environments, systems, and attitudes around them. A person may have an impairment or condition, but it becomes disabling when barriers limit their participation. When those barriers are reduced or removed, people can participate more fully.

This guide is not comprehensive, nor is it something to complete. It is a way to spark reflection, start conversations, and shape decisions that support more people to participate.

Relaxed approaches remind us that access is not an add on. It is part of how we create, host, and participate. They remind us that people experience space differently, and that this diversity should be supported rather than managed away.

Every section of this publication describes conditions that would support more people to enter and participate with confidence. Some of these conditions are simple to introduce. Others require long term structural change. All of them rely on the willingness to listen, to adapt, and to keep learning.

If there is a single thread running through every domain, it is this: inclusion is made up of many small decisions taken every day. No single decision is enough, but together they shape environments where more people can feel welcome, confident, and at ease. By paying attention to these decisions, and by remaining open to change, we take steps toward an arts landscape that reflects the breadth and complexity of the people it aims to engage.

Last ned publikasjonen her

Å tenke nytt om tilgjengelighet i scenekunsten - Norsk utgave

Reimagining access within the performing arts - English version