Representation on our stage matters?

I am lucky to see lots of theatre at our venues, around the country and, from time to time, around the world. Some pieces entertain while in the venue, some might mean humming a tune on the way home, some provoke an emotional reaction, and some stay with you after the curtain has closed.?

Nothing says this more than ‘an Accident/a Life’. The show by professional dancer Marc Brew, and Director and Choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is a testimony of a very intense, specific and personal moment in time.

When South African dancer Marc was 19, a drunk driver ploughed into the car in which he and three friends were travelling. They died, and he went from ballet dancer at the start of a glistening career to paraplegic in a split second.?

‘an Accident / a Life’ is a rich visual theatre experience that unravels moments in our lives – such as this for Marc – exploring difficult things with and without words using storytelling, film, music, dance and in this case, a car on stage.??

It was so powerful and emotive that I just had to bring it to our venues.

When the opportunity came along to bring the show – and for us to programme it for the Norfolk and Norwich Festival – I took it. The show has visited venues across Europe before stopping off at Glasgow and then at Norwich Theatre Royal on 24 and 25 May.?

In general, we have assumptions about who we are and what our bodies can do, and Marc and Larbi play with these assumptions a lot in the piece. Marc does this with humour, grace and without pity.??Most of all, what shines through is Marc’s determination.

Theatre has always been a fantastic tool for changing assumptions, and representation throughout all creative experiences is something we should all be passionate about.?

With 16 million people in the UK living with some form of disability, it becomes clear that it is important to tell stories of disability and neurodiversity so that the audience can hear stories that reflect the real world. It is imperative that these stories are told on the same platforms as every other, and that the characters are not stereotypes.??

Representation matters and for someone to see part of their story or an element of themselves, be that on stage or TV, is powerful.?Arts and culture must support anti-ableism and ensure opportunities are available for disabled artists, just like their non-disabled counterparts, to produce work.

However, in order to tell disabled stories properly, the industry as a whole needs to change. We need proper representation, and not just on stage but at every part of the creative process.??

This message of how disability can be front and centre and that it can open up endless creative possibilities is one we should all promote.

?It is the creative process Marc and Larbi have gone through that makes this show an amazing piece of dance theatre. The accident undoubtedly transformed Marc’s relationship to movement, cultivating a fresh approach to dance. Throughout the piece, you can see Marc has thought of every movement he uses on stage and almost every breath draws us so powerfully into his story.

He stares his past directly in the eye and finds such meaning and interesting ways to allow the audience into his experience. In the process, it breaks all the boundaries and removes all the barriers of what a dancer can be.????

‘an Accident/a Life’, will stay with you long after the show has ended.?

‘an Accident / a Life’ is at Norwich Theatre Royal on 24 and 25 May. For more information or to book, visit norwichtheatre.org.?