A three-day workshop at Theatre NorthWest is teaching the community about Relaxed Performances.
The Access Activator Consulting group was designed to make theatre spaces more comfortable and inclusive when it comes to people who have certain disorders such as, autism, sensory and communication disorders, learning disabilities. This also can be beneficial for parents with toddlers, anxiety or even people who don’t feel comfortable in a traditional theatre setting.
Consultant, Clayton Baraniuk says when people go to watch a show at a theatre, or a performance anywhere, they have their own expectation of what they want to experience.
“What relaxed performance tries to do is loosen those rules and allow more flexibility for the audience participation so that more people can access that comfortably and that the set of rules are understood by the audience.”
“In theatre you are expected to go in and sit quietly in the dark and not make any noise or movement. For someone, for example, with tourette’s syndrome that’s simply not a possibility. So the question is does that mean that person doesn’t have the right to enjoy cultural experiences.”
He added they look at strategies organizations can use to open up some of their practices to a wider and more diverse audience base.
With the help of a partnership between local theatres, the community foundation and AiMHi, they were able to bring this UK-based course to the Northern Capital.