Oldham Coliseum, TripleC and the Disabled Artists Networking Community (DANC) have joined forces to produce and present three short audio plays by disabled writers, read by disabled performers.
In May the Coliseum, TripleC and DANC invited writers associated with DANC to submit plays up to five-minutes long based on the theme of “Distance” for the fourth episode of the theatre’s Mini-Podcasts series.
The three five-minute plays offer insight into the emotional challenges faced by disabled people in their everyday lives and during the coronavirus lockdown.
TripleC/DANC was founded by actors Cherylee Houston and Melissa Johns (Coronation Street’s Izzy Armstrong and Imogen Pascoe).
Personal Space, read by actor Milton Lopes and written by actor and performer Adam Fenton, is a piece about when the smallest of acts feel massive, how distance is relative and why closeness isn’t always about proximity.
From a Distance, read by Caron Rae-Brand and Fergus Rattigan, is a conversation between a man shielding at home and his grandmother, who is living with dementia in a care home. Writer Andrew Duffy has been involved with TripleC and DANC since 2018.
In 25 Metres From Salsa, read by Porcelain Delaney, Simon Startin and Caron Rae-Brand, we meet Alf as he has his mobility aassessed to see if he is eligible for medication to improve it. Writer Karen Featherstone received a Northern Writers’ Award in 2015.
The Coliseum’s Theatre’s Mini-Podcast series was launched on World Theatre Day 2020, a week into the UK lockdown. It shares original works by people of all ages and backgrounds from the communities the theatre serves.
All three, and other episodes in the series, can be heard free here.