A Telepresence Stage for Disability Performing Arts

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The performing arts were one of hardest hit sectors during the COVID-19 lockdown, resulting in sustained theatre closures that saw many in the sector out of work for long periods. Together with many other professions, the performing arts turned to online platforms, such as Zoom as an alternative outlet. But with its isolating video window-box constraints, the performance possibilities were limited and a more immersive and intuitive online theatre environment was urgently needed. Using a combination of videoconferencing, 3D digital stage designs and online video mixing techniques, the original Telepresence Stage project (https://www.telepresencestage.org) led by Paul Sermon (PI) and Steve Dixon (International Co-I), worked with ten professional theatre and dance companies to develop a range of alternative fit for purpose solutions that were successfully used in a range of performances during COVID-19 lockdowns. This follow-on project now looks at how these Telepresence Stage solutions could be used specifically by the disability performing arts sector. Disabled people utilised the benefits of online communications long before the demands of lockdown and increasingly continue to do so. For many disabled people, the lockdown felt rather like a 'level playing field', as both disabled and non-disabled people had to work and socialise under the same conditions, and so benefited from the advances in online applications, resources and access to the arts that proliferated at the time. 'A Telepresence Stage for Disability Performing Arts' will work directly with two of the UK's leading disability performing arts companies, the Birds of Paradise Theatre Company in Glasgow and CRIPtic Arts based in London. The project will apply and utilise the technological advances made during the previous research, to identify new features, techniques and bespoke solutions specifically for the disability performing arts sector. The two companies will undertake the tried and tested Telepresence Stage residency programme lasting four months to develop unique public performance outcomes. Using and adapting the developed tools and techniques, they will access and engage participants and audiences they would not have been able to previously due to geographic or mobility restrictions. The performance outcomes will include hybrid solutions, combining live staged productions with remote online telepresence participation, as well as international collaborations with disabled performers in Singapore, through the continuing involvement of the International Co-I and leading digital performance specialist Steve Dixon at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. This brings an international dimension to the production's possibilities without the logistic complexities, costs and carbon footprint consequences of travel. Through partnerships with UK Disability History Month and Disability Arts Online the resulting performances will be premiered using their networks and public platforms, reaching over 60 disability organisations and groups across the UK including disability rights activists and policy advisers, as well the disability performing arts sector and the general public. The follow-on project will culminate in a Concluding Symposium, providing reflections and discussions on the benefits, possibilities and future applications of the outcomes. Project partners, Disability Arts Online will play a key networking and dissemination role by hosting the symposium using their platform, that receives over 40,000 views per month, guaranteeing impactful participation and distribution of the outcomes. In addition, Disability Arts Online will use the platform to promote and freely distribute the Telepresence Stage Handbook, featuring tailored case studies on the participating companies, providing a comprehensive resource and reference point for the wider UK disability performing arts sector.