Published: 28 Jun 2023
Photography by Stephen Foster, courtesy of Krazy Kat Theatre.
Krazy Kat Theatre’s free Sign Language workshops for young deaf and disabled children are just one example of creative projects enhancing accessibility in the Arts with support from The National Lottery through the latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund awards.
The theatre company will be taking Hearing George, Deaf Dragon directly into deaf and disabled support spaces across Scotland in September 2023.
Building on the success of previous years, the age-appropriate workshops are designed to lead the participants into further areas of learning through sign language drama by giving hands-on experience where participants ‘become’ the actors. The aim is to allow young people to have better access to a wider range of theatre experiences and opportunities and helping them to communicate with increased confidence. There will be three sessions a day at participating schools and community group venues across the country.
Speaking on a previous session, staff from Windsor Park School in Falkirk said: “The children and staff thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, and because of their example we are looking to further develop our drama orientated group work.”
Touring all over the UK since 1982 and founded by Kinny Gardner and Alastair S Macmillan, Krazy Kat Theatre Company puts an emphasis on strong visuals at the centre of what they do. Leith-born Artistic Director Kinny Gardner, using expertise from his many years in The Scottish Mime Theatre, has become a recognised leader in the development of visual arts with integrated signing.
He said: “This welcome Creative Scotland funding allows us to expand our ongoing mission to give voice to deaf and disabled people, extending the impact of signed theatre and encouraging other artists to continue to bring it centre stage into the life of the mainstream Scottish community. We remain passionately committed to showing the importance of Scottish community embedded arts to propagate family social support.”
With deaf actress and Strictly Come Dancing 2021 winner, Rose Ayling-Ellis, prompting a 2000% surge in British Sign Language course enrolment according to one provider, and the recent Government backing of a British Sign Language GCSE in England, exciting and long-awaited strides are being made in the deaf community.
Laura Mackenzie-Stuart, Head of Theatre at Creative Scotland said: “Theatre and arts is a space where everyone should feel welcome and be able to engage with, so we’re thrilled to see the amazing work of Krazy Kat Theatre thanks to the support of National Lottery players.
“This isn’t just gifting a fun and colourful creative experience for children and their families but providing them the tools they need to navigate the world around them confidently.”
Deaf and disabled specialist venues or community groups interested in bringing this experience to their space can get more information on Krazy Kat Theatre’s website and invite them to bring their colourful workshops to their local community.
Further examples of projects enriching their local areas with Arts accessibility from the recent Creative Scotland Open Fund awards are:
The National Lottery has raised more than £41 billion for more than 565,000 good causes across the UK since 1994. Thanks to The National Lottery players, up to £600 million has been made available to support people, projects and communities throughout the UK during the Coronavirus crisis.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot.
Jacqueline Munro, Creative Scotland’s Media Relations and PR Coordinator.
