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The Acts

CRIPtic Arts

— ,The Pit
Colourful drawings of people swirling against a black background.

A searingly honest, bold, and gripping piece of theatre, bringing together performances from five of the UK’s most exciting disabled theatre makers and companies.

Join us inside the walls of a bustling but dysfunctional theatre, where four acts are hard at work on their latest productions: a solo show about love, joy, and cancer; a comedy about the ways neurodivergent people are expected to sell their stories for the stage; a theatrical adaptation of a short film entangling Greek mythology and the seaside pier; and a multisensory meditation on isolation and moon landings. 

In a landscape of intense time pressures, and shoestring budgets, the performers are overstretched and under-supported. But can the fifth act – an absurdly inappropriate workplace wellness seminar solve all of their problems? Or do we just need an artistic revolution?

CRIPtic Arts, founded by Artistic Director Jamie Hale, is a disabled-led creative hub bringing the most exciting disabled creatives to UK and international stages.

Tagged with: Theatre & dance Theatre & Dance Autumn/Winter 2024 Young Barbican

Running time: 2 hours (including a 20 minute interval)

Age guidance: 16+

Accessibility
All performances are relaxed and have integrated audio description, BSL-interpretation and captioning. Take a look at our Accessible Events page to find out more about the accessibility of our venues.

Image by artist Rachel Gadsden
An abstract painting by Rachel Gadsden, showing five figures made of white lines flowing around a stage. From left to right: figure one is an electric wheelchair user underneath a spotlight, mid-movement; figure two stands at the back of the stage with their hands up as if they are signing; figure three is bent double, as if in a bow; figure four, a manual wheelchair user, is mid-movement; and figure five is in a running pose as if moving swiftly offstage. The figures are surrounded by swirling lines of pink, orange, green, blue and yellow, representing their movement & stage lighting. The overall feeling is one of vibrant movement.

The Acts has been made possible with the support of Arts Council England and the Barbican Centre.

Ticket prices

Members and Members Plus enjoy 20% off ticket prices for this show.

 

No booking fee. Subject to availability.  

Become a member

Corporate Members enjoy discounted ticket prices for this show.

2 tickets max per booking. Subject to availability. 

Become a Corporate Member

£5

Wheelchair spaces, free companion seats may now be booked online.    
Please select the relevant preferences on the access registration page during your booking so we can provide you with the correct information and discounts.    

Booking a wheelchair space:
Select a seat displaying the wheelchair user icon and then select wheelchair user ticket type. The ticket will be priced at the lowest price for that event. If you need an essential companion, please select the E icon next to the wheelchair space you have selected.    

Booking essential companion tickets:
Please select at least two tickets and one of them will be automatically discounted to zero in the basket.    

Booking British Sign Language or Captioned Seats:
Select seats in the area appropriate to your needs.    

Groups   
Groups can book at a 20% discount, subject to availability. Contact [email protected] to make a group booking.   

Student
Save 50%, subject to availability.

*If you are a teacher or group leader planning a trip, you can receive up to £300 towards the cost of a visit to a wide variety of inspiring venues managed by the City of London Corporation. Find out more.

*Excludes £1.50 booking fee

These accessibility provisions are available for this event. Please visit our help centre for extra guidance when booking these tickets.

Audio described
BSL
Captioned
Relaxed

The Acts

Act 1
A.C. Smith brings To Rose On Her 18th Birthday, a love letter written by a mother to her daughter as she reaches for joy after twice developing cancer, aware her daughter may have inherited the same genetic risk.

Act 2
Stephen Bailey and ASYLUM Arts present the darkly comedic Autistic as Fuck, exploring the complexities and contradictions of neurodivergence, masking, and the ways we’re told we need to tell our stories for them to be seen by non-disabled audiences.

Act 3
Peyvand Sadeghian & Matthew Robinson use immersive projections & material from the NASA archives of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, to navigate awe, despair, wellness, and isolation in Over The Moon (working title).

Act 4 
Hugh Maylon & Steve Sowden intertwine classical myth with knotty reality, taking us to the seaside long after the holidays have ended in the liminal and unreal Humetheus and the Quest for the Bronze Cloak.

Act 5
Marcella Rick & Ro Lewis pull apart wellness culture, spotlighting the proper shit ways that workers are often let down by their employers. Join them in Wellness Seminar (working title) to put well-being culture where it belongs – in the bin.

Creative team

Jamie Hale Director
Caitlin Richards Producer
Jack Wakely Development Producer

Reviews

‘A very entertaining showcase and an inspired evening‘
Theatre Full Stop on CRIPtic Art's 2021 Pit Party

The Pit

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