Five questions with... Frozen Light

Tell us more about Frozen Light

Frozen Light make bold, exciting, and innovative theatre for adult audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities which tours to theatre venues and outdoor spaces across the UK.

Why is your work so important for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD)?

Audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities have previously been incredibly under served by the theatre industries. They are an audience who are often forgotten about in society. Our audiences have as much right to access appropriate arts and culture as everyone else, so by making sensory theatre, and by venues programming it, this means that this group of people have their basic human rights met with access to appropriate arts and culture.

We believe theatre possesses the power to change the narrative around people with PMLD.

This year you hosted your first Sensory Symposium – did it live up to your ambitions for it and what does the future hold for sensory theatre / sensory work?

It was incredibly exciting to host our sensory symposium celebrating ten years of Frozen Light. The day was a call to arms to the industry to ensure sensory theatre artists and audiences are supported and valued by the industry. New sensory theatre was pitched by a diverse range of artists, learning was shared from our ground-breaking Sensory Studio Project, which explores collaboration between artists with PMLD and Frozen Lights creative team and a panel of sensory theatre and dance companies exploring the next ten years of sensory theatre. The themes of the day were explored in a sensory way by sensory artist Natalya Martin to ensure that the day was accessible for our audiences and artists with PMLD. 

What does it mean to you and for your work to be a National Portfolio Organisation?

Becoming a National Portfolio Organisation was a landmark for Frozen Light, it is an acknowledgement of the importance of Sensory Theatre and the audiences it brings to the sector. Being an NPO ensures that we can continue to create our work, diversify our offer for our audiences and continue to create ground-breaking new work.

This year’s Learning Disability Week is all about myth busting and showing the world the incredible things that people with a learning disability achieve – what myths do you think need to be busted?

There is a culture of pity that exists around our audiences, a belief that they need to be pitied. I don’t only want to bust this myth I want to smash it down. By pitying people we don’t make the world any better for them. By spending time with individuals with PMLD and truly listening to them with all our senses we can stand to learn a lot from them. We need to value this group and the contribution they can give to the world if we open up our spaces and let them in. By making the world accessible to this group of people by default it will be accessible to everyone.