Wrapped in Possibility: From Kilburn to the Stage by Jamie Beddard, Joint Artistic Director
Growing up, the Arts was never on my radar, and a desk-bound vocation, at best, beckoned; the expectations of, and choices faced by disabled people in the 1980s were extremely narrow. I stumbled through a Sociology degree, as new-found independence took precedence over academia. Leaving Kent University with no idea how my patchy education would translate into gainful employment, I fell into youth-work, and the young of Kilburn were soon running me ragged.
Two events construed to open-up a whole new world of possibilities. Firstly, my former headmaster invited me to return to my old residential school to take part in ‘Sky High’, a large-scale integrated community arts project. This included swathing the school in wrapping paper, blowing up greenhouses and a large community cast entertaining the good folk of Tonbridge. Disabled and non-disabled people – artists, communities and volunteers – were brought together in a way I had never experienced, to create a mind-blowing spectacle. I also met Claire Hodgson on this project, and to be working and leading on similar projects some 35-odd years later is astounding. We had different priorities back then!
A year or so later, I received a call out of the blue from the BBC who were adapting the book, ‘Skalligrigg’, into a film. Most of the characters were disabled, and back in 1992 there were very few disabled actors. They had chanced on my name and wanted a meeting. My only thought was the opportunity to visit the iconic White City building; actually getting the part seemed well beyond the realms of possibility. Anyway, a week later I found myself in a caravan on location preparing for the first day’s filming, playing opposite my hero, Ian Dury. An amazingly fortuitous introduction to an alien, but magical new world.
The experiences of Sky High and Skalligrigg set me upon a completely new path, and I soon found my way to Graeae Theatre Company, and a tribe of people who remain friends, comrades and colleagues to this day. I had been politicised and liberated, and the rest is history.
Unfortunately, the gains we have made as disabled artists, people and communities in the subsequent 30 years are under severe threat as dominant narratives around assisted dying and attacks on benefits take hold. The battles we thought we’d won and put to bed are being stoked up again, and inclusion, access and justice are, once again, at stake. We must ally together to prevent these dangerous shifts in rhetoric and policy.
