Part of See It First 2026
Join disabled Theatre makers Alexandra Whiteley and Benjamin Wilson for this session on creative access. Whether you’re working with a huge budget for a massive show or a tiny budget for a one-person show in a room above a pub, thinking about creative access from day one of your project can open doors to new audiences and improve your work for everyone. Alex and Ben are two of the industry’s leading voices on this very subject and in this workshop they’ll get your creative brains whirring and use their experience to guide you towards making your work more accessible and enriching your stories.
Weather you’ve never engaged with audio description, captions, BSL and other forms of theatrical accessibility or you’re an old hand, come along to this workshop and leave excited about the next steps on your journey with creative integrated access.
As well as ensuring our work is accessible to disabled audiences, we should also all be considering how to make sure our working processes are accessible to disabled colleagues and collaborators. This doesn’t have to be scary and it doesn’t have to be expensive. All it needs is the right research, the right attitude and the time to think about it. Here is your opportunity to do just that.
Please note, places for the workshop are limited so early booking is advised.
Biographies
Alexandra Whiteley is a disabled director and dramaturg with a passion for telling well-known stories in new and innovative ways. While her specialism is in Shakespeare, she has also worked extensively in new writing and horror both as a director and dramaturg and has a keen interest in accessible work (in particular BSL and integrated audio description). She has directed multiple plays for Midlands Academy of Musical Theatre, London College of Music and JW Theatres as well as working with writers on multiple R&D/script development processes. In terms of assisting she has worked extensively, notably for Sheffield Theatres (including on the ground-breaking Rock/Paper/Scissors trilogy and a national tour of Much Ado About Nothing in co-production with Ramps on the Moon), Graeae and most recently Derby Theatre/Northern Stage on Little Shop of Horrors.
Benjamin Wilson is a blind actor, director and audio description consultant., Ben trained as an actor at Birmingham Royal Conservatoire (formally Birmingham School of Acting).He was formally the Ramps On The Moon Agent For Change at Sheffield Theatres and Trainee Artistic Director at Extant. He co-founded both theatre company Brick Wall Ensemble and creative audio description company Hear The Picture.
As an actor and creative some of his recent credits include: Macbeth at Hull Truck and on tour; Much Ado About Nothing and Guys and Dolls for Sheffield Theatres; Lord of the Flies, Macbeth, Oliver Twist and Road for Leeds Playhouse; Of Mice and Men, Three Billy Goats Gruff and Chicken Licken (Derby Theatre); Midsummer night’s Dream, (Royal Shakespeare Company); Anthony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare’s Globe); Unseen (Extant)and both Henry 5 and Meic On The Mic for Brick Wall Ensemble.
Through his work as an audio description consultant, Ben has been described as one of British theatre’s leading voices on visually impaired access to theatre. as an actor, he was awarded a commendation at the 2023 edition of The Sunday Times and National Theatre’s prestigious Ian Charleson Award.
We recognise that the cost of this workshop could be a financial barrier. Therefore we have a limited number of free places available – no questions asked! If you’d like to request a free space please contact communityadmin@belgrade.co.uk with the subject line “Free place – [workshop name]” at least 2 working days before the workshop.
We are committed to reducing any barriers as much as possible to D/deaf, Disabled & Neurodiverse artists taking up this opportunity. If you have any access requirements, please contact Emma Worrall, Assistant Producer, by email at communityadmin@belgrade.co.uk to discuss. Alternatively, you can call 024 7684 6718. Please give us as much as notice as you can.