The Great British Stage Swindle
Playwriting Course for Disabled Writers

The Great British Stage Swindle
It is an accepted fact that the voices of disabled people have been missing from culture for far too long, and that we have been misrepresented by dominant culture in a series of negative stereotypes and  tropes. Little Cog Artistic Director Vici Wreford-Sinnott has spent her life creating new disabled protagonists in disabled-led work, campaigning for change and developing opportunities for other disabled artists. Here, with her own Arts Council England funding, she has created an online playwriting course stemming from her previous masterclass commissioned by Disability Arts Online, also called The Great British Stage Swindle. Vici is very clear that if we do not support and commission disabled-led work, voices remain missing and we are not telling the truth about who we are as a society. We are pleased to support this project and look forward to welcoming a first cohort of writers onto the project.

About the Course
Over six online sessions, UK based disabled playwrights explored a range of entry points to creating disabled-led plays and to consider the question, 'What is a play'? It can mean so many things to so many people.  Vici Wreford-Sinnott, theatre/screenwriter and director was joined by guest facilitators Cheryl Martin and Simon Startin to explore accessible practice, disabled-led approaches, character, narrative, structure, disabled voices and accessible aesthetics. We would love to include voices from all disability communities and welcome applications from disabled members of the LGBTQIA+ community and the global majority. This is a space for all disabled voices.

About the Playwrights
From a range of superb applications we selected ten playwrights who both compliment and contrast each other, with a variety of writing experience to date and the generosity to share and learn together and from each other.  We are delighted to introduce our playwrights here.  As this is a disabled-led project promoting disabled voices, on this occasion we will be focusing on disability related content. This doesn’t mean it is issue based but explores character, plot and structure from disability perspectives.

Access
Each session was delivered on zoom with online accessibility factored in. 

What we mean by disabled
The disability umbrella is incredibly broad and we respect that not everyone chooses to describe themselves as disabled. We choose identity first language as we are proud of ourselves and our community but know that people are at different stages of identity. Being a disabled person acknowledges the barriers in society as the disabling factor in our lives and so if you experience barriers on the basis of having a particular condition, you fit under this umbrella. It includes mobility conditions, sensory conditions such as visual impairment or being a Deaf person, learning disability, physical conditions, neurodivergence, chronic conditions, mental health and many more – don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re not sure.

If you have any queries contact us at [email protected]