A Little Cog, ARC Stockton and Northern Stage co-commission |
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Image descriptions - Top left: Liz Carr, as Zsa Zsa, smiling is wearing a colourful chic headscarf over a dark haired bob, and a button up black cardigan. She is standing in front of a collection of designer shoes and boots. Top right: Mandy Colleran, as Blanche, is smiling and chatting into her headset whilst on her lap top. She has red hair and is wearing a blue top. Bottom left: Vici Wreford-Sinnott, as Raquelle, is sitting in the garden with a cocktail. She has silver hair, is wearing large glasses, a patterned top and chunky jewellery. Bottom Right: Bea Webster, as Cuba, is seated in a gaming chair in front of her computer. She has her hand folded and is beaming at the camera wearing a tee shirt which says 'Girls' on it.
Little Cog, ARC Stockton and Northern Stage are all very proud to present a unique online production, created by and starring a company of disabled women, which will launch on 24 September at 7.00pm. Written and directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott, a key voice in the UK disability arts movement, a stellar cast has been gathered to present the work. Liz Carr, of Silent Witness and Hollywood film Infinite fame, Mandy Colleran, an acclaimed artist, comedian and activist, and Bea Webster, currently with the Royal Shakespeare Company and a mentee of Playwright's Studio of Scotland, all star alongside Little Cog's Artistic Director, Vici Wreford-Sinnott.
Zsa Zsa, Raquelle, Blanche and Cuba are in quarantine – four disabled women locked down, locked in, shut up and shouted down. While the rest of the nation is in meltdown, it takes a lot to phase this quartet.
The coronavirus pandemic has created a unique moment in our history, revealing much about ourselves as individuals, as we face great uncertainty about our way of life as a nation, and also about government, societal and worldwide responses to an existential threat.
Vici Wreford-Sinnott said, "Disabled people feel abandoned and mis-represented, not just historically but very much now. The language around Covid presents a myth that the deaths of some groups of people are inevitable and to be accepted. To begin to class some people as 'vulnerable' is a nonsense as the science reveals that we do not yet know just who is vulnerable. People of all ages and all health status are affected by Covid, some with very long term symptoms which are potentially lifechanging. Certainly many disabled people are susceptible to a massive impact from not only the virus, but also from the way medical interventions are embedded in our services when it comes to saving the lives of disabled people. Two thirds of those who have died so far have been disabled people."
Whilst obviously worried and frustrated by the new terrain - these women are prepared, perhaps they have waited for a moment like this their whole lives. Many things coalescing to give them their moment, of being seen and being heard, their stories intertwine to give voice to commonly hidden lives.
There is a whole narrative about worthless disabled life which we must challenge... enter Zsa Zsa, Blanche, Cuba and Raquelle. These four fictional stories draw on the real life experiences and status of disabled women. They are witty and wise women, and the four monologues are cross cutting with shared themes but also are the voices of a vareity of different peoples' experiences...and they are only four. There are many, many more and as nation we must begin to listen.
The online lauch party is now sold out with a full waiting list but it will be available to watch online from 25 September until the end of October.
Zsa Zsa, Raquelle, Blanche and Cuba are in quarantine – four disabled women locked down, locked in, shut up and shouted down. While the rest of the nation is in meltdown, it takes a lot to phase this quartet.
The coronavirus pandemic has created a unique moment in our history, revealing much about ourselves as individuals, as we face great uncertainty about our way of life as a nation, and also about government, societal and worldwide responses to an existential threat.
Vici Wreford-Sinnott said, "Disabled people feel abandoned and mis-represented, not just historically but very much now. The language around Covid presents a myth that the deaths of some groups of people are inevitable and to be accepted. To begin to class some people as 'vulnerable' is a nonsense as the science reveals that we do not yet know just who is vulnerable. People of all ages and all health status are affected by Covid, some with very long term symptoms which are potentially lifechanging. Certainly many disabled people are susceptible to a massive impact from not only the virus, but also from the way medical interventions are embedded in our services when it comes to saving the lives of disabled people. Two thirds of those who have died so far have been disabled people."
Whilst obviously worried and frustrated by the new terrain - these women are prepared, perhaps they have waited for a moment like this their whole lives. Many things coalescing to give them their moment, of being seen and being heard, their stories intertwine to give voice to commonly hidden lives.
There is a whole narrative about worthless disabled life which we must challenge... enter Zsa Zsa, Blanche, Cuba and Raquelle. These four fictional stories draw on the real life experiences and status of disabled women. They are witty and wise women, and the four monologues are cross cutting with shared themes but also are the voices of a vareity of different peoples' experiences...and they are only four. There are many, many more and as nation we must begin to listen.
The online lauch party is now sold out with a full waiting list but it will be available to watch online from 25 September until the end of October.
 | Mandy Colleran has been involved in Disability Arts since the 1980s. She was a founder member of the comedy trio No Excuses which produced the legendary piece Know My Place, still available to view on youtube. Mandy was also a founder of North West Disability Arts Forum, later becoming it's director. She won a Lifetime Achievement Award from Dadafest in 2007. She was involved in Kaite O'Reilly's In Water I'm Weightless for National Theatre of Wales and has had a long career as a speaker, feminist and campaigner for disability rights. |
 | Liz Carr is known to millions for playing Clarissa Mullery in the BBC's Silent Witness for 8 years but Liz is many things. She is an actor, comedian and disability rights activist. Others will know her from the Disabled/Deaf women’s comedy group, Nasty Girls or the BBC Ouch! podcast with Mat Fraser or her stand up with Abnormally Funny People, her Criptease routines or her passionate opposition to legalising assisted suicide through both campaigning and her creation of the show, Assisted Suicide - The Musical. |
  | Bea Webster is a deaf actor who trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is an actor, drag artist, writer and speaker on Deaf equality. She is currently in rehearsals with the Royal Shakespeare Company for The Winter's Tale, and starred in Red Ladder's Mother Courage and Her Children, and Kaite O'Reilly's Peeling which toured in the UK last year. Bea is passionate about classical and contemporary texts in English and BSL, has published a poem in both BSL and English titled Long Lost Lover, about her birthplace of Thailand. Vici is Artistic Director of Little Cog, writing and touring nationally a number of pieces of work including, Butterfly which was named Best One Person Play by the British Theatre Guide, Another England, Lighthouse and her recent commissions The Wrong Woman Discussions and Siege for ARC Stockton and Home Manchester can still be seen online as part of the Homemaker's commissions. She is a lifelong feminist and activist, regularly speaking and campaigning on disability rights matters and the role of culture and the arts in equality. She is a founding member of both Disconsortia and We Shall Not Be Removed. |
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