Image description - a woman, actor Philippa Cole playing the part of Rat in Another England by Vici Wreford-Sinnott. She is seated on a wooden swing, both hands holding the ropes of it. She is wearing khaki green utilitarian clothes and has her dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. Photo Credit: Black Robin.
The work we make
Our shows are all disabled-led. This means that artistically, conceptually, managerially and ethically informed by creating work which furthers the cultural position of disabled people. We do this by creating new protagonists, new narratives, new methods of working and ensuring that the working environment and the place that we share the work is accessible. Without compromise. We are a female-led company interested in challenging the status quo, creating new and lasting stories, and examining the world around us.
An ARC Stockton Homemakers commission in partnership with Home Manchester
Siege
Written and directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Image description - Philippa Cole is the female actor playing Mim in Siege. She is looking directly at the camera and is wearing an orange costume wig and large orange loveheart sunglasses. The edges of the photo are trimmed with orange.
Siege is a short, filmed character monologue exploring what it means to be disabled and ‘looked at’. It’s from a longer-term piece of work and centres on the character of Mim (rhymes with quim). Mim, performed by the brilliant Philippa Coles, is a funny, edgy radical, trying to live a subversive lifestyle right slap bang in the middle of the radar, with a shame-free approach to the disabled female body, who can’t get a gig. What’s it gonna take to change that?
The monologue is a part of character exploration for a longer piece of work, originally intended to be a national touring production in 2021 – we’ll see what the future now brings but it has been interesting/challenging creating work to share in short film form in the digital realm. It’s neither a beginning nor an ending, it’s just where we are now.
On 17 June 2020 Siege and the accompanying five short films of female disabled performance makers discussing their work, The Wrong Woman Discussions, were part of a UK wide day of social media action We Shall Not Be Removed. You can find out more about that here.
You can find our more about the inspiration behind Siege in this blog post from Vici Wreford-Sinnott.
Star of Siege Philippa Cole did a Q&A with ARConline
The monologue is a part of character exploration for a longer piece of work, originally intended to be a national touring production in 2021 – we’ll see what the future now brings but it has been interesting/challenging creating work to share in short film form in the digital realm. It’s neither a beginning nor an ending, it’s just where we are now.
On 17 June 2020 Siege and the accompanying five short films of female disabled performance makers discussing their work, The Wrong Woman Discussions, were part of a UK wide day of social media action We Shall Not Be Removed. You can find out more about that here.
You can find our more about the inspiration behind Siege in this blog post from Vici Wreford-Sinnott.
Star of Siege Philippa Cole did a Q&A with ARConline
Philippa Cole is playing the character of Mim in a filmed scene for Siege. She is wearing an orange costume wig and a black PVC dress and there is a second image of her off to the side viewed through a phone camera on a tripod.
“This is an INCREDIBLE tour de force of writing, directing, editing and performance. Loved every second. I've watched it three times so far and will watch again!”
Audience Member
Audience Member
“Hilarious, incisive, powerful & raucous writing & direction from Vici Wreford-Sinnott. Exquisite performance by Philippa Cole. WATCH THIS NOW. Can't express how great & necessary this is! I feel seen. Perfect Audio Description too so I could rest my eyes.”
Audience Member
Audience Member
“Incredible, powerful and stirring… congratulations Vici and Pippa”
Audience Member
Audience Member
Little Cog in partnership with ARC Stockton
Another England
Written and directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Another England
Written and directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Two actors, Philippa Cole and Simon Startin stand in the foreground looking to the camera. They are outdoors with a blue sky as the backdrop and in the distance is a cliff from the North East coast. The edge of the country. Philippa plays Rat and Simon plays Murphy in Another England. Murphy is holding a hand made George's flag up.
How can we find hope when the world feels like it's in such a mess?
England 2024. Rat and Murphy are two disabled people who find themselves running for their lives, but the odds are against them. Murphy, a 55 year old veteran of the welfare state, and his younger companion Rat, who believes she can change the world, would normally go to the ends of the earth to avoid each other. They're thrown together as they both take refuge in an empty house to avoid being sent to holding camps by the state.
Their stories unfold as they fight for their right to occupy the house.
In this story full of heart and human spirit, the worlds of two weird and wonderful characters collide as they try to find a way to survive.
A Little Cog production in association with ARC Stockton, originally commissioned as part of Cultural Shift.
Performed by Philippa Cole and Andrew McLay with BSL interpretation by Sue Lee
National Tour 2019
England 2024. Rat and Murphy are two disabled people who find themselves running for their lives, but the odds are against them. Murphy, a 55 year old veteran of the welfare state, and his younger companion Rat, who believes she can change the world, would normally go to the ends of the earth to avoid each other. They're thrown together as they both take refuge in an empty house to avoid being sent to holding camps by the state.
Their stories unfold as they fight for their right to occupy the house.
In this story full of heart and human spirit, the worlds of two weird and wonderful characters collide as they try to find a way to survive.
A Little Cog production in association with ARC Stockton, originally commissioned as part of Cultural Shift.
Performed by Philippa Cole and Andrew McLay with BSL interpretation by Sue Lee
National Tour 2019
A Cultural Shift Commission in partnership with ARC Stockton and Little Cog
Lighthouse
Written and directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Image description - two women in a close up shot. A younger woman, with brown hair in bunches is wearing a brown short and cream waistcoat. She is pretending to smoke a pipe. A seated female actor is looking at her daughter. She has curly hair tied in a bun and is wearing a cream high collar shirt. They are Pip and Mona from a show called Lighthouse about two deaf women trying to keep a lighthouse running after their Dad/Husband has gone missing.
A storm is blowing. Pip is outside on the lighthouse balcony, the freedom of the wind wrapped around her. Mona sits alone by the fire wondering what she has done to deserve this.
Lighthouse tells the story of a d/Deaf mother and daughter, exploring the tensions and comforts within, and is performed by two d/Deaf actors in both BSL and English, with additional interpretation.
Mona’s husband is missing, but their tenancy in the lighthouse and the home she fought for is at risk, so mother and daughter struggle to keep the lighthouse working, trying to cover up that he is gone.
Lighthouse is a poignant piece exploring both the power and limits of love. Against the storm, how will the two d/Deaf women’s relationship survive being thrown between confinement and liberty?
Lighthouse is the third and final professional piece of disabled-led theatre commissioned by Cultural Shift, and written and directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott. Vici’s pioneering and critically acclaimed work aims to challenge perceptions of disabled people in contemporary British culture, and ask questions about the society we have become. More than holding up a mirror, her productions act as interventions in the cultural landscape.
Lighthouse tells the story of a d/Deaf mother and daughter, exploring the tensions and comforts within, and is performed by two d/Deaf actors in both BSL and English, with additional interpretation.
Mona’s husband is missing, but their tenancy in the lighthouse and the home she fought for is at risk, so mother and daughter struggle to keep the lighthouse working, trying to cover up that he is gone.
Lighthouse is a poignant piece exploring both the power and limits of love. Against the storm, how will the two d/Deaf women’s relationship survive being thrown between confinement and liberty?
Lighthouse is the third and final professional piece of disabled-led theatre commissioned by Cultural Shift, and written and directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott. Vici’s pioneering and critically acclaimed work aims to challenge perceptions of disabled people in contemporary British culture, and ask questions about the society we have become. More than holding up a mirror, her productions act as interventions in the cultural landscape.
A Little Cog production in association with ARC Stockton
Never-Neverland
Written by Pauline Heath Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Image description - There are two images, the first is a side on portrait of the actor and writer Pauline Heath. She is smiling and has long red hair. The second image is an extract of an illustration by Max Wreford-Sinnott. It has a blue background, former Prime Minister Theresa May who is holding a spy glass up to her eye and two older male MPs are leaning in towards her. A sign abover her head says, 'Pry Minister'.
It is just after the election in Never-Neverland and the peasants grow restless whilst the leaders drink champagne, gallons of it, on expenses… sound like groundhog day? It is.
Join us as Pauline Heath, our Never-Neverland tour guide, draws us into a world populated with characters that the Brothers Grimm would be scared of, and creates a fantasy of horrors which are too far-fetched too believe – or are they? You’ll probably recognise more of this world and its politics than you’d like.
21st century storytelling and projected illustrations combine to create a dark, satirical fairytale that looks at who we’ve become as a society.
Illustrations by Max Wreford-Sinnott
Join us as Pauline Heath, our Never-Neverland tour guide, draws us into a world populated with characters that the Brothers Grimm would be scared of, and creates a fantasy of horrors which are too far-fetched too believe – or are they? You’ll probably recognise more of this world and its politics than you’d like.
21st century storytelling and projected illustrations combine to create a dark, satirical fairytale that looks at who we’ve become as a society.
Illustrations by Max Wreford-Sinnott
A Cultural Shift Commission in partnership with ARC Stockton and Little Cog
Butterfly
Written and directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Image description - Actor Jacqueline Phillips playing Beatrice in the show Butterfly. She is lying on a table, partially covered by a sheet, holding herself up on one arm with her other arm raised upwards. There is a silver bowl at her feet on the table. A BSL interpreter is in the background, as is a grey scrubbed wall representing the interior of an assessment centre.
Beatrice, an unlikely heroine, sits in isolation, waiting for the outcome of a forced mental health assessment. She loved Bowie and the Bay City Rollers back then, and now revisits a personal history she only just remembers. But there is an important detail she has forgotten. Boudica and Butterfly guide her through both big historical moments and small personal details to re-imagine the corner she feels she has been painted into. If she could change the past would she?
Beatrice examines whether the chaos theory of stigma has informed the status of people in her present. Whenever that is.
This clever, funny, dark piece allows us to assess how we treat human beings in the 21st century, expertly performed by Jacqueline Phillips.
What this play is not: It is not all in Beatrice’s head – the characters all exist within the world of the piece. It is not an exploration of a mental health condition. It is not about ‘suffering from’ or ‘surviving’ a condition. It is about the history of stigma, and misunderstandings and misrepresentations. It is about setting the record straight.
Oh, and who is Elizabeth?
An ARC Stockton Cultural Shift production developed in association with Little Cog.
Performed by Jaqueline Phillips
Butterfly will be BSL interpreted.
Please contact ARC if you have any queries about mental health triggers in this piece.
Vici is an associate artist of ARC Stockton and is currently working as Disability Agent of Change on their Cultural Shift programme. This creation of this piece has been informed by the experiences of people with mental health problems.
Beatrice examines whether the chaos theory of stigma has informed the status of people in her present. Whenever that is.
This clever, funny, dark piece allows us to assess how we treat human beings in the 21st century, expertly performed by Jacqueline Phillips.
What this play is not: It is not all in Beatrice’s head – the characters all exist within the world of the piece. It is not an exploration of a mental health condition. It is not about ‘suffering from’ or ‘surviving’ a condition. It is about the history of stigma, and misunderstandings and misrepresentations. It is about setting the record straight.
Oh, and who is Elizabeth?
An ARC Stockton Cultural Shift production developed in association with Little Cog.
Performed by Jaqueline Phillips
Butterfly will be BSL interpreted.
Please contact ARC if you have any queries about mental health triggers in this piece.
Vici is an associate artist of ARC Stockton and is currently working as Disability Agent of Change on their Cultural Shift programme. This creation of this piece has been informed by the experiences of people with mental health problems.
A Little Cog production in association with ARC Stockton
Occupation
Written by Pauline Heath Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Image description - two professional actors are in the forground - Andrew McLay and Coll Metcalfe. Andrew is a wheelchair user. Both are wearing white tops. Four members of a community cast wearing black are in the background with their arms raised in the air. Coll and Andrew look serious. It is an image from Occupation by Pauline Heath.
In a world of sanctions, forced treatment, and divided communities, people are being pushed to the edge.
An ex-soldier, a lost youth, a professional and a parent take their places around a monument at a disability rally, and shine a light on how austerity has affected disabled people and their families and what it means for generations to come. They are being pushed onto the streets to make their voices heard. ‘Human rights’ are ridiculed and people who would never before have dreamed of attending a protest are now gathering to speak out.
With an original music score by North East musician and composer Keith Mills, comic silent movies pastiches, and four fantastic actors who are accompanied by a 12 strong chorus from local community groups, Occupation is going to be a real community event.
Written by Pauline Heath, Movement Facilitation by Lisette Auton, Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
An ex-soldier, a lost youth, a professional and a parent take their places around a monument at a disability rally, and shine a light on how austerity has affected disabled people and their families and what it means for generations to come. They are being pushed onto the streets to make their voices heard. ‘Human rights’ are ridiculed and people who would never before have dreamed of attending a protest are now gathering to speak out.
With an original music score by North East musician and composer Keith Mills, comic silent movies pastiches, and four fantastic actors who are accompanied by a 12 strong chorus from local community groups, Occupation is going to be a real community event.
Written by Pauline Heath, Movement Facilitation by Lisette Auton, Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
A Little Cog production in association with ARC Stockton
Matryoshka
Written by Alison Carr Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
A close up of three female actors. They are all wearing identical sunglasses and headscarves, reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn. They all have the same shade of lipstick on, are smiling wryly and looking upwards.
With exquisite poetic writing from Alison Carr, Matryoshka is a contemporary devised piece combining physicality, soundscape, film and image to give a platform to hidden voices. It explores the Russian Doll in all of us. A dynamic and talented cast tackle the role of a changing landscape in shaping identity, and iconic and not so well known moments in history that have shaped our experience.
Alison says: “It’s a play about power struggles, and particularly the way that those in power try to silence dissent – especially when the dissent comes from those voices who are usually ignored and swept aside. It involves three generations of women in a modern 21st Century family telling the story of the doomed Romanov dynasty during the Russian Revolution. There’s a lot of comedy and human warmth in the family, but there’s also the darkness of how those in power pull the strings of everyday lives".
About Alison Carr
Alison survived a hit and run car when she was 9 years old. After being in a coma for several weeks, her life was changed forever but Alison has gone on to be one of our region's most prolific poets with a unique voice, and particulary exploring ideas around identity. Her unique style has attracted a number of significant supporters, such as Wendy Robertson, Avril Joy, Andy Croft (Smokestack Books), Bob Beagrie (Ek Zuban) and Mudfog Press. Alison believes that writing chose her. She is much published in anthologies, her own play Coal Dust Whisper's Song was published by Mudfog Press in 2010, she has won literary prizes and in more recent years has turned her attention to the construction of performance pieces with artistic collaborators, using poetry, music, sound, and visuals.
Alison says: “It’s a play about power struggles, and particularly the way that those in power try to silence dissent – especially when the dissent comes from those voices who are usually ignored and swept aside. It involves three generations of women in a modern 21st Century family telling the story of the doomed Romanov dynasty during the Russian Revolution. There’s a lot of comedy and human warmth in the family, but there’s also the darkness of how those in power pull the strings of everyday lives".
About Alison Carr
Alison survived a hit and run car when she was 9 years old. After being in a coma for several weeks, her life was changed forever but Alison has gone on to be one of our region's most prolific poets with a unique voice, and particulary exploring ideas around identity. Her unique style has attracted a number of significant supporters, such as Wendy Robertson, Avril Joy, Andy Croft (Smokestack Books), Bob Beagrie (Ek Zuban) and Mudfog Press. Alison believes that writing chose her. She is much published in anthologies, her own play Coal Dust Whisper's Song was published by Mudfog Press in 2010, she has won literary prizes and in more recent years has turned her attention to the construction of performance pieces with artistic collaborators, using poetry, music, sound, and visuals.
A Little Cog production in association with ARC Stockton
The Art of Not Getting Lost
Written and directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Image description - an old fashioned brown suitcase is sitting on the grass, It has a large luggage label on it which says The Art of Not Getting Lost, which is the title of the play.
Vici Wreford-Sinnott is a professional disabled playwright and theatre director based in the North East of England. Having trained in Theatre Direction at the University of Kent she has worked in theatre and Disability Arts for 23 years. The Art of Not Getting Lost signifies a return to theatre-making after ten years in strategic roles in Disability Arts. The piece tackles mental health stigma using visual, digital, physical, political theatre.
Most of us get lost at some point in our lives, in train stations, car parks, in a maze, the wilderness, the desert, or the forest. We get distracted or have a trauma, and we get bored or ignored. With whatever survival kit we can grab, we try to leave our mark.
Two characters, Everyone and No-One, have made their home in the hidden underground tunnels of Bakerloo Station, creating their own fictional Lost Property centre. The station clock is against them as their presence has been detected, and the heavy boot mob is closing in. The piece is an exploration of friendship, truth and lies, and what happens to people when they are under pressure of stigma. Do they hide, do they look the other way or, do they stand up and be counted. It’s an exploration of the stigma surrounding mental health problems and Everyone and No-one tell the stories of mental health past and present, stolen lives and well kept secrets, and look at how we arrive at our ideas of what is and isn’t ‘normal’.
One in four people will experience mental health distress at some point in our lives. It does not define who we are but there remain many negative and stereotypical perceptions. It affects all of us in some way and if we do not talk about it, it will remain hidden, shameful and stigmatised.
The Art of Not Getting Lost is performed by Ree Collins and Eleanor Crawford.
The performance is BSL Interpreted
“intense, innovative and thought provoking, cleverly written and skilfully executed”
Shout North East
“Compelling theatre. I was completely drawn into the world the characters had created.”
Audience Member, ARC Stockton
Most of us get lost at some point in our lives, in train stations, car parks, in a maze, the wilderness, the desert, or the forest. We get distracted or have a trauma, and we get bored or ignored. With whatever survival kit we can grab, we try to leave our mark.
Two characters, Everyone and No-One, have made their home in the hidden underground tunnels of Bakerloo Station, creating their own fictional Lost Property centre. The station clock is against them as their presence has been detected, and the heavy boot mob is closing in. The piece is an exploration of friendship, truth and lies, and what happens to people when they are under pressure of stigma. Do they hide, do they look the other way or, do they stand up and be counted. It’s an exploration of the stigma surrounding mental health problems and Everyone and No-one tell the stories of mental health past and present, stolen lives and well kept secrets, and look at how we arrive at our ideas of what is and isn’t ‘normal’.
One in four people will experience mental health distress at some point in our lives. It does not define who we are but there remain many negative and stereotypical perceptions. It affects all of us in some way and if we do not talk about it, it will remain hidden, shameful and stigmatised.
The Art of Not Getting Lost is performed by Ree Collins and Eleanor Crawford.
The performance is BSL Interpreted
“intense, innovative and thought provoking, cleverly written and skilfully executed”
Shout North East
“Compelling theatre. I was completely drawn into the world the characters had created.”
Audience Member, ARC Stockton
