In May, our General Manager Michael Eaglesome and our Funding Advisor, Diane, represented Glass Ceiling Arts Collective at the global multi-sensory symposium organised by Frozen Light Theatre, in Norwich in the UK. The symposium offered a rare opportunity to meet an array of disability Arts practitioners, from throughout the UK, who are all working in the multi-sensory theatre space.

Michael was asked to sit on an industry panel, to provide a New Zealand perspective on the question 'The Next 10 Years of Sensory Theatre'. He says that everyone at the symposium was very welcoming and keen to learn about the multi-sensory Arts landscape of New Zealand. He also says the symposium offered a fast-track to learning more about multi-sensory theatre, given there are many organisations in the UK who have been working in this space for a long time.

The symposium in Norwich finished on a high, with a trip to the theatre to see Frozen Light’s immersive sensory sound experience, Fire Songs.

Fire Songs’ target audience is people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, but our audience included attendees of the symposium, both with and without disabilities. The production quality of Fire Songs is very high, and the delivery is intimate. Up front and personal as all good multi-sensory theatre experiences should be. The production is quite special, as it includes a local community choir as part of the performance in each location it visits. With not a dry eye in the theatre, the show was proof that rich theatrical experiences can indeed be inclusive and of great appeal to diverse audiences.

Firesongs - an immersive sensory sound experience for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

The opportunity for sharing knowledge and for collaboration in the multi-sensory theatre space is huge, and Glass Ceiling Arts Collective is very excited to be a part of the international community of multisensory art creators.

Michael’s trip to the UK, to attend the sensory symposium was funded through the Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund.

Photos: thanks to JMA Photography and Frozen Light