Robert Softley
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You’ve all heard this story a thousand times before. Take any
young boy whose family are all involved in the local amateur drama
club and it’d be surprising if he could escape the clutches of
the stage. However, my story is perhaps a little different from most. To say that I was born on the side of a stage might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's fair to say I've spent much of my life there! My family have always been involved in theatre - my sister joined our local drama club, the Kirkintilloch Players, when she was 10 and then she convinced my mum to get involved. My dad was never too enthusiastic - being of an older generation he tended to question the 'orientation' of any man who acted! My mum went on to do fourteen consecutive years playing the 'village idiot' in their annual pantomime, becoming a local legend. Both she and my sister have been in a range of productions, including 'The Dancing Fusilier' by Mike Tibbetts, winning the British One Act Final in 1997. My early involvement with the Kirkintilloch Players was as an avid audience member and critic. At the age of 11 I became involved with backstage work, painting sets and so on. I then went on to help organise and eventually coordinate all of the props used in their annual pantomime. When the local 60-seater theatre was refurbished, a new lighting and sound system was installed. As one of the few club members with I.T. knowledge, I was soon in charge of the lighting and sound for many Players' productions. In 2002, I co-directed our entry in the SCDA One-act Youth Festival, The Cagebirds, by David Campton. We didn't win, but I really enjoyed the process. So, up to this point I had been involved in just about every aspect of amateur theatre — but had never trodden the boards myself. Why had nobody ever suggested that I have a go at acting? Well, I’d guess that as a disabled person, the idea of going on stage with an amateur club like the Kirkintilloch Players just wasn't realistic - their audience base is pretty mainstream and, well, can I say mature? How would they cope with an actor in a wheelchair who has slurred speech? Despite taking Theatre Studies as one of my courses at University, opportunities to try performing were few and far between. And this would have been where my story ends, had it not been for a talk I gave in March of 2002. I'd been public speaking on a regular basis since I was 17, usually on the subject of inclusion within education. In 2002 I was giving a talk about the merits of inclusion in the arts to a conference called 'Changing Hearts, Winning Minds ' In the audience was the research officer for Theatre Workshop (Edinburgh), a professional producing theatre company that employs both disabled and non-disabled actors. An audition was offered, and to my astonishment, a one-year contract quickly followed. That was five years ago and since then I’ve been working as a professional actor for various theatre companies around the UK as well as appearances on BBC Radio Drama and a glancing part in River City. My other, full-time job is running a project called Agent for Change at Birds of Paradise Theatre Company. Our aim is to address the lack of disabled actors on the mainstream Scottish stage by influencing individuals and companies who have the capability to, for example, turn the idea of an actually-disabled Richard III on stage in to a reality. Part of the problem is that most young people who end up becoming professional actors start off in youth or amateur theatres. For disabled young people, this route might not be available – even if buildings are accessible, the negative attitudes mentioned previously might prevent them from performing alongside their non-disabled peers. I would say that it isn’t my impairment that disables me, it’s the inaccessible building and prejudiced views that actually prevent me from achieving something – that’s what dis – ables. Amateur theatres have the perfect opportunity, and indeed the legal responsibility to ensure that young disabled people get the chance to participate in drama. There are bound to be other young disabled people out there who have a lot to gain from, and a lot to offer, community theatres. |
