Short Summary
My name
is Kate Caryer. I am a rude, pink-haired, theatre lover and a pain in the arse.
Oh, and I have a little thing called athetoid cerebral palsy, which means I use a wheelchair and a communication aid
(think punk haired Stephen Hawking). Even without speech I have a lot to say.
On the
serious side I have a Bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts and a Master’s
degree in disability studies.
I have
always loved theatre, but I very rarely see people like me on the stage. If
they do show up, they are usually weak, uninteresting caricatures, written by
non-disabled people, and not representative of the interesting diverse group of
disabled people that I know. Such roles are also usually given to non-disabled
actors!
Wanting
to do something about this, I started The Unspoken Project CIC,
along with Paul C. Mooney as Artistic Director, to give acting opportunities to
disabled and non-disabled actors, and to bring the real stories of disabled
people to the stage. Our first production, Speechless, shockingly
overwrites everything you know about people without speech, and introduces
their own stories to stage and is due to premier later this year.
We are thrilled to be given the opportunity to bring
our first show to the 30th anniversary of Communication Matters annual
conference in Leeds in September 2016. Communication Matters is the leading
charity for non – speech communication.
We hope our dark humour will break through the
barriers built up by years of inaccurate representation of disabled people.
What We Need & What You Get
We have
calculated for this premier production we would need about £6500. The budget
can be broken down as follows:-
Wages
|
£5000
|
5
actors, director, musical director
at Equity rates
|
Rehearsal
space hire
|
£ 500
|
|
Accommodation
|
£ 450
|
2
nights at hotel
|
Train
fares
|
£ 334
|
London
to Leeds return
5
people
|
Meals
|
£ 175
|
Dinners
at conference
|
|
|
|
Total
|
£6459
|
|
|
|
|
It is important to us that all of our actors are paid
fairly for their time and efforts. In line with Equity's 'No Pay, Low Pay'
campaign, we recognise the damaging effects of asking professional actors to
work for little or no pay.
We have already raised £4000 and, allowing for
contingencies, an extra £3000 would make this show spectacular.
Check out our unique and quirky perks for funders.
This show WILL take place, even if we do not reach our
target. The shortfall will have to come
out of my pocket – a poor crippled spastic – can your conscience let you live
with this? (Sometimes inaccurate media
representation can be used to my advantage!)
Or we will have to kill off one of our disabled cast members – a popular
plot device currently in the news.
The Impact
Speechless shockingly overwrites everything
you think you know about people without speech, and introduces their own
stories to stage.
It tells the story of
19-year-old Rebecca Walker. Like me, she has no speech due to cerebral palsy.
However, like many people in the UK and worldwide, Rebecca has no access to a
communication aid or other methods of alternative communication. This means
that her story, opinions, and devious teenage thoughts remain unspoken.
When Mr and Mrs Walker
leave their so-called ‘baby daughter’ with a personal assistant, they did not
know that the cotton wool imprisoning world that they lovingly built for their
frail little disabled girl would come tumbling down. Nor did they realise from this,
a strong disabled young woman will find her voice, and will use this voice to
change her parents view of disability and herself.
A coming-of-age tale of a
woman with cerebral palsy that explores assistive communication in a light that
hasn’t been seen in the world of theatre before!
Risks & Challenges
Paul and I are both
experienced theatre makers and we have built up a dream team of fine actors who
have given us incredible support right from the first read through.
All adventures have risks
but we are confident that, with the support and commitment we have received
from both the disability and theatre worlds, we are well placed to cope with
any challenges that come our way. We
have a guaranteed audience, as some tickets will be given to Conference
delegates.
Other Ways You Can Help
Contributions of any size would
be welcome, but if you cannot contribute financially, please spread the word in
any way you can and use the Indiegogo share tools. The world needs this play!