arts
By Carole Lander
Darebin leads the way
There ’ s always a festival happening somewhere in Melbourne . The city prides itself on this and Melbournians are often spoiled for choice with national and international festivals in the CBD . Link writer Carole Lander discovers some suburban councils are also getting in on the act .
One of those councils is Darebin City Council , where the Arts ’ Speakeasy is a year-round independent theatre program of contemporary performances by emerging and established artists .
But how many of these events are accessible to people with disability ? Theatre companies may advertise the fact that they have wheelchair access and Auslan-interpreted performances , but Darebin stands out from the crowd .
Samantha Butterworth ( pictured above ) is a producer in the Creative Culture and Events team at Darebin City Council , where they are dedicated to including people of all abilities in their events .
Samantha joined in November 2017 , straight after a secondment to the United Kingdom where she witnessed first-hand what was being achieved at places such as the Battersea Arts Centre in London and Quarantine in Manchester . These companies provide people with disability equal opportunities to attend and participate in a range of programs .
Like Battersea in London , audience members in Darebin who are prone to sensory overload can enjoy what are known as ‘ relaxed ’ performances where the rules of theatre are modified . The house lights remain on and people can move around . Chill-out areas away from the performance space are also provided . Relaxed performance packs prepare audience members by explaining what the theatre looks like and warning them about what might happen – for example , lighting effects or loud noises .
After completing a degree in acting and film production at Deakin University , Samantha went straight into the creative side of producing theatre . She looks forward to a time in the future when artists with disability can find themselves on a level playing field with those without disability .
“ But we ’ re not there yet , so I ’ m proud of a new initiative at Darebin this year called ‘ Your Platform ’,” she said . For ‘ Your Platform ’, a panel of highly respected artists was engaged to review applications from theatre groups and artists with disability who wanted to be part of the 2018 Melbourne Fringe Season at Darebin . The panel comprised Fiona Cook ( Arts Development Manager at Arts Access Victoria ), Kate Hood ( writerperformer ) and Emma Jane Hawkins ( performing artist featured in June 2018 edition of Link ).
Out of seven high-calibre applications , the panel selected two
34 arts linkonline . com . au