Vici Wreford-Sinnott is an enduring figure in the region’s disability activist movement, from the post-punk era to current battles, especially in the light of recent government announcements regarding welfare reforms which will undoubtedly hit people with disabilities very hard.
Originally trained as a theatre director, Vici uses whatever art forms best serves as a medium for her message. In 2011 she founded Little Cog, a disability-led production company which aims to put the hidden stories and experiences of disabled people centre-stage, whilst challenging entrenched historical and medical perceptions of disability and disabled people. The company works with disabled theatre actors, writers, artists, designers, thinkers and practitioners, aiming to fill a gap in the theatre landscape with work that is both beautiful and challenging, powerful and comedic.
Unruly
Unruly is no exception. It is tub-thumping political theatre laced with profanity alongside poetic text, accompanied by a haunting sound score, set on a verdant stage full of ephemera sprouting greenery redolent of the repeated references to Sir John Everett Millais’ iconic painting of ‘Ophelia’. For this production Vici has brought together designer Lu Herbert and musician Beccy Owen, the latter appearing live on stage with Vici to represent multiple characters in addition to providing original music and song. The whole is expertly held together through an episodic narrative under the careful direction of Bex Bowsher.
The main narrative focuses on a childhood friendship between Marina and Suze who are best mates until Suze steals Marina’s putative boyfriend. The friends grow apart, approaching day-to-day struggles in different ways. At some point, reflecting on a life of activism, Marina decides that she must be the guardian of their activist history and the wider disability rights movement. But when she approaches a possible venue to host an exhibition she is told that it won’t be possible as the audience might be distressed by the content. Sadly, stories such as this abound in the arts world where gate-keepers are increasingly timid and risk-averse.
In addition to Marina and Suze’s story, the play offers a slice of history from a feminist perspective, tracing the roots of the movement back to figures such as so-called witch Elizabeth Device, and including the suffragette Adelaide Knight, American entertainer Frances O’Connor and Noor Inayat Khan who was executed in Dachau for her work as a British special agent radio operator in Nazi occupied France. These extraordinary women whose disabling conditions set them apart, are represented through symbolic objects wrapped in brown paper and tied with coloured ribbons. Vici honours each of them, telling their forgotten stories, expertly summoning up their indomitable spirits to sit with us in the space. She also includes Dora, a |North East woman who spent most of her life incarcerated in a mental institution before eventually being able to live independently in her own flat. (The performance of Unruly at Live Theatre was followed up by an illuminating Q&A where, amongst other things, we learnt the significance of Beccy Owen’s morse code musical signatures for the historical figures.)
Injustice
The experience of being on the receiving end of discrimination and subject to dehumanising language and treatment is writ large throughout. Being labelled ‘freaks’ or defined as ‘handicapped’ (through the application of the medical model of disability) is still a common occurrence. In the play Marina and friends confront this injustice with up-front, out-loud and in-your-face responses – swearing, singing, protesting, all the while ‘punked-up’ to the eyeballs. But the constant battle for full equality is exhausting, and sadly not yet won. Moreover, it must continue apace in light of Rachel Reeves’ punishing welfare reforms which are predicted to target more than three million households, with the disabled bearing the brunt of these attacks.
Inclusive approach
In the arts sector it has taken a long time for people with disabilities to claim their rightful place, centre-stage, telling their stories in their words. A key aspect of Unruly is the inclusive approach to both the creative professionals and the audience with BSL interpretation provided throughout by Sue Lee, who is just as ‘punked-up’ as Vici and Beccy. Credit goes to Stockton’s ARC for investing in new, experimental and challenging work, and to their support for Vici who is one of ARC’s Creative Associates. We need more work like this to challenge apathy and motivate us for the fight which is coming.
You can catch Unruly at Darlington Hippodrome on Friday March 28 before the play tours to Colchester and Southampton.
