In Australia and in many other countries, professional performing artists with disabilities experience significant barriers to access and employment opportunities. In APAM’s Wire #15 in December 2021, we started a dialogue about what organisations including theatre companies and performing arts venues can do to create more sustainable artistic development and employment pathways, rather than one-off opportunities which simply ‘tick a box’. Realising in December that we were merely scratching the surface, APAM now presents Part 2 of this conversation in collaboration with Dan Graham, a Sydney-based theatre director and disability advocate. We will hear from performing artists and arts workers from Australia and the United States on what is currently being done and what needs to change.

Curated and hosted by Dan Graham, our panel of speakers is Anita Hollander (New York-based actress, composer, director and teacher), Kate Hood (Raspberry Ripple Productions, Australia), Jacqueline Tooley (writer, producer, filmmaker, advocate and Accessibility Manager for Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Dr Katie Ellis (Director of the Centre for Culture and Technology at Curtin University) and Oliver Ross (writer and producer across film and theatre and an advocate for trans and neurodiverse storytelling).

This conversation will be live-captioned and it will have Auslan interpretation. Please contact us at hello@apam.org.au if you have accessibility requirements.