“Your wonky little body” What’s stopping the arts from being more inclusive

Only 6% of people within the arts identify as having a disability. Will Gardner investigates what the industry can do to be more representative.

From a young age, Ryan Addyman loved the idea of being on stage and wanted to perform after his parents met through their love of theatre. 

Ryan is an acting musicianship student at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA).

But as he gotten older, he’s faced further diagnosis such as supraventricular tachycardia, Tourette’s and hyper-mobility issues. Despite some of them being almost treated they still affect him daily. 

From non-epileptic seizures to dizzy head rushes of an intense schedule is: “Knackering for anybody, let alone when you add your wonky little body into it.”

But it’s not just the physicality of his conditions it’s also a mental battle, “I’ve been slowly getting diagnosed with more things. I found myself freezing up in class and it is such a mental battle, because your mind is still completely there going, you know this song, you’ve just got to sing it, but your body is just physically not cooperating.

“Battle between being completely mentally aware and being like, this is so dumb, you can just do it. And then, you know your legs just giving out beneath you.”

Ryan spoke of just one time his body froze as time ticked along, “I just had a massive seizure on the floor that lasted about 30 minutes.

“So we’re having to perform tomorrow instead of in the really nice atmosphere that we would have liked to perform in”  

Despite the complications to his studies he still feels supported “you need, sit down if you need to, it’s absolutely no worry” 

But he has had some complications with the long schedule: “But if I need to sit down or step out, then I will just get on with what I need to do so I’m not disrupted.

“And he was like, well, can you just try?

“I developed what we think was carpal tunnel during the last project.

“Pushing through it, which then caused problems later down the line.”

However, a knowledge of himself and understanding of his body has helped him understand what his limits are he said: “It’s just having confidence in knowing yourself and knowing what your body can take.”

This understanding of his body has led to some issues with his studies as at LIPA as they have a policy of being any second late to class you are not allowed in and miss the rest of the day. 

He explained: “I was 30 seconds late.

“And so, I had to miss the entire day, because the teacher was literally on the door. So, some days where I could have been realistically in for the entire day, I’ve had to miss because of a tiny little flare up.”

A spokesperson from LIPA said: “Student welfare is a top priority, and we endeavour to take a fair and consistent approach to the application of our policies.”

But for those with disabilities he argues that it was a driving factor for his passion: “Without the autism, the ADHD, I literally wouldn’t be doing what I am now.”

However, there are theatre companies actively supporting disability and ensuring they’re at the forefront of their productions.

RAWD (Random Acts Wildness Disability) in Liverpool is run by Co-CEO Steffi Sweeney. 

Their weekly sessions create a community and give a space for disabled people on the stage. 

Steffi explains why disability led theatre is so important: “What’s happening is that the disabled narrative is being completely eradicated from any culture and art and I think what we really need to do is engage everybody in understanding the perspective of a disabled person, opening doors so they can tell their story on their terms because their lived experience is much better than just someone trying to include someone for the sake of it.”

Sam, a volunteer at RAWD, told me how the experience has shifted her perspective towards her son James who has Down Syndrome “I was upset about and I was concerned I was like what if he doesn’t and I used to try and finish that sentence you know like what if he doesn’t, what if he can’t read, what if he can’t write, what if he can’t…”

She explained why she joined: “I don’t think I really knew anybody, I just kind of wanted to spend more time in spaces that James might spend time in when he gets older and to kind of just become more aware of the experiences of people with disability as best I could in terms of kind of being able to help James advocate for himself, navigate him through his life.”

The arts are hard to access but a statement from the Arts Council England says: “Things have improved: disabled artists are more visible, access is considered more often, and access costs are more likely to be included in budgets. But progress has been uneven and too much still relies on individual organisations or people pushing against the system.”

With the arts being hard to access it is still never impossible from students and theatre groups, support is around and everyone will appreciate those who challenge the systems ahead of them.