Embracing Arts

36 / FEATURE ➜ SPOTLIGHT

A sensory theatre for a digital world

A special educational need or disability should not reduce access to the arts but in many cases it does. Embracing Arts was established to help all children experience theatre and the arts. We speak to Claire Sundin, artistic director, about the charity’s experiences during the pandemic, and what this means for their future work.

What does your charity, Embracing Arts, do?

The children we work with have complex needs, ASD, PMLD or life-limiting illness. We, like many others, believe that every child should be able to enjoy the magic of theatre, and we provide theatrical experiences that can be brought to them, wherever they are. Our work is multi-sensory and participatory and can be tailored to the needs of each audience using storytelling, song, music and puppetry to entertain, engage and educate.

When did you start your work with children?

We have been working with children’s hospices and SEND schools since 2009, bringing interactive sensory shows into their venues over the Christmas period, free of charge with our annual project, Christmas for Kids. In 2020, we began delivering inclusive parties and workshops for SEND schools. Our mission is to improve wellbeing for those participating and our work is inclusive, sensory, musical, interactive, and performer led.

How did the pandemic change things for you?

In 2020, we planned to tour our Christmas show to over 60 venues including children’s hospices, hospitals and SEND schools across the UK. Covid-19 had a huge impact on our plans, as it has for so many others.

Our first responsibility was to our participants. We were aware that our work with the most vulnerable and isolated audiences was needed more than ever. Initially, we created a series of songs and stories, read by our puppets and sung by our alumni of actors, available on our YouTube channel. But this would not be a replacement for our ‘in-person’ tour.

BIO

C L A I R E S U N D I N

Claire has worked with children with complex needs for over 15 years.

She graduated from the Liverpool Institute of

Performing Arts (LIPA) and is an actor, singer, drama facilitator and artistic director of Embracing

Arts. Claire directs the

Christmas for Kids project, digital productions and devises Embracing

Arts parties and school workshops. To register for the free show, visit

https://bit.ly/3pRCzer

and to find out more about the charity, visit

www.embracingarts.org.uk

What were the main challenges for you during the pandemic?

We had to adapt our work to a digital format, and the biggest question for us was how to create interactive, sensory theatre for our audiences when we could not be physical with them. Immediately, we were losing one of the most important senses and a great communication tool in our work: touch.

How did you continue to reach children?

After many meetings, we produced a digital show called ‘Benson’s Christmas Letter’, based on one of our existing shows. We used green-screen technology to create a colourful, animated world, incorporating our Immediately, we were lively puppets and using symbols and direct losing one of the most address to interact with our audiences. This important senses and a show was distributed to every children’s great communication tool hospice in the UK, and to 100 SEND schools in our work: touch. UK-wide, reaching over 2,000 children, carers, teachers and family members. In order to retain the interactive elements of our in-person shows, we provided a resource pack which guided families, teachers and care professionals through the film, highlighting when to use physical props such as musical instruments, materials, costume and light stimuli.

Were there any advantages to going digital, and what was the feedback?

We were able to treble our usual outreach of participants, unrestricted by geography or funding, and audiences appreciated the flexibility of being able to see us when, where and how they liked. Being able to press pause when you need to take a break is very useful, and we found that family, carers and teachers were also encouraged to take part.

Our formal evaluation of the show reported that 100 per cent of hospices and 92 per cent of SEND schools agreed that the show improved the mental wellbeing of the children who saw it. This, alongside focus groups and interviews, provided positive and useful feedback as we trialled a new platform for our show delivery.

Will you be going fully digital now?

Our main concern was our audience, as not everyone is an avid screen user; some may find it hard to focus on a screen for a period of time and prefer a live format. For us, we miss the connection that comes through touch and sensing the needs of the audience in person. We also missed the reactions of the audience during the performance. Even with feedback forms and surveys to monitor our impact, nothing quite matches the physical reaction you get from the audience directly.

What are your plans for the next year?

For 2021, we remained on the digital platform and created a new show called ‘Phoebe’s First Christmas’. You can still register your interest in receiving this FREE digital show using the Eventbrite link on page 36. This link enabled schools, children’s hospices, community groups and families to register and access to the show alongside all our resources, videos and guides.

In 2022, we hope to be back on the road with a UK-wide ‘In-Person Tour’. We will also offer a digital show alongside this, as we have learned that both platforms can and should co-exist in a blended format, offering us the chance to reach as many people as possible with an offering that they can access and enjoy.

Finally, has the pandemic changed your mission at all?

Not as such. As a charity we are always learning, developing and growing. We continue to adapt our work to the needs of our audiences. The discussion on accessible theatre is a huge one, and we contribute to this as much as we can – experimenting, taking risks and breaking down barriers, with the intention of widening the scope of inclusivity and accessibility of the arts for all.