Posted January 22, 2024
Behind the Scenes – Accessibility Coordinator
Our first Behind the Scenes interviewee is Kayla Besse, Accessibility Coordinator for the Stratford Festival. Prior to this, Kayla worked as the Public Education Coordinator at Tangled Art + Disability, a disability-led art gallery in Toronto. She co-produces and co-hosts the Crip Times podcast. She earned both her Bachelor and Master’s degrees from The School of English & Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. These days, she mostly wants to facilitate a nice time for disabled people in the arts, because it shouldn’t be as hard as it is.
Kayla, you are working hard to make the Stratford Festival accessible to a wider range of audience members. Can you tell us about some of the types of accommodations are you able to make for patrons who need them?
Currently, we are excited to offer four specific types of accessible performances: Audio Described (where on-stage action is described via headset, designed with Blind and lowvision people in mind), American Sign Language Interpreted (for Deaf audiences), Open Captioned (for d/Deaf or hard of hearing audiences, and anyone else who benefits from captions), and Relaxed Performances (designed with autistic and neurodivergent people in mind, and welcoming to anyone who benefits from a more relaxed environment for a number of reasons).
The initiatives to make Stratford more accessible also extend to the Festival’s workers, both on and offstage. How has the Festival become more accessible to theatre professionals living with disability?
There have always been folks with visible and invisible disabilities working as theatre professionals. Something I often say is that everyone has access needs, disabled or not, but we might not call them that. I’m glad to be in a position where I can invite everyone to be as transparent as they need to be about what might help them do their jobs as comfortably as possible. All acting company members are asked about their access needs at various points in the season, including in a welcome survey, and at our pre-rehearsal orientations. I believe when we are aware of each other’s differences, it can help us form a more caring and supportive community. I am very open about the fact that I myself am disabled, and have seen the effect that “going first” can have in terms of having more open conversations about disability in the workplace. This is particularly powerful in the theatre,where people’s bodies are often asked to perform at a high level of “wellness” day after day.
What does a more accessible theatre space look like? This might look like physical changes to the space, like modifying dressing rooms to have things like grab bars and automatic doors. Last season, our wonderful carpenters made a custom lowered clothing rack for a wheelchair-using actor. Sometimes accessibility is more attitudinal. Many employees (myself included) have remote or hybrid work schedules, which means that we can be a part of the theatre community even when disability or other constraints make it difficult for us to be in-person every day. When we remove barriers in the environment people are working and playing in, they will have more space to make great art!
Audiences in Shakespeare’s era were far more vocal and interactive than the usual “polite” theatre audiences of today. At Stratford, you’ve introduced relaxed performances during the runs, where audience members are free to make sounds, move around, and experience theatre in a more casual way. What can we learn from relaxing the usual expectations surrounding audience behaviour?
This is such a great observation, and an excellent thing to share with people who may be unsure or unfamiliar with relaxed performances. Relaxed performances really help us consider: What does it mean to be a ‘good’ audience? The vision of a still, silent audience is quite contemporary, and sometimes exclusionary. Relaxed performances were initially designed for autistic audiences, and in that spirit, invite guests to vocalize, to stim, or to take a break if they need to. We include a pre-show talk which illustrates design elements that may be startling and reminds everyone of the ethos of relaxed performances. I’ve learned from several actors that relaxed shows are some of their favourite days of the Festival season, because the joy and comfort in the room is palpable.
The accessibility initiatives that you and your team are implementing are part of a larger vision for equity, diversity, and inclusion at Stratford. What are some of your dreams for the future of the Festival?
Yes that’s right, I work closely with my colleagues in the EDI department, who help me think about accessibility in intersectional ways. Some of our shared dreams and goals include expanding our theatre audiences to historically under-served groups. We want people to see themselves as theatre-goers, as well as seeing themselves and their identities represented on stage. Our pre-rehearsal orientation (PRO) process aims to give company and crew members the opportunity to spend time getting to know one another, and gain more familiarity with the Festival, before jumping straight into rehearsal. We also work closely with the City of Stratford to think holistically about how both locals and tourists can feel most welcome to work and play in town.