Edinburgh theatres announce festive programme of relaxed performances

THE Festival and King’s Theatres in Edinburgh have announced they’ll be hosting relaxed performances for all ages over the festive period.

The two venues are run by The Festival City Theatres Trust, who are presenting their biggest ever programme of performances accessible to audiences of all ages with mild to complex support needs.

This winter, there are two shows in the programme – The Tin Soldier from Birds of Paradise and The Attic from Starcatchers – which have been tailored to become accessible for audiences of all needs at every single public performance.

Dates and Times:

Inclusive Performance of Scottish Ballet’s The Nutcracker 

Festival Theatre, Thursday 14 December, 2.30pm (Relaxed and Dementia Friendly Performance)

Relaxed Performance of The Tin Soldier

The Studio, Sat 16 Dec, 2pm (the whole run of The Tin Soldier from accessible arts company Birds of Paradise is relaxed in nature)

Relaxed Performance of the King’s panto, Cinderella

King’s Theatre, Fri 12 Jan, 2pm

Schools Relaxed Performance of King’s panto, Cinderella

King’s Theatre, Thu 18 Jan, 10.30am

Starcatcher’s The Attic

The Studio (6-21 Jan)

Every public performance in the run is ‘relaxed,’ with 5 additional performances for Edinburgh Special schools and an additional Dementia Friendly performance on Fri 19 Jan at 1.30pm.

The Festival Theatre’s relaxed performance of The Snowman in December 2012 was the first of its kind in Scotland, and the theatre trust are continuing to work towards making their venues open and accessible to everyone.

Throughout the year, the theatre trust runs performances for audiences with sensory impairments including Captioned, British Sign Language Interpreted and Audio-Described performances.

Touch Tours are also arranged where patrons living with sight loss can explore the set and feel props and costumes.

The Festival and King’s Theatres are committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy theatre in a supportive environment.

The relaxed performances are made possible with support from sponsors and funders Rowan Glen, Arts & Business Culture & Business Fun Scotland, Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids and Walter Scott.