Press Release

By Ellen Renton
Presented by In The Works

Spring UK Tour March – June 2020 

Scottish Spoken Word artist Ellen Renton has lived with albinism her whole life. An estimated 1 in 17,000 people in the UK do. But what if there was only one achievement that would deem that life successful? Within Sight dismantles ableism, inspiration porn, and the myth of the Paralympics. 

This is a poetic exploration of living with albinism – an inherited life-long condition that means people produce little or no melanin, affecting the eyes, skin and hair and resulting in various levels of visual impairment.

One of society’s most misunderstood conditions wildly shrouded in myths and misconceptions, Ellen will tour the UK this Spring with her debut solo work urging audiences to reconsider representation.

Through softly spoken but hard-hitting words and an impressive cardio display, we follow the journey of a young athlete who goes out for a run in an attempt to clear her head after receiving news that she has narrowly missed out on being picked for the GB Paralympics team. 

As she runs, she recalls the events that have led to this pivotal moment, reflecting on relationships between her body, her senses, and her sport. She contemplates what her future will hold in a society that has forced her life into a binary: to succeed and be an inspiration, or to fail and be pitied.

Hot-tempered with passion and fanatic in her strong work ethic, the protagonist’s complex character defies the one-note depiction of disabled people in popular media. 

Spoken word and poetry is fast becoming one of the world’s most popular mediums for marginalised artists to address societal prejudice and discrimination. Ellen set out to create a work that is personal in its topic but universal in its narrative of how society fails disabled people.

Confrontational, complex and emotional, the show is a display of the power of spoken word theatre.

The team for Within Sight is disability-led, and the show has been designed to flip accessibility on its head. With minimal staging and text-based performance, the show has been created for all to enjoy without relying on sight. Ellen enlisted filmmaker Kiana Kalantar-Hormozi to create a visual backdrop aimed at providing a glimpse of what the world looks like through the eyes of someone living with partial sight and a musical score by Jack Hinks. 

On creating Within Sight, Ellen Renton said, “I wanted to challenge people to think about the role that they themselves play in perpetuating ableism, and specifically, to talk about the poor representation of disabled people in today’s society. The show mixes a fictional narrative with the reality of living with albinism, confronting the audience with their expectations of what a disabled life looks like.”

Event information: 

5-6 March, 8pm – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh 
19-21st March, 8pm – Tron Theatre, Glasgow 
15 May, 7.30pm – Dunoon Burgh Hall
21 May, 8pm – Canada Waters, London
30 May, 2pm – Platform, London
4-5 June, 7.30pm – Byre Theatre, St Andrews 

Every venue will host BSL interpreted shows with an adapted ‘touch tour’ pre show available for visually impaired audience members. All performances are captioned and relaxed. 

Tickets available from In The Works.

WORLD PREMIERE
Presented by Theatre Gu Leòr in collaboration with WHɎTE

“Dar a thig an t-uisge gu grad, dè chailleas sinn?

/ When the water comes suddenly, what do we lose?”

A raw howl of grief and an act of protest for what has already been lost and what could follow. MAIM is a love song to the land and language of Mull, a burst of panic in the face of extinction, because the time to take action is running out.

This unique collaboration between Scotland’s award-winning Gaelic theatre company Theatre Gu Leòr and the hugely successful contemporary Gaelic band WHYTE was inspired by their latest album Tairm. MAIM will also include newly composed work by Ross Whyte and Gaelic lyrics and text by Alasdair C. Whyte, in collaboration with the cast. 

MAIM is a departure for Theatre Gu Leòr from their Gaelic text-based work. Collaborating with award-winning Irish choreographer Jessica Kennedy of Junk Ensemble, the piece will combine movement, live music, spoken word, and video designed by Lewis Den Hertog, with integrated BSL throughout.

MAIM is a call to action, giving voice to the frustrations of the next generation who care deeply about the crisis facing ar tìr agus ar teanga – our land and language.

Across the length and breadth of Scotland, place names created and used in Gaelic-speaking communities are being forgotten and their meanings lost, as land mismanagement, non-native tree planting and the effects of climate change threaten to drown the land and language. Even as the success of Gaelic Medium Education grows and numbers of learners rise in the Central belt, the language is vanishing from the rural heartlands, in danger of becoming extinct.

MAIM /mʌɪm/: panic; terror; consternation; alarm; an outburst.

Raised on Mull, Alasdair C. Whyte of WHYTE was inspired by his post-doctoral research in the Celtic and Gaelic Department of the University of Glasgow into the place names of the Torsay region of Mull, and what is causing their disappearance. 

“It’s time for us as Gaelic speakers to realise once and for all that our language and culture are in no way inferior to English language and culture. The way to leave this toxic way of thinking in the past is to celebrate and honour the people who came before us and create new things in our language. I am hugely grateful to Theatre Gu Leòr for giving me a chance to do this in MAIM.” – Alasdair C. Whyte

MAIM is fully accessible to non-Gaelic speakers and has integrated BSL in every performance #MAIM

Cinn-latha Cuairt / Tour Dates

Am Màirt / March 2020

6 – 7th March – previews, Tron Theatre, Glasgow

10th March – 14th March, Tron Theatre, Glasgow

17th – 18th March – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

19th March – Eden Court, Inverness

20th March – Lemon Tree, Aberdeen

21st March – SEALL, Sleat, Isle of Skye

24th March – An Lanntair, Stornoway

25th March – Sgoil Lìonacleit, Benbecula

26th March – Sgoil Bàgh a’ Chasteil, Barra

27th March – Corran Halls Studio Theatre, Oban

28th March – Mull Theatre, Tobermory

CLEASAICHEAN / CAST

Elspeth Turner

Alasdair C Whyte

Evie Waddell

Ross Whyte

SGIOBA CRUTHACHAIL / CREATIVE TEAM

Stiùiriche / Director – Muireann Kelly

Sgrìobhadairean / Writers  –  Alasdair C.Whyte & Cast

Ceòl & Dealbhadh-Fuaim / Music & Sound Design – Ross Whyte

Coireògrafaiche / Choreographer – Jessica Kennedy

Dealbhadh / Designer –  Jen McGinley

Dealbhadh AV/ AV Designer – Lewis Den Hertog

Dealbhadh Solais / Lighting Designer – Benny Goodman

Eadar-Theangaiche Cànan Balbhanachd Bhreatainn /Integrated BSL – Evie Waddell & Cast

A biting and heartfelt comedic odyssey about what it really means to be loud.

Gobby is the story of one woman’s search to accept and process the myriad ways she’s been put down. Using party paraphernalia to tell the story, Bri (Irvine) toots her horn through a series of house parties that may well allow her to escape a multifaceted emotional trap.

Newcomer Jodie Irvine had one of the buzziest plays at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, taking on the Big Belly; the space which saw Millie Thomas’s Dust, Monica Dolan’s The B*EASTS, Maddie Rice’s Pickle Jar, and of course the little known Fleabag by Phoebe Waller-Bridge introduce new female writer-performers to the world. Gobby followed up gaining word-of-mouth momentum with audiences for its smart and dark take down of coercive control. Following sold out performances in Edinburgh and as part of Pleasance Theatre’s “Best of Edinburgh” Season Autumn 2019, Gobby comes to VAULT festival for seven performances this February. 

Five parties. One big mouth. Bri is not who she used to be, so she’s revisiting the five parties that changed her. Gobby is a one-person playlist of awkward encounters, starting over and growing up, staged amongst hoards of party memorabilia and a whole host of anarchic festivities. 

As we increasingly train ourselves to question if disconcerting behavior masks trauma or an uncomfortable truth Jodie Irvine’s first full length play deals with the old analogy of the swan gliding over the surface, as the feet spin beneath the water. Delving into gaslighting and emotional abuse – which so many people suffer at the hands of controlling partners – Gobby is a roar for a return to real life. 

A darkly comic telling of survival, and a lesson in how to throw a really good party.

This new play is written and performed by Jodie Irvine (Soho Young Company, The Second City) astonishing audiences at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe having premiered in London at The Lion & Unicorn Theatre, and performances in Manchester, Bedford and Exeter supported by Arts Council England. 

“Unforgettable” ★★★★★ Broadway Baby

“A raw, triumphant and soaring one-woman odyssey” ★★★★★ Stage Whispers

“Pure genius” ★★★★ North West End

★★★★ Remote Goat

★★★★ Feminist Fringe Review

Gobby is directed by Rosie Snell and produced in Edinburgh and at VAULT Festival by Jodie Irvine.