Artistic Director: Morven Gregor

Beneath You – Spider Girls are Everywhere!

Inspired by a true story, Spider Girls were an all girl gang who audaciously scaled luxury multi-story buildings in search of goods to steal and used the profits from their crimes to buy designer clothes. We will follow the Spider Girls as they leap, climb and raid their way through the stylish apartments of a Scottish city. The production will combine exciting physical theatre with a serious exploration of the pressures on young women to live a celebrity look-a-like lifestyle regardless of their means. Beneath You will also provoke debate about crime, punishment and gender politics. Beneath You will be performed by an inclusive company of disabled and non-disabled performers.

The performance will be accompanied by drama workshops, delivered in Birds of Paradise’s trademark inclusive style.

We will offer four different styles of workshop;

• introduction to physical theatre – these sessions will encourage participants to think about movement vocabulary and articulating text movement.
• exploring the themes of the production through drama exercises
• introduction to the play – although similar to the previous workshop, this session will focus on the characters of the play and their journeys
• vox pop session – unlike the other sessions this will take place after the performance itself and start by placing the participants in the position of a jury trying the Spider Girls. The session will also allow the participants to meet members of the cast and question them directly about their character’s motivation.

For more information on the Spider Girls tour and outreach activities please contact Shona on 0141 339 1155 or email shona@birdsofparadisetheatre.co.uk

• creating a pool of young disabled drama tutors to work alongside more experienced drama specialists
   
• delivering team-taught drama sessions led by disabled and non-disabled tutors in mainstream schools
   
• demonstrating to mainstream staff inclusive theatre in action, thus helping to dispel the “fear factor” of working with disabled students
   
• challenging stereo-types amongst young people of what disabled people can and can’t do.
   
• by focusing on a high quality performing arts experience enthuse and inspire those who may have little experience of drama and the performing arts, regardless of the physicality of the teacher.

The Tutor Pool

Birds of Paradise Theatre Company will create a pool of young disabled drama tutors (aged 18-30 yrs.). They will be people who are possibly working as performers (or who aim to be), but who also want to extend their skills and become confident workshop leaders. Thus developing additional experience and opportunities for future employment.

Working in partnership with Artistic Director, Morven Gregor, they will gain hands on experience of planning and delivering high quality drama workshops, as well as having access to experienced specialists in complementary fields such as dance, music and film.

Once established this pool of tutors will be available to deliver all of Birds of Paradise’s work with young people and be positive role-models for disabled and non-disabled young people alike.