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Every Body Festival Launches at Camden People’s Theatre with Bold, Disabled-Led Programme

by Staff Writer
May 29, 2025
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Every Body image supplied by publicist

Every Body image supplied by publicist

Camden People’s Theatre has announced the launch of Every Body Festival, a two-week celebration of disabled and deaf-led performance, protest, and community.

Running from 29 June to 13 July 2025, the festival marks Artistic Director Rio Matchett’s first season at CPT and features a dynamic programme of live shows, workshops, digital premieres, and panel discussions.

The festival includes new work from FUSE, Deafinitely Theatre, and Paines Plough, alongside streamed performances that extend accessibility beyond the theatre walls.

       

Highlights include For A Palestinian, a ★★★★★ WhatsonStage hit performed by Bilal Hasna, with proceeds supporting the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, and GRILLS, described by The Reviews Hub as “an archive of queer joy.”

Both shows are available to stream on demand throughout the festival, reflecting CPT’s commitment to digital access and community-led storytelling.

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The programme features one-night-only performances, panel discussions, online meet-ups, and cabaret – all led by artists with lived experience of disability, neurodivergence, or deaf identity.

Audiences can look forward to Lighting the FUSE, a BSL-led theatre piece devised in just five days, and The Only Brown Deaf Man in England, a bold work-in-progress by Nadeem Islam exploring racism and resilience.

A key event is Balancing the Books, a panel discussion on Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Access to Work, and disability rights, created in response to proposed reforms that could impact thousands of disabled people.

“Camden People’s Theatre strives to model the future we want to be part of – where there is equal, intersectional access to the arts for both creatives and audiences,” said Rio Matchett, Artistic Director of CPT.

       

“The Summer 2025 programme has been my first opportunity to programme a season since joining CPT in October last year, and despite the many systemic challenges facing the industry, it felt vital to use this festival to make a statement of intent.

Alongside platforming voices and stories that continue to be marginalised – or fetishised – by the theatre industry, every event in the festival includes some form of integrated access: from creative captioning and multilingual BSL/English performance to work curated specifically for neurodivergent audiences and artists.

We’re also really proud that, with support from City Bridge Foundation, we’re paying every live artist a guaranteed fee – not a box office split. That felt like an essential political decision at a time when disabled people are being squeezed harder and harder financially. CPT is carrying the financial risk so artists don’t have to – but we need our community to come on the journey with us and buy those tickets.

We’ve been lucky to collaborate with brilliant partners – including FUSE, Deafinitely Theatre and Paines Plough – and I’m so proud to present this as my first season at CPT. The work is genuinely excellent, and the disabled theatre community has been a huge part of my personal support network. This festival is, in many ways, a thank you. And it’s only the beginning.”

Harry Jardine and Chris Fonseca of FUSE Theatre added: “We are so gassed to be collaborating with the amazing team at CPT on Every Body Festival – it couldn’t have come at a better time – now, more than ever, we need to have difficult conversations, support each other, laugh together, cry together and tell our stories. This is going to be extremely special and we’re so proud to be a part of it!”

The festival also includes Laika, a sci-fi-inflected story of disability and isolation, Characteristics of a Child Ten Days Old, a lyrical new play about medical choice and motherhood, and A Night in Sign, a vibrant BSL-led cabaret.

Every Body Festival concludes with the inclusive Every Body Party, featuring snacks, a chill-out space, and possibly even Deaf karaoke.

Listings and ticket information can be found here.

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

At Theatre Weekly we are dedicated to giving theatre a new audience. Our News, Reviews and Interviews are all written with the audience in mind, helping you decide what to see next. And when you have decided, our great ticket deals will help save you money too.

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