Talawa Theatre Company is hosting the 2023 Liberty Festival finale at their Fairfield Halls HQ this week. The festival, the Mayor of London’s flagship programme, celebrates the works of Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists, curated by Drunken Chorus. This year the festival is in Croydon, London Borough of Culture 2023.
The festival takes place in and around Croydon’s Fairfield Halls, including in Talawa Studio, as well as in The Queen’s Garden and Box Park. One of Talawa Theatre Company’s concerns is the accessibility of theatre, and hosting Liberty Festival events is aligned with the company’s values and aims.
Talawa is part of This Is Croydon, with its exciting new show Recognition earlier in the year, and to-be-announced upcoming events. On Sunday 3rd September, Talawa will host one of the Liberty Festival finale events, Inner Vision Orchestra and Rachel Gadsden – Inner Vision Quintet X Rachel Gadsden. This is a special collaboration between Inner Vision Orchestra, the world’s only professional orchestra of blind musicians, and disability arts activist and multi-award-winning visual and performance artist Rachel Gadsden. Gadsden will create a live performance artwork complementing the sound, energy and dynamics of the Inner Vision Orchestra’s concert. The Orchestra delights audiences with their unique blend of joyful music from around the world, and the concert will feature a quintet from India, Colombia, England and Japan.
This event is accessible: it is a relaxed performance with step-free access, easy-read information pack, integrated audio description and BSL interpreter. Guide Dogs will need to be looked after by volunteers in a separate area due to an artist’s severe allergy.
Liberty Festival runs Friday 1st – Sunday 3rd September 2023. More information can be found here.
