Brrr is a new sensory theatre performance designed for young people with complex needs, reimagining what truly accessible performance can be.

Created by dance artist and choreographer Hayley Earlam – who is also studying on RCS’s MEd Learning and Teaching in the Arts postgraduate programme – the show invites audiences aged 10 to 18 with PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities) to connect in their own way, at their own pace.

This immersive journey through winter blends dance, sound and video, and has been brought to life in association with Capital Theatres, and with support from RCS’s Innovation Studio, Creative Scotland and The Work Room’s residency programme.

Here, Hayley shares the story of how Brrr was born, the powerful audience reactions, why accessible theatre matters, and how her postgraduate studies have helped shape her artistic vision.

How did the initial idea for Brrr come about?

Winter can be such an overwhelming time of year, and the whole period can bring so much disruption. It made me think that the theatre offering at that time of year is often panto, which can be amazing for some, but not accessible to everybody.

It presented a challenge of what if we made something that was the antithesis of panto? What if we could create something that was gentle and responsive, and could really give a sensory experience of winter.

How did the development of Brrr begin and progress from idea to performance?

I was granted a Love Dance Scotland bursary for professional development and used part of it to be in residence at Isobel Mair School, an additional support needs school in Glasgow.

I worked with two artists, Maya Rose Edwards and Adam Stearns, a sculptor and a musician, and we spent a week working with the young people. From there, I had a residency with Imaginate and Scottish Dance Theatre, and it snowballed – complete pun intended!

I also received funding from RCS’s Innovation Studio and Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for Individuals, a residency with The Work Room, and Capital Theatres in Edinburgh came on board as a partner.

As much as Brrr is a show that I’ve created, it takes a village. I have such an amazing team of artists and collaborators, and it was through having such robust support, through the funding and the partners, that we were able to approach the entire Brrr project with accessibility as its core.

What makes Brrr adaptable for schools and more accessible than traditional theatre settings?

Accessibility for the audience informed all our decisions, from the content of the show to the overall experience itself, the information and the materials that were made and issued beforehand to support audiences to access the show, as well as the audience consultations that underpinned the entire research and development of the work.

The show is held within a giant inflatable dome, so it’s easy to situate anywhere. For schools where transport is a barrier, we can remove that by bringing the theatre to them and being situated in the school itself. Since we can be based there for a while, it means young people can come and see the show several times.

We also have a live feed of the show happening, so that if a young person chooses not to directly engage with the performance, they can watch it on the screen and not miss out.

Making art that’s fully accessible to audiences who cannot access venues, perhaps who don’t live near one, or maybe can’t or don’t want to go into a venue, it generates a whole new audience that’s untapped. To be fully accessible, we have to go to the audience.

What kind of response have you seen from the audience during performances?

Reactions have been so varied. We had young people come inside the dome and go ‘no’, and then they watch from the outside. That’s great because it’s creating space for autonomy.

The set for Brrr is modular so we can adapt to who is in the space. If we have audiences who are autistic, parts of the set are inflatable and bouncy so that they can sit, move and roll on things. And if we have audiences who are wheelchair users or bed users, part of the set has foam mattresses and soft, squidgy, furry bean bags that they can transfer onto.

I feel every time we perform, families or the carers who support the young people often see something in them that they’ve never experienced before. It could be that they’ve never seen the young person so focused for that length of time, as the show lasts an hour. Or it could be that they’ve never heard them so vocal or responsive.

We also had somebody fall asleep in one of the shows – she was so engaged and halfway through, she took a nap. We were told that she doesn’t often sleep, but she was so calm and settled. That was a huge compliment.

One of my favourite memories was a young person who kept saying the word ‘happy’. Whenever we brought in new props and throughout different sections of the show, he kept shouting ‘happy’, and his teacher told us afterwards that he is non-verbal and had never said that word before.

You’re studying on the MEd Learning and Teaching in the Arts programme at RCS. What role has the course played in shaping this project?

The show and the course have been completely symbiotic. The work wouldn’t exist without my studies, and my studies wouldn’t exist without the work.

The course has really helped me figure out what my ethos is as an artist and what I value. It’s been a beautiful process to unpick my practice, dig deeper into what I want to be making and how I want to be working as an artist.

This has all helped to shape the entire process of making Brrr. It has meant that Brrr could be rigorous in its approach and the way that I think about things. I don’t think I would have been able to reach that depth had it not been for the course.

What do you hope happens next for Brrr and for the wider landscape of inclusive performance?

What I’ve learned is that I want to continue to make work this way, where audiences are part of the creation process and accessibility becomes a collaborator, not an add-on.

For the wider landscape, we need to work better as a sector to create a network of artists interested in sensory performance and performances for audiences with complex needs, sharing learning and resources so people aren’t always starting from scratch when it comes to creating accessible performances.

If we want this kind of work to exist in the future, it needs to be well supported. That can only start from within the sector itself.

Brrr is available for touring from winter this year, visit Hayley’s website to find out more about the show.

Brrr images © Brian Hartley