Making Theatres More Accessible
“It seems to me that there is a great deal that the industry can and should learn from those who choose to make this kind of theatre, and do it with a dedication and pioneering artistic spirit, often against all the odds.”
-- Lyn Gardner, The Stage
Full article: "‘Genuinely radical’: Meet the pioneering theatre makers serving disabled and neurodiverse audiences".
Access at Theatre Venues
Since the company’s foundation, Frozen Light have been dedicated to improving access at theatre venues, not just for the duration of our visit but long into the future. Alongside our performances, we’ve delivered in person training to Front of House, Box Office and Marketing Teams, which has recently been consolidated into a digital programme, with bespoke guidance for each role within a theatre building. When we visit a venue for the first time, staff and volunteers may never have met someone with PMLD; we work with them in advance of our performances to give them the knowledge and confidence to warmly and safely welcome our audiences into their space.
We visited 61 venues across the UK with our latest touring production ‘The Ancient Oak of Baldor’, extending our reach to 10 new venues including our first ever visit to the Isle of Man.
For 23% of our survey respondents 'The Ancient Oak of Baldor' was their first ever experience of live theatre. At 11 venues, this figure rose to between 50-90% first-time theatre-goers.
“Bringing Frozen Light to Dorchester every two years is undoubtedly one of the high-points for me as a programmer. To see the profound impact the shows have on audiences that are otherwise marginalised is extraordinary. Thanks to the pioneering work of Frozen Light we are now able to welcome other companies touring work for audiences with PMLD and will continue to look at ways of involving these audiences in other events we put on throughout the year.”
“‘Frozen Light make genuinely remarkable theatre that has a deeper impact on their audience than almost anything else we ever do.”
“We hold Frozen Light’s work in the highest regard here at the New Wolsey Theatre. Their performances consistently stand out as our favourites among staff, not just for the exceptional care inherent in their work and their target audience, but also for the unwavering rigour and excellence in storytelling, presentation, research, and audience-centric values. Their productions are imaginative, thoughtful, and meticulously staged, offering challenges to the audience in the most compassionate manner. The social impact of their work is profound, both in its essence and content. These are theatre-makers operating at the pinnacle of their craft.”
Partnership with National Trust and English Heritage
In 2022 we were thrilled to forge new partnerships with the National Trust and English Heritage, in preparation for bringing our outdoor multi-sensory installation ‘Night out in Nature’ into the grounds of their sites. We’ve worked closely with their Access teams, and collected feedback from our audiences which have concretely shifted the practices of these organisations, improving their physical accessibility and communicating better with PMLD communities. Heritage sites can often be in more remote locations with little other cultural provision, therefore it is essential that these vital opportunities to enjoy our heritage are accessible to those who are at greatest risk of exclusion.
“The benefits we are seeing from Frozen Light Theatre and building that sensory theatre performances into programming inclusively is so far reaching. It’s been quite transformational as a journey and really tapping into our access standard work and how we are trying to transform accessibility at our places and it’s really showcasing the reason we look at the whole visitor journey from start to finish. The real strength of the partnership has been that we are working with Frozen Light as a partner to help inform us to actually understand audience needs and see it through a different lens and have that expertise to help transform for this audience our place.”
New relationship with the Royal National Theatre
In 2025-26 we established an exciting new relationship with the Royal National Theatre on London’s Southbank, one of the UK’s iconic cultural institutions. We were invited to create a multi-sensory adaptation of the NT’s hit Christmas show ‘Ballet Shoes’; across its Winter 2025-26 run we presented 4 performances for audiences with PMLD, inviting audiences up onto the Olivier Stage to experience the production’s incredible set, lighting and costume design, facilitated by Frozen Light’s sensory practitioners. This was a significant moment for the organisation, as a moment of learning for all departments on how they can open their doors to the profoundly learning disabled community, and we’re proud to be working with them to ensure this work continues into the future.
“Sheer delight. In a world where my son often feels overlooked- he was truly included, embraced and welcomed into this fantastic sensory experience.’ Parent, ‘Ballet Shoes; The Multi-sensory Experience”
In this way, Frozen Light leaves a legacy of greater inclusion on the wider arts ecology, ensuring that the UK’s rich cultural resources are truly open to all.
