Extant

Yesterday, our Trainee Artistic Director, Tam Gilbert delivered a work in development sharing of ‘Marking Time’ and Q/A at Kiln Theatre as part of her TAD Artistic Project🎭 The creative team behind the project: Writer: Mandy Redvers-Rowe Director: Tam Gilbert Actor – Jeff: Benjamin Wilson Actor – Sally / Prison Guard: Heather Seymour Actor – Cal / Sam: Shashank Sharma Other roles to be played by the Company Sound Designer: Ian Rattray Stage Manager Leigh Arthur Producer: Louisa Sanfey You can access the programme via our website: .uk/marking-time Photo credits: Benjamin Wilson: Nicholas Dawkes. Heather Seymour: Gemma Day. Shashank Sharma: Yellowbelly. Image descriptions Image one: Marking time poster, which displays the background of a dark empty prison cell, with a large bright barred window at the top of the cell wall. The window lighting reflects towards the grey floor. Tally markings of various sizes cover the dark bricked wall. Large white bold text, which reads: ‘Marking Time’ and smaller green text ‘Written by Mandy Redvers-Rowe’ and ‘Directed by Tam Gilbert’. At the bottom of the poster are the Extant and ACE logos. Image two: A black and white headshot photo of Mandy Redvers-Rowe. Mandy is a white woman, with long dark hair and wears a black top. Image three: A headshot of Tam Gilbert. A white woman, with shoulder length blonde hair who is wearing a blue and grey top. Image four: A headshot of Benjamin Wilson, a white man, with short blonde hair, a bushy beard. Ben is wearing a blue, orange, and grey striped top. Image five: A headshot of Heather Seymour, a white woman, with shoulder length blonde hair. Heather wears an orange jacket. Image six: A headshot of Shashank Sharma, an Indian man with medium length dark hair and a full beard neatly trimmed. Shashank is wearing a green t-shirt. Image seven: A black and white headshot photo of Ian Rattray. Ian is a white man, with short dark hair and is wearing a light patterned top.

Our Trainee Artistic Director, Tam Gilbert, starts rehearsals today for ‘Marking Time’ We’ll be introducing the creative team very soon across our socials! Directed by Tam Gilbert, written by Mandy Redvers-Rowe and created by a visually impaired team, Marking Time is a gritty, politically driven new play exploring the realities of prison life through the story of visually impaired Paralympian and activist, Jeff. Rehearsals will lead to a work-in-development sharing as part of Tam’s Artistic Project. With thanks to: Arts Council England, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Battersea Arts Centre, Kiln Theatre, Paul Grainge, Recoop. Image description: Poster for Marking time, which displays the background of a dark empty prison cell, with a large bright barred window at the top of the cell wall. The window lighting reflects towards the grey floor. Tally markings of various sizes cover the dark bricked wall. Below the window is large white bold text, which reads: ‘Marking Time’. In smaller green text by and below the title, ‘Written by Mandy Redvers-Rowe’ and ‘Directed by Tam Gilbert’. At the bottom of the poster are the Extant and ACE logos on a white backdrop.

On 8th March 2026, Lambeth Town Hall came alive with music, movement and shared joy. Created by Corali in collaboration with Extant and Lambeth Council, Danceology celebrated the power of social dance to bring people together - reimagining Lambeth Town Hall as a living, breathing cultural space. Thank you to our wonderful community and the people of Lambeth who attended the event! This event was made possible thanks to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Video Description: Dancers from Corali Dance Company perform across different spaces inside Lambeth Town Hall, with groups moving through its rooms and corridors. Two audience members share their experiences at the Town Hall and appreciation for the Corali community. #dancers #neurodivergent #learningdisabilities

On Saturday 9th May our Artistic Director/ CEO Dr @maria_oshodi will be presenting at Sonic Spheres at Woolwich Works. Leading artists, technologists and researchers who are exploring the forefront of immersive audio will be presenting talks, discussions and workshops. Maria will present on ‘Cripping Circus Through Spatialised Access.’ Event and Ticket information below: Presented by Sound/Image Research Centre, University of Greenwich. Sonic Spheres is a one-day conference and concert dedicated to creative, critical, and experimental approaches to Spatial Audio. Venue: Woolwich Works Date: Saturday 9 May 2026 Time: 10am-5pm: Conference, 7-9.30pm: Concert Tickets: https://www.woolwich.works/events/sonic-spheres Image description: An event poster for “Sonic Spheres: Spherical Loudspeaker Convergence”, featuring blue, pink, purple 3D geometric shapes and event details. The background has a pale yellow, pink, and purple gradient. In the centre of the poster, large black text, which reads “Sonic Spheres “ and below this in smaller black text, which reads “Spherical Loudspeaker Convergence”. Behind the text, is a wireframe square grid. The poster features smaller black text of event details, which read ‘Saturday 9 May 2026’, ‘Woolwich Works’, ‘Conference 10am-5pm’ and ‘Loudspeaker Orchestra Concert 7-9:30pm’. At the bottom of the poster, there are funding and partnership logos.

Today the Extant Enhance team delivered visual impairment awareness training at @komedia_brighton in preparation for the Enhance performance of Beaverhausen on Thursday 28th May. As part of this performance, we are offering free tickets to visually impaired audiences on a first come first served basis. You’ll attend Meet Extant 4-5pm, the Enhance Touch Tour at 5:30pm and the performance at 6:30pm. Email [email protected] to find out more and to request a ticket. Image description: A street view outside Komedia (an entertainment venue) with large capital white letters on its signage, which spell ‘Komedia’. Next to the venue are rows of shops. The street is decorated with colourful blue, yellow and pink flags and the sky is clear and bright blue.

Join us on Monday 27th April 7-8:30pm for our next online Extant Connect session. This month, we’ll be joined by our very own Thinker-in-Residence, Aisling Keavey. Aisling will be discussing her background in archiving, photography and her internship. Extant Connect is our monthly online session for blind and VI people to network, talk, learn and share ideas, taking place on the last Monday evening of every month. For more information and joining information please contact [email protected] Thanks to the @thomas_pocklington_trust Get Set Progress scheme for making Aisling’s internship possible. Image Description: A person with short curly brown hair, glasses, and a nose ring is smiling warmly at the camera. They are wearing a dark sweater and standing on a balcony overlooking a London street lined with terraced houses. The background is softly lit by the setting sun, casting a golden glow over the scene.

Coming up this week, from our friends at @batterseaartscentre access performances for Second Trimester. By Krishna Istha and Geetha Shankar and directed by Milli Bhatia. An ambitious new show exploring multi-generational pregnancy stories and untold family histories. Audio Described performances taking place on Friday 24 April at 7:30pm and Saturday 25 April at 7:30pm. Pre-show access sessions are also taking place on Friday 24 April – 6:30-7:00pm and Saturday 25 April- 6:30-7:00pm – these will be led by Audio Describer Shivaangee Agrawal. They will incorporate a touch tour and sensory introductions. BSL interpreted performance on Friday 24 April at 7:30pm. Live Captioning on Friday 24 April at 7:30pm. Tickets available: .uk/whats-on/second-trimester/ Image description: A collage-style image with a colourful background of reds, yellows and oranges in an homage to classic Bollywood posters. Two people are shown in black and white –Geetha Shankar, a South Asian woman in her early 60s, who is looking at the viewer over the top of some red-framed sunglasses. Her son, Krishna, is a trans-masculine person in their early 30s. He’s looking outwards thoughtfully, with his chin resting on his finger. There is a pattern of white marigolds around the edge.

Coming up in April in Birmingham…a new comedy play called ‘Seeing With My Dog’ by Roderick Dungate. This play is about blindness and bereavement in Birmingham presented by a visually impaired and sighted cast and creative team, written by award-winning playwright and poet Roderick Dungate (Playing By The Rules, Birmingham Rep, Mentorn Best New Play Award; Friends of Oscar (BBC Radio Four). £10 Tickets and further access information via Eventbrite: /cc/seeing-with-my-dog-4817727 Image description: On a dark grey background, a theatre poster with white text, which reads “Seeing With My Dog.” The central picture features a yellow Labrador guide dog seen from behind. The dog wears a harness with a reflective panel, and a white human hand is holding the handle. Below the title, the event details are listed in white text, which read: Wednesday 22 April  (3pm) Sense TouchBase Pears, Selly Oak. Thursday 23 April (6pm) Sense Touch Base Pears, Selly Oak (BSL). Friday 24 April (7:30pm) Crescent Theatre, Birmingham. Saturday 25 April (3pm & 7:30pm) Crescent Theatre, Birmingham. Tickets £10 via Eventbrite. Enquiries 07709628184. Instagram: @SeeingWithMyDog

We capped off a brilliant end to Enhance Year 2 with the Enhance performance of Shuggy Boats at @livetheatrenewcastle Visually impaired audience members enjoyed the Meet Extant event followed by the Touch Tour and programme notes. Set designer:Alison Ashton Image description: The set of Shuggy boats, made up of wooden pallets of varying sizes on the backdrop, a fish net, rope and glass bottles. A sign in yellow writing on a blue backdrop reads ‘Shuggy’.

We are excited for our third and final Enhance Performance at Liverpool Everyman tomorrow. We have a group of visually impaired audience members attending Meet Extant at 11:45am, the Enhance Touch Tour at 1pm and Performance at 2pm. Thanks to @liveveryplay Year 2 of our Enhance programme is almost coming to an end! We’ll be announcing our Year 3 venues very soon. Image description: Liverpool Everyman’s theatre venue. This is a modern building with a glass facade, which displays a grid of framed images of people. Below this are red letters which spell “Everyman”.

Free theatre tickets for visually impaired audiences!   Based in or near Newcastle? We have a limited number of FREE tickets for visually impaired audiences to attend the Enhance performance of Shuggy Boats presented by Jackdaw Media on Wednesday 18th March, 7:30pm at Live Theatre. Free ticket holders will attend Meet Extant at 5pm, with free refreshments and drinks, the Enhance Touch Tour (with programme notes) at 6:30pm and Performance at 7:30pm.    Maeve, a human dynamo who shines brighter than her fuschia lipstick, reveals a huge secret at her birthday party in front of her television quiz-obsessed husband, cocky son, recently bereaved sister, and workaholic niece. Her family is thrown into panic as Maeve’s actions force them to make changes they didn’t know needed changing. But when Maeve meets the enigmatic and charismatic Fingers then the lipstick really hits the fan! Venue address: Live Theatre, Broad Chare, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3DQ. To request a free ticket email [email protected] and [email protected] and include a phone number, as well as any access and dietary requirements. These tickets will be on a first come, first served basis and priority is given to visually impaired adults. Image description: A row of colourful swing chairs on a sandy beach under a cloudy blue sky. The chairs are mounted on a black metal frame structure.

Incredible images of Danceology by the amazing Jon Archdeacon. Thank you so much to every single one of you who came to see us on Sunday!!!! Danceology was definitely not an easy project to put together, but we still managed to get as many of our dancers as we possibly could in the room. Thank you to everyone who supported us through this process and helped us bring Danceology to life. Thank you @lambeth_council and @extantltd , thank you to UK Shared Prosperity Fund, thank you to our incredible audience! ♥️ Images description: A series of photos from a lively dance event in elegant indoor venues. Performers dance expressively in ornate halls with high ceilings, chandeliers, and wooden floors while live musicians play nearby. Audience members watch, clap, and sometimes join in, creating a joyful and energetic atmosphere.