Firebird Theatre

Firebird Theatre is a company of 16 highly experienced and committed disabled actors based in Bristol. The majority of the actors are disabled people with learning difficulties (sometimes referred to as learning disabilities) and there is also one disabled actor who is a wheelchair user. Firebird Theatre is an associate company of Bristol Old Vic, where it meets, works and performs. Firebird Theatre is a membership-led organisation that seeks to use theatre to
• Change audience perceptions about disabled people;
• Challenge and work with the mainstream to promote theatre made by disabled people;
• Work towards inclusive and open communities by involving other disabled people in the arts, either as audience members or through active participation.

Firebird Theatre:
• Make, perform and tour theatre
• Plan and deliver workshops and outreach programmes to different groups and organisations, particularly schools and colleges
• Support other disabled people to make theatre
• Develop the individual and group skills of the actors, workers and trustees

Firebird Theatre has a duty to support its members’ commitment to making theatre; this includes meeting access needs as far as possible and providing care and facilitation to enable active involvement.

Firebird Theatre is committed to bringing high quality, thought-provoking theatre made by disabled performers to audiences around the country, particularly in Bristol and the South West.

The actors state their aims and desires for Firebird:
• To reach as many people as we can by producing plays and workshops that are as accessible and easy to understand as possible
• To give our way of telling stories to the whole world
• To share our plays with as many people as possible
• To make our audiences think about the stories we have told them
• To be seen as professional actors who can learn together and help other people to learn from us
• We believe people should work together; it is our vision for the world