Shortly before my emergency pacemaker operation at the end of March, I had a meeting with a couple of my colleagues to talk about what should happen to our company if I didn’t survive the procedure. This conversation was a lot to take on at that time, specially as it came so soon after Liz’s death, but it felt necessary, and the result was a set of principles that I hoped would ensure that the spirit of what we’d created remained healthy and strong if I didn’t make it.…

Over the weekend my 7-year-old niece Bean excitedly discussed her World Book Day costume with me. I laughed as my sister said there was absolutely no way Bean could get painted blue for school so she could go as a Nac Mac Feegle (which are characters from her current favourite Terry Pratchett books).…

Back in October 2023 I wrote about relaxed performance practice and the importance of developing tools and approaches that support audiences to access art, theatre and live performance. This is particularly relevant to how we communicate the sensory elements of shows – sound, and lighting, etc.…

Last year we launched our first zine, The Department for Wonder and Play (the other DWP), as part of the Young Artists Development Programme (YADP). We’re very excited to announce that we’ll be producing volume 2 of the DWP Zine this year, entitled Beyond Borders.…

At the start of the year, we transformed our Young Artists Development Programme (YADP) into a zine. Zines are small booklets like magazines, which have been used by lots of different communities to communicate ideas artistically. Our zine, called The Department for Wonder and Play, brought together the brilliant work of 18 young disabled creatives working in lots of different ways.…

In April 2023 Touretteshero became an Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio Organisation (NPO). This means we get funding for the next few years to support our creative activities. It also means we’re able to grow our team, making loads of exciting projects possible.…

A few years ago an article was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) about the relationship between social media and increased instances of tics. I had significant concerns about the article which I wrote about here. I ended that post by saying:

“I understand the impulse for clinicians to theorise and share ideas with others, but I’d also ask that this be done with care… Clinicians’ opinions often hold a lot of weight so I ask them to be aware of this and be thoughtful about how their views might impact people’s lives.”…

I love play! I loved playing as a child, and as a young adult I loved discovering Playwork and making play my job. Now I love being an aunty and playing with my niece and nephew. Play is a big part of who I am and it’s a central part of how we make art at Touretteshero.…

Happy World Book Day!

As a child I spent hours secretly scouring libraries, looking for stories and characters I could relate to. I was secretive about it for two reasons – I didn’t have the words to describe what I was looking for, and by the time I was eight I’d already internalised the idea that being disabled or neurodiverse was shameful and not something to be celebrated.…

Content Warning: This post includes discussion of ableism within theatre, negative depictions of mobility aid use by non-mobility aid users, and quotes from other sources that include ableist language and slurs.

Ten years ago this summer we took our first show Backstage In Biscuit Land to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh.…