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.…

Two years ago, we launched our Young Artists Development Programme (YADP) through which we commissioned and shared the work of 10 young disabled creatives. ‘Commissioned’ means being paid to produce a piece of artwork. It was great getting to know each artist, and to see the variety of their work took.…

So that’s another year done! In just a few hours we’ll say goodbye to 2023 and welcome in the New Year. For the Touretteshero team, 2023’s been a year of contrasts. We’ve had incredible moments of joy, making and touring new work and becoming an Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio Organisation (NPO), and Biscuitland was nominated for a BAFTA!…

We’re just a day away from Christmas, a time that in addition to an abundance of fairy lights and Santa hats, can also be full of apprehension and pressure. For disabled, neurodivergent or chronically ill people this season can have extra complexities whether they’re around managing energy, social interactions, dietary requirements, navigating access barriers or coping with the many depictions of ‘Tiny Tim’!…

I love theatre, both as a performer and as an audience member, but as I’ve written and spoken about before, attending performances as someone with Tourettes isn’t always easy. It’s even harder at the moment because I’m Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) to COVID-19 and so being in busy indoor spaces with no COVID Related Access Provisions isn’t safe for me.…

I’m tired, in a deep kind of way. On its own this might not seem noteworthy because I experience fatigue and energy-related barriers every day. But this tiredness is different because although my body is physically drained, my mind, heart and spirit are energised in new and joyful ways.…

We got back yesterday after almost three months of touring our new show Burnt Out In Biscuit Land (BOBL). When we set out for the first stop back in April I had no idea how audiences would respond to the show.…

We’re back in London after the first week of touring Burnt Out In Biscuit Land. We came back through central London which is already heaving with flags for the coronation next week.

I read an article about the pledge of allegiance that will form part of the coronation ceremony.…

Since last Tuesday we’ve been in Istanbul. I’d been mentally writing this post all week, excited to share one of the few bits of international work we’ve done since the start of the pandemic. But this won’t be the blog post I was planning because just hours after we left, Turkey and Syria were hit by a huge earthquake which has caused massive loss of life and left many more homeless.…