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IN TOUCH 鈥� Tactile Paving Completions; An Extant Theatre Pantomime

TX:听 14.03.2023听 2040-2100

PRESENTER:听 听听听听听听听听 PETER WHITE

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PRODUCER:听听听听听听听听听听听 BETH HEMMINGS

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White

Good evening.听

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Clip 鈥� Extant Theatre

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White

That鈥檚 from the latest production from a drama company that has visually impaired actors at the centre of all that it does.听 We鈥檒l be hearing more about the visually impaired writer and performer who founded it 25 years ago.

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But first, a couple of weeks ago we updated you on the progress being made to install tactile paving onto all station platforms in the UK.听 We established that the Department for Transport will provide 拢75 million in total for this work to be completed and much more quickly than the original date Network Rail had given of 2029.听 What we still felt we hadn鈥檛 completely understood was that though the project would be funded until 2025 was that a guarantee that the work would be completed on all stations across the UK by that date?听

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Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer to that question was a little more complicated than we鈥檇 anticipated.听 To try to nail it down totally, we invited Rupert Lown, Network Rail鈥檚 Chief Health and Safety Officer, to disentangle it for us once and for all.

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Lown

Seventy-five million pounds is set up to incorporate tactiles in the run-up to the end of 2025.听 That鈥檚 out objective, that鈥檚 what the timescale and programme is set to deliver.听 Absolutely seek to achieve that objective.听 There鈥檚 always the complications 鈥� poor weather, timetabling arrangements 鈥� may get in the way of one or two locations but we very much hope that that would be minimised.听 So, in essence, that 拢75 million will be spent in that period of time.

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The other thing to think about is obviously it鈥檚 going to impact a large number of stations.听 Just mobilising a workforce to get round to all those stations, to do all that work, takes some time.听 So, again, part of the complication is trying to make sure that the programme management fits, it鈥檚 all programmed in to happen, occasionally things go wrong 鈥� you don鈥檛 get the right people turn up or the right kit doesn鈥檛 turn up on the day 鈥� and one or two sites might slip.听 But because you鈥檝e already spent the money, that鈥檒l just happen and it will just roll on into the next year.听 So, there won鈥檛 be a need to go back for more funding.

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White

But your aim is that the five and a half thousand platforms that are yours will be completed by the end of 2025 鈥� that鈥檚 the aim?

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Lown

So, before the work started 60% of all stations had tactiles and this work is seeking to address the high risk ones.听 So, it鈥檚 covering another 825 stations.听 I鈥檓 not sure of the full number of platforms that that covers but it covers all the significant platforms where we know, for example, that we鈥檝e got accessibility issues.

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White

But not all the stations are yours?

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Lown

No.听 That鈥檚 a really critical part.听 So, when you think of the railways, most people think Network Rail 鈥� you do the lot and that鈥檚 not quite the case.听 So, people may have heard of Transport for Wales, they take a chunk of the rail network and look after that, places like London Underground look after their areas.听 So, Network Rail, whilst the biggest provider of infrastructure across Great Britain for the railways, we don鈥檛 cover the whole lot.听 So, it鈥檚 a really important part just to have in the backs of people鈥檚 minds.

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White

Hope you were following that.听 That was Rupert Lown, Network Rail鈥檚 Chief Health and Safety Officer.

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Now, as for some of those exceptions, that Rupert mentioned, in the North of England tactile paving might take loner due to the TransPennine Route Upgrade.听 We鈥檙e told that stations that are set to be upgraded, as part of this major bit of work, will have tactile paving installed when their upgrade takes place.听 This means that they don鈥檛 have to complete important work, then effectively rip it up, upgrade the platform and then relay tactile paving.听 We鈥檝e also now had confirmation from ScotRail that work to complete tactile paving on platforms at all of their 362 station in Scotland will be completed within the year.听 As for Transport for Wales, they tell us that across the stations that they own in South Wales they鈥檒l have tactile paving by 2025, the rest of Wales is covered by Network Rail.听 And in Northern Ireland, we understand that work has already been completed 鈥� all of their stations have tactile paving already.听 Let鈥檚 hope that鈥檚 cleared that up once and for all.

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Now: 鈥淓xtant is a theatre company which puts visually impaired actors and staff at its centre.鈥� Their words.听 And it鈥檚 run by a visually impaired artistic director and chief executive.听 They鈥檝e been going now for 25 years but if you鈥檙e expecting their work to be rather staid and static, forget it, their productions are full of movement, action and a fair bit of chaos, to be honest, and defy description, which is why I鈥檓 delighted to hand that bit over to our reviewer tonight, to explain their latest offering, which is a pantomime in March.听 Opera singer, Bethan Langford, fresh from her own performance at last summer鈥檚 成人论坛 Proms, has been to a performance of Super Power Panto in Wolverhampton.

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So, Bethan, what will people see and hear if they go?

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Langford

Right, so it鈥檚 my job to define the undefinable, let鈥檚 give this a go.听 Well, I went along to the premier, to the opening night, of this pantomime last week and I must say I smiled the entire time, from start to finish.听 It鈥檚 a one hour show with no interval.听 And we follow our protagonist, Sally Sense, who鈥檚 played by a really charming actor, blind actor, Jasmine Thien.听 And she goes on a voyage of discovery with the audience.听 And Sally is particularly skilled at astronomy.

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Clip 鈥� Super Power Panto

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And as the audience learn about the solar system with her, she learns about her identity as a blind person in an ableist society.听 And she discovers who own strengths and ultimately, she finds her superpower.听 And we hear a lot of the classic panto tropes, a lot of audience participation 鈥� he鈥檚 behind you 鈥� lots of boos and hisses.

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White

Because the people who Sally goes to this astronomy class, they鈥檙e a pretty nasty lot aren鈥檛 they?

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Langford

There are, there鈥檚 some really great baddies.听 I think they did a really fun job of picking these awful characters called the poshos 鈥� they call themselves the brat pack.

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Clip 鈥� Super Power Panto

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These baddies, I think, are a bit of a stroke of genius, I mean they are quite modern, they鈥檙e snobs, there鈥檚 a few satirical jokes and it really kind of appeals to both children and adults, I think.听 And I actually was quite moved a couple of times and kind of left feeling quite uplifted about my own disability and kind of thought 鈥� I鈥檓 determined to kind of own my own visual impairment and be proud of it.

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White

Because Sally comes up trumps, doesn鈥檛 she, she gets mocked by this lot but she wins in the end?

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Langford

She does, she does and I think there鈥檚 a few moments where she actually doubts herself and there鈥檚 a really sad moment, where she smashes a cup and she鈥檚 on the ground, she says 鈥� I鈥檓 useless, I just can鈥檛 do anything normal people can do.听 And then she鈥檚 reminded by her mum, which is a really nice moment actually, she says 鈥� No Sally, just because you can鈥檛 do those things, there are other things that you have 鈥� strengths inside of you 鈥� that others don鈥檛.听 And that鈥檚 where we get to this kind of central moment during the piece where she鈥檚 given her superpower by this star in the sky.听 I won鈥檛 give away what superpower she gets but it鈥檚 a really special moment.

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Clip 鈥� Super Power Panto

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White

How easy was it to follow, if you鈥檝e got poor sight or no sight because there鈥檚 quite a lot going on, isn鈥檛 there?

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Langford

There is.听 I think you used the word chaos, which at some points it definitely felt like that.听 What Extant are trying to achieve is they鈥檙e trying to make sure that everybody can universally access their show.听 So, there鈥檚 no headsets, so you don鈥檛 have the kind of visually impaired or blind people having to have something different to the sighted audience, which I like.听 So, the AD is creatively integrated into the show.听 But due to that aspect, some of the audio description does get lost.听 There鈥檚 a big kafuffle at the end, where they鈥檙e all running around in a circle and having a fight and each individual character is audio describing their own moves and, to be honest, I couldn鈥檛 really access much of that.

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White

There鈥檚 also a really 鈥� a nice piece where Sally actually gets to explain, possibly to the poshies, but really to the public as a whole, how we describe things, how we like to describe things.

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Langford

Yes and that鈥檚 what I was talking about really with 鈥� if a sighted audience member came to this show, they actually do learn quite a lot about being blind.听 Sally often says things 鈥� she says to the audience 鈥� oh please don鈥檛 raise your hands because I can鈥檛 see, so just shout out.听 Or she says 鈥� The way that I like to describe something is by comparing it to something I can feel.听 She describes a constellation as a pan.

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Clip 鈥� Super Power Panto

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Everyone seemed to have a really good time.听 I think it was a shame there weren鈥檛 more children there but I guess it was a half past six show on, I think, it was a midweek, so there were mainly adults and it was mainly a blind audience, which was nice.听 But we must say that everybody on stage is visually impaired, so they were in on the joke that the poshos were mocking Sally, who鈥檚 blind, so everyone in the audience, who was also blind or visually impaired, were really cross 鈥� so these boos were genuine, we all got really involved.听 You really felt like you were part of the show and kind of integral to it really.

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White

Bethan Langford, you鈥檝e clearly enjoyed yourself, thank you very much for doing that for us.

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Langford

Ah, thanks for having me.

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White

And if you鈥檇 like to have the same experience, there are performances left at Northern Stage Newcastle, this coming Friday; Brixton House in London on 23rd and 24th and the Komedia Brighton on Tuesday 28th March.

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Now, if you never know quite what to expect from an Extant production, the same could be said for its founder 25 years ago and artistic director and chief executive for the past 15 years 鈥� Maria Oshodi.听 Well, as well as the author of many plays for Extant, Maria has also been producing and writing other dramas since the early 1980s.听 She also turns her hand to music, both performing 鈥� she鈥檚 been in a band 鈥� and deejaying.听 We thought we ought to find out a bit more about this indomitable lady and her varied career.听 But first, Extant, Maria, what鈥檚 your vision of it because you never know, as I said, what you鈥檙e going to get with an Extant production except that it鈥檚 not going to be a comfortable drawing room drama.

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Oshodi

My vision for Extant has always been about tripping up expectations around visual impairment.听 From the very start, I remember someone describing the work that I was doing at the time as a freelancer as never being pedestrian and I always took that as a big compliment and a sort of a motif really.听 So, I鈥檝e always felt, myself, to be in the margins, I guess, and looking in and I think that has always given me the privilege, really, of being in that place, as being able to do things in a way that aren鈥檛 sort of expected and I wanted to bring that to the heart of the company.听 And sometimes in performance I was just thinking in that way of how to tell stories in different ways where visually impaired people can be profiled in ways that they might not ordinarily have thought of.听

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White

As far as this latest production is concerned, one of the things people have been saying to us is there鈥檚 a far amount of deliberate chaos in an Oshodi production, would you accept the point that it could be quite confusing for visually impaired people in the audience, there鈥檚 audio description but your audio description is woven into the performance itself, so presumably people come on stage and say things that people might otherwise hear in their headphones.听 I mean you have, after all, been audio description consultant to the National Theatre for the past 10 years, so you know what audio description鈥檚 supposed to do.听 Is that a bit of a problem when you鈥檝e got a production like the one you鈥檝e got here with so much going on?

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Oshodi

No.听 For me it鈥檚 a creative challenge of putting a piece together like this and from the outset knowing that live description, inclusive description, audio description 鈥� whatever you want to call it 鈥� is paramount, is as important the lighting, the sound, the set, everything.听 So, if something鈥檚 not working for me, as a visually impaired director who is more or less blind, you know, I don鈥檛 have very much vision at all, I鈥檓 not getting something, then we need to rework it and find a way of working it so I do.

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White

I suppose the point is you know, because you put this production together, you know what鈥檚 going on, is there a danger that you might be so familiar with it, that you wouldn鈥檛 actually see the problems that people, who are only going to see it once, would have?

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Oshodi

Well, we do bring in visually impaired people in our dress rehearsal to feedback to us about what they were getting and what they weren鈥檛 getting, so we鈥檝e done our best to consult with people outside the room because that is always a danger, yes.听

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White

Can we just talk a little bit more about you?听 Mixed race girl, growing up first in Nigeria, then in the Britain of the 鈥�70s and early 鈥�80s.听 I鈥檓 interested what took you into drama, was it something you always wanted to do?

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Oshodi

I think that thing that I said earlier on about feeling like sort of outside on the fringes, something that I鈥檇 experienced all my life, even before I became visually impaired.听 And I remember I was about 16 there was a youth sort of drama group that I started to go to and I got that real strong sense of group and family and a sense of belonging and identity.听 I began my career as a writer, playwright and I suppose quite successful 鈥� I鈥檝e had plays published, plays toured 鈥� that was all before I went on to create Extant.听 So, I鈥檝e always been interested in making theatre and being part of that theatre family.听 But I think that鈥檚 kind of just where I found my home.

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White

Right, you obviously 鈥� you鈥檙e a planner and you don鈥檛 give up.听 What are your future plans, both for Extant and for you?

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Oshodi

The big idea was to turn the company inside out and to offer [indistinct words] and mechanisms to visually impaired upcoming artists who would like to learn more about what it means to be an artistic director of a small scale theatre company.听 So, that鈥檚 what we鈥檝e done, we鈥檝e created something called Extant Evolve and we鈥檝e just, this week, put out the advert for the first traineeship which we start in July and lasts for three months and offer a whole range of access to training around producing, financial management, learning about governance, also have a budget to create their own piece of work.听 The applications are online and the deadline is 24th April, I believe.听 I鈥檒l be staying on at Extant as a kind of guiding spirit, let鈥檚 say, so I鈥檒l be offering support to the trainees but also, I鈥檒l be occupying myself mainly with a PhD and carrying out a PhD on the company鈥檚 work with Middlesex University.听 So, looking at the last 25 years and what we鈥檝e built and what the importance of that has been and creating a kind of legacy in a kind of formal way.

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White

So, hopefully, creating a whole troop of future Maria Oshodi鈥檚.听 Maria Oshodi, thank you very much indeed.

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And that鈥檚 it for today but we do want your help with a couple of other upcoming programmes.听 Next week, we鈥檙e planning a debate on the question 鈥� Is it easier or harder to be a blind person now than in the past?听 Among the issues, the effect 鈥� good and bad 鈥� of technology, the level of service you get, the degree of understanding of the issues.听 What鈥檚 been your experience?听 Do let us know.听 And we also want to hear from people who鈥檝e recently tried to learn a language, what method did you use 鈥� online, face-to-face or something else?

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You can email intouch@bbc.co.uk, you can leave voice messages on 0161 8361338 or go to our website on bbc.co.uk/intouch where you鈥檒l find, amongst other things, those dates and venues for the performance of the Super Power Panto.听

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From me, Peter White, producer Beth Hemmings and studio managers Amy Brennan and Colin Sutton, goodbye.