A journey through the history of disability technology with some cracking music, disastrous fashion, and a few revolutions along the way. From mohawks to Maggie, this tells the unspoken history of the unspoken.
We are crowdfunding to raise money for a R&D workshop for a new theatre piece called “Ms. Blue Sky”, about one woman’s journey to independence and finding her voice. “Ms. Blue Sky” will explore many different communication methods: POSM, Minspeak, text-to-speech, picture boards, finger spelling, Bliss and Makaton.
A Patient Operated Selector Mechanism (POSM) device
In 2025, Abigail and her gang of disabled young people are trying to uncover the truth about people like her, back in the sexy 70s. When they discover Angie’s story, they realise the ghosts of the past aren’t very far away.
It’s the 70s. Angie starts off completely dependent on her doting parents, unable to communicate for herself, thus having no agency. But revolution is in the air. With the help of her rebellious friend Jo, Angie learns to find her voice, and her independence.
Kate Caryer
Kate has athetoid cerebral palsy with no speech. She is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication aid and wheelchair user. She has written and starred in Speechless The Musical and produced The Voice Monologues at The Soho Theatre. Most recently the film Kate wrote, directed and acted in, Whose Voice is it Anyway won the Judges Choice award for best film at Superfest Festival, Berkeley, California, USA. and many other awards and festivals.
Dr. Jessi Parrott
Jessi Parrott is a performer, creative, and academic. As a queer and non-binary disabled and neurodivergent person, they are personally and professionally invested in representation and accessibility. Their research specialises in disability and employment in the arts. Creatively, they are passionate about engaging in collaborative work on community history and politics, so being part of this new project is a joy. Recent relevant work includes: (in their own practice) their solo show Bumps, presented as part of CRIPtic Arts’ Self & Other showcase at HOME Manchester in March 2024; and Unviable, co-created with the Where’s My Vagina? collective for WOW Festival in 2021; and (performing others’ work) playing Fennel in Naomi Westerman’s monologue Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (2020) and Kate in Steph Lacey’s duologue To Sleep (2019).
Jess Mabel Jones
Jess has been making multi award-winning art for over 15 years. The majority of her time has been in disability arts; the rad scene of work made by Deaf, disabled, learning disabled, neurodivergent and autistic artists and contributors. Her work has played venues and platforms that include, Barbican, TATE, Southbank Centre, WOW, Wellcome Collection, Soho Theatre, Machynlleth Comedy Festival, Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago, Huangpu Theatre Shanghai and Sydney Opera House.
Her work is eclectic, visually dynamic, often autobiographical and always a bit of a party. She believes art should be intersectional, intergenerational and accessible!
Kate Stafford
Kate Stafford is an actor, and the token non-disabled person in the team.
The team also includes 12 disabled young people who use a variety of different communication methods.
In the time period that we are dealing with, there were plays and media about people like Abigail and Angie, notably ‘A Day in the Death of Joe Egg’ by Peter Nichols (1967), the television play ‘Brimstone and Treacle’ by Dennis Potter (1976- remained untransmitted until 1987) and who could forget the Academy Award-winning film ‘My Left Foot’ (1989).
But [BIG but!] those pieces of drama lacked the voice of people like Angie and Abigail. Indeed, the voices of people like most of our creative team and cast. This is the first of very few dramas that showcases the wide variety of modes of voice that speech / communication impaired people employ to be heard.
That’s how ‘Ms. Blue Sky’ is different.
Call to Arms
But we need your help. We need to raise £2,000 to cover the cost of the R&D workshop, from the most (ugly) GROOVY costumes and props to personal access costs for the team. Any donation, however small, is hugely appreciated to help time travel to bring Ms. Blue Sky to life.