Vital Xposure

30/04/2026

Huge CONGRATULATIONS to the creatives for winning the OFFIES Innovation Award 2026 Off West End for our production …blackbird hour written by babirye bukilwa!

A wonderful recognition of the magic that happens when story, design and creative access come together in a play!

We are so proud and thrilled!

Head to our website to read more about the creative team.

📷 Seye Isikalu

26/03/2026

As the global theatre community prepares to celebrate World Theatre Day this Friday, we are reflecting on our work and how VX Labs, our pioneering research programme, are driving new approaches to accessibility, storytelling and artistic leadership across UK theatre.

Through these labs we are demonstrating how disabled-led practice can reshape how theatre is made, placing access, collaboration and lived experience at the centre of the creative process.

As Josh Elliott, Artistic Director said:

“World Theatre Day feels like a good moment to say that this work has to be more than rhetoric. If we’re serious about broadening who theatre is for, and who gets to shape it, then that learning has to be embedded in the work we make. At Vital Xposure, we’re trying to put our money where our mouth is by taking what’s come out of our Labs and applying it directly to the work we’re developing now, including When I See Blue and Chouette. What’s become clear to us is that access and disabled leadership don’t limit the artform – they open up richer possibilities for what theatre can be."

Our unique disabled-led methodology brings into focus something often overlooked in the creative process: the journey of the artist, particularly playwrights.

Our message behind this year’s World Theatre Day is clear: access, diversity and artistic excellence are not separate ambitions. they are deeply connected. Through research, artist development and new writing, the company is helping build a future where disabled artists lead the creation of new theatrical forms and where access is recognised as a powerful creative force.

Read more: https://buff.ly/e2eP0TQ

Photo featuring Zoë McWhinney and Rinkoo Barpaga (front), and Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford (back) at the VX Lab: Creating a Playscript in BSL.

📷 Charlie Swinbourne

25/02/2026

Zoë McWhiney, one of he Deaf artists in our VX Lab - Creating A Playscript in BSL, which took place at Sheffield Theatres , shared her answer to the key question: is it possible to write a script in BSL?

Head to our website to watch the full interview. www.vitalxposure.co.uk.

Full findings from the Lab will be shared later this year – stay tuned!

. With thanks to

📸🎬 Charlie Swinourne, video editing and photography
🖍 Beka Haytch, illustrations - storytelling visuals

Video description: extracts from Zoë’s interview with photos by Charlie and storytelling visuals by Beka.

Transcript: " I am a writer and I want to create more BSL-centred scripts which put BSL first. My burning question is what is the fastest and most convenient way to write a BSL script that is also accessible to all people who know sign language, so they can read it too. I want theatres to be prepared to fund BSL scripts. To understand that we need to build an audience’

18/02/2026

Rinkoo Barbaga, one of he Deaf artists in our VX Lab - Creating A Playscript in BSL, which took place at Sheffield Theatres , shared his thoughts his answer to the key question: is it possible to write a script in BSL?

Head to our website to watch the full interview. www.vitalxposure.co.uk

Full findings from the Lab will be shared later this year – stay tuned!

. With thanks to

📸🎬 Charlie Swinourne, video editing and photography
🖍 Beka Haytch, illustrations - storytelling visuals

Video description: extracts from Rinkoo's interview with photos by Charlie and storytelling visuals by Beka.
Transcript: "We need theatre directors to accept that we want BSL in our scripts. The most important thing is to be able to create in BSL on the document, which we can then further develop. It’s really important for the deaf community to use body language with facial expressions. This has been a new way of working for me."

11/02/2026

Our VX Lab: Children and Young People Report is published!

We are excited to share findings from the Lab we delivered in partnership with !

The report highlights how theatre can be made for and with children and young people when access is assumed as a creative opportunity.

We are grateful to the artists, facilitators and partners for making this Lab a reality, as well as the children and young people who actively shaped the work made for them!

WHAD DID WE LEARN?
✔️ Creating theatre for and with children and young people can be both taken seriously and fun.
✔️ Accessible theatre for children and young people is not a compromise on artistic quality, but a driver of it.
✔️ Interstitial spaces matter. These refer to “spaces between structures”: admin, logistics

Let’s debunk the myth that theatre for children and young people is ‘less important’ theatre!

READ MORE IN THE REPORT: https://buff.ly/JOHJdcd

“This Lab prioritised creating a space for children and young people to share the full arc of their theatre experience from entering the building to leaving it, and in doing so created a clear mechanism through which their wishes, frustrations and responses could directly shape work made for them” - Josh Elliott, VX Artistic Director

“This Lab demonstrated what’s possible when children’s theatre is treated as the most important work we do and when access is valued as creatively enriching rather than burdensome. The children had real ownership of the work, and that showed.” - Liz O’Neill, CEO and Artistic Director of Z-arts

IMAGES DESCRIPTION
Image 1. Group photo of 12 people smile at the camera.
Images 2 – 7: cards with text from the post

17/12/2025

Earlier in December we were thrilled to host our last Lab for the year at Sheffield Theatres.

A Deaf-led Lab that explored what it means to create a playscript conceived entirely in British Sign Language (BSL).

The ambition for the week was to create a script in BSL, recognising the innate creativity of this beautiful language. More often, scripts are devised in BSL and translated into English or written in English and translated into BSL. The two languages don’t operate in the same way so what is lost in translation?

Over a week creatives experimented with different ways of recording and inventing new processes that pushed the research questions:

- Is it possible to write a script in BSL?

- Is it possible to record that script so that it could be replicated and re-visited and fully reflect its BSL origins?

The week saw the creatives experimenting with different ways of recording, inventing new processes that pushed the questions further still.

Read more on our website: https://buff.ly/dpSBHcn

Look out for our findings in the New Year!

We would like to thank, Lab partner, Sheffield Theatres, and participating artists: writer/actor Rinkoo Barpaga (Made in IndiaBritain), playwright Zoë McWhinney (Deaf Republic), critically-acclaimed BSL dramaturg Daryl Jackson, performer Colly Metcalfe, visual storyteller Beka Haytch, photographer Charlie Swinbourne and stage manager Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford.

📷 Charlie Swinbourne

03/12/2025

It's International Day of Disabled People.

Championing disabled-led new writing and artists!

We step up and continue to bring innovation in theatre-making along with disabled, d/Deaf and Neurodivergent artists, allies and partners..

Photos:
1. Top left: VX Labs - Decolonising Disability with Bristol Old Vic
2. Top right: VX Labs - Children and Young People with Z-arts
3. Bottom: headshots of our Artists Panel

27/11/2025

We look forward to our VX Lab in Sheffield next week!

A Deaf-led Lab which asks a simple but radical question: what does a script in BSL look like?

Participating artists will reimagine the idea of a script as a visual and spatial form authored through BSL’s own rhythm and grammar, empowering Deaf playwrights and theatre-makers to create work in their first language.

We are excited to be working with a high calibre of Deaf artists: writer/actor Rinkoo Barpaga (Made in IndiaBritain), playwright Zoë McWhinney (Deaf Republic), critically-acclaimed BSL dramaturg Daryl Jackson, and performer Colly Metcalfe, with Sheffield Theatres as partners.

Look out for Lab findings and discoveries in the New Year!

17/11/2025

We are delighted to participate in the ‘What is The Disability Canon’ discussion by Alphabetti TheatreTand Difference North East this Wednesday.

Josh Elliott, Artistic Director, joins the discussion about strengthening the position of disabled-led work in the sector and making a meaningful change in the theatre landscape.

Come along!

The even is hybrid: in-person at the Alphabetti Theatre and online

FREE to attend, booking required: https://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/thedisabledcanondiscussion

For Disability History Month Difference North East and Alphabetti are coming together to discuss how the North East can lead meaningful change in the creative sector’s relationship to disabled-led work.

Our first event is on Wednesday 19th November (next Wednesday), "The Disability Canon Discussion" is an open discussion, creating space to share reflections. Be a part of shifting culture, policy, systems and power, as we ask what it means to reshape the North East theatre landscape around the Disability Canon.

This is a free hybrid event where booking is required. Please note there will be BSL interpretation provided by Becoming Visible, available through the online tickets.

You can book your tickets here: https://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/thedisabledcanondiscussion

If you are d/Deaf and require BSL interpretation, please book an online ticket.

A big thank you to Northumberland Estates for making this interpretation possible.

​Ed Cole (Artistic & Executive Director, Alphabetti Theatre) and Bex Bowsher (Theatre Director and Development Manager for Difference North East) will be available after the event to discuss issues raised with anyone who may prefer a 1-to-1 setting.

13/11/2025

We’re marking this year’s Captioning Awareness Week by sharing top tips from our VX Captioning Lab.

Some questions we aimed to address in the Lab:
👉 Who are the captions for?
👉 Bilingual captioning: where to start?
👉 How to balance creativity and access?

Our top tips:
✔️ Make caption design an integral part of the creative process.
✔️ Create caption conventions, such as colour coding.
✔️ Consider colonial power dynamics in translation.

Head to our website to find out more in the VX Labs Captioning Report: https://buff.ly/JzdHay9

Photo from the Lab featuring actors Imman Zaffrani (on the left) and Eben Figueiredo (on the right).

IMAGES DESCRIPTION: Two people of stand facing each other, about 2 meters apart. They stand in front of a screen, on which is projected captions. The words in English are in blue, and the words in Punjabi are in yellow. The captions read: Jindan: Punjabi bol! [Jindan: Speak Punjabi]. Duleep: I don't remember it! [Duleep: Mainu nahi Aundi!]

The next three images include text from this post.

12/11/2025

Today our Artistic Director, Josh Elliott, has a reading of his play with an incredible cast. As a practicing playwright, Josh brings lived experience of the creative process to his leadership of VX — part of our commitment to championing writers and artist-led development!