VISIBILITY

A Major International Festival of Integrated Arts in Nottingham from 21 - 27 June

Visibility is the UK's biggest international festival of integrated arts, with 36 events within 7 days - all involving disabled artists. The Festival events include performances, exhibitions and workshops, culminating in Visible, a stunning four-part bill on the main stage of Nottingham Playhouse on Friday 27 June, involving CandoCo Education team, students from Portland College, TheatreLab '97 (disabled performers working with mainstream directors including the Playhouse's Martin Duncan), and the Nottinghamshire Education Theatre Company.

Organisers of this far reaching Festival - East Midlands Shape, Nottinghamshire Education Committee and Nottingham Playhouse - are making disabled arts visible through provocative, dynamic and challenging work from all over the world - with participating companies coming from Britain, Spain, Holland and Israel.

The Festival venues are: The Sandfield Centre, College Street Centre for Performing Arts, Nottingham Playhouse (the main stage and the Limelight bar), The Regal Centre, Worksop, The Lovelace Theatre, Hucknall Community Centre and Portland College, Mansfield.

From Barcelona - a massive integrated company, BCN Doble Teatro blow away any prejudice against many forms of disability with Primo La Musica, Dopo La Parola, an amazing spectacle of speech, movement and dance, combining the most visually spectacular Catalan performance styles with their own unique creative techniques.

From Amsterdam, De Wereld van Diagonaal present two productions about love. To See and Not to See is a poetic tale of two lovers enjoying their first taste of each other, and Woodnotes is a haunting evocation of long lost love, inspired by a glimpse of poetry translated into fluid movement and stark images.

And from Israel, Angel Theatre Company present On The Other Side of the

House, a sensitive portrayal of two brothers, 35 year old Ofel and 21 year old

Dekel, who has Downs Syndrome. The brothers gradually get to know each other after years of living together, but apart.

They will be joined by Britain's first company of deaf and hearing actors, Common Ground Sign Dance Theatre who come to Nottingham with two productions Answer Me With Silence and Pink Promenade. Answer Me With Silence is an eloquent piece about a world over-cluttered with communication and features David Bower, who is probably best known as Hugh Grant's brother in the award winning film, Four Weddings and a Funeral. Pink Promenade is a colourful, witty and outlandish comedy reflecting the visual deaf humour of the 1920s.

Common Ground, Diagonaal and BCN Doble Teatro join forces for the first time to present a unique international co-production called *OJO*EYE*OOG on 24 & 27 June. This is the first collaborative project of its kind.

Other companies involved in the Festival are Mansfield based Making a Mark who present Stop That Noise!, Inside Out Theatre Workshop in My Life, Roundabout Theatre in Education with SSSH!, Nottinghamshire Education Theatre Company in Hans Up!, Lost Shammy Productions with In Your Head, Guinness award winning Crip-tic Theatre Company in an action packed thriller about women on a mission to blow up Lourdes - The Healing, Second Stage in Act One Seen Too, YES! Company in T'Sala's Song, Shepherd School in Met By Moonlight - Shakespeare Goes Special and Derby based Didgit Do in a specially devised dance duet, Equation.

Music and cabaret are the order of the day on Sunday 22 June with a special Jazz Brunch at the Sandfield Centre. An opportunity to wake up, chill out and munch breakfast to the sound of live jazz performance by local disabled musicians. Visibility Cabaret takes over the Limelight Bar for an evening of disability music and cabaret hosted by Michele Taylor with signed songstress, Caroline Parker and exquisite songs from Sonali Shah performed by Shirley Novak.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT NADA ZAKULA ON 0115 947 0882 OR 0115 947 436

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