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A performance in China during 2008 working with young adults and children with disabilities. 94% of children in Chinese orphanages are disabled. The number of orphans is annually growing by 20%. Epic Arts has been working within the country since 2001 and we believe that the arts act as neutral tool in dealing with issues surrounding disability, especially in countries in which people with disabilities rank as the lowest on the social and economic ladder. These countries have non-existent or embryonic programmes in the field of integration and no voice of advocacy for people living with disability and the prejudices they face.
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The project would see Epic re visiting partner organisations in the Guangxi Province of China building on previous years work to create an original piece of theatre, devised and performed by students with and without disabilities. This would be an integrated project bringing together sections of Chinese society that would never normally meet, as able bodied and non able bodied participants work together. We are passionate about this work and know that it changes lives. To see someone, who has been abandoned because of their imperfections and believes that they have no status in society, or voice, or hope…to see that person take to the stage and have others watch them perform impacts their lives in ways that are wider and deeper than we can ever fully understand. To see a person who has never spoken to a wheelchair user, touched an amputee, or tried to communicate with someone with visual or hearing impairments…to see that person then climbing over wheelchairs, finding ways to tilt and lean with their partner, lead their partner across the space, finding new ways to communicate using touch and movement… we know that they will leave that workshop viewing people differently and will never look at those overlooked by their society in quite the same way again. We’ve seen it and we know it works!