Achieving better theatres today
From The Stage

As the deadline for the Disability Discrimination Act approaches, Anna Webb discusses the ways in which theatres can meet the demands made of them and advises attending this year's ABTT Theatre Show on June 16-17, where a host of companies will showcase the various options available

As we move into spring 2004, October's looming date for the Disability Discrimination Act to come into force is rapidly approaching. This is why theatres nationwide are busy addressing the many complex issues surrounding this new legislation.

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Disability Discrimination Act - UK
By Howard Bird for The Stage

I write this more in sorrow rather than anger. At the very beginning of this month I tuned into a talk radio programme in London to hear a ‘chatjock’ confront a government minister. Chatjock had obviously read that morning, in an authoritive journal, such as The Sun, that a church would have to close down because the congregation, all 18 of them, could not afford to implement the government ruling on disability access.

“Does the minister realise the deprivation this will mean to ordinary worshippers and the implications it will have across the country?”

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Here in America people hunt for places that are not 'wheelchair accessable' and then sue them so hard they are forced into bankrupcy. Almost rightfully so, laws are enabling people in wheelchairs to go anywhere anyone else can go. What's not right are the un-handicapped people that hunt for businesses that do not comply and sue them.

The church would need to make the ramps and other things themselves and have an insepector check it and rule it meets the new standards rather then just throw up their hands and give up.

I find the two major laughs about this in our country are:

1] You need wheelchair ramps leading into dance studios.

2] You need more fire sprinklers in an open dance room then in a cluttered room with things that would block water from hitting the ground.

There is a growing number of dancers in wheelchairs, and the ramps, while called "wheelchair ramps", make access easier for people who walk with difficulty, also -- which category would, alas, include several older ballet teachers I've known.