Graeae brought me to London; I wouldn’t be here without them. In 2018, I joined the company’s bespoke ENSEMBLE programme, a free, bursary-supported training programme for disabled theatre-makers aged 18–25. Two days a week, a small, tightly-knit group of us met with leading theatre professionals to train in acting, voice, movement, directing and other elements of stagecraft, gaining and developing a wealth of knowledge and skills. The ENSEMBLE programme was led, coordinated and facilitated by the two forces of nature: Jodi-Alissa Bickerton and Mette Philipsen. It is these bold, independent and generous women whom I have to thank for the beginnings of my career in London. Now, looking out at the green beauty of rural Germany, I couldn’t quite believe my luck then, in discovering Graeae, or now, in getting to represent them.

Since February 2026, when first asked to represent Graeae at the German theatre company Un-Label’s “Creative Lab For Disabled Artists,” Laura Guthrie and I had been working together over Zoom to develop and plan a series of workshops that reflected Graeae’s approach to radically inclusive practice, both in content and participant experience. We wanted our workshop participants to encounter Graeae’s approach and yet also feel empowered to share their own perspectives, experiences and expertise in disability leadership, inclusion and access, making it clear that there is never one “right way” and that Graeae as an organisation remains committed to evolving and learning.

So Laura and I carefully considered not only our workshop activities themselves, but also how we would establish the space and then guide participants through the sessions whilst remaining responsive and adaptive to their needs and interests. As this, I have come to realise, is true access: the practice of establishing a structure that in its design is flexible, ready to shift or change in response to the unexpected or previously unknown. Access often takes the confidence to not always know ‘the right way’ but instead be ready to ask, and try, and try again. Laura and I made sure to schedule time to bring everyone together at the end of each day to reflect upon this: what access can look and feel like both in practice. And now, in the beautiful hills of rural Germany, we were here, ready to meet Un-Label’s Creative Lab participants.

On our first morning, we began with a wellbeing check-in and an access check-in to better understand who was in the room; shared our workshop plans in multiple formats to ensure everyone was on the same page; and played warm-up games as a group to get to know one another and relax into the space. Moving on, we then introduced a scene from “All Of Us” by Francesca Martinez, a play I had previously staff directed at The National Theatre in 2022, using it as a springboard for discussion and devising. Workshop participants were invited to first discuss the literal events and interpersonal relationships within the chosen scene, and then second to name the elements of the scene which they had never seen on stage before. This could include, for example, a disabled woman talking about her very eventful sex life, or a woman undressing another as a form of daily care. From there, we asked participants to reflect upon and brainstorm what other topics, characters and interactions they would love to see on stage that they might have never seen before. This was incredibly artistically exciting: using an existing, provocative new play to inspire further idea generation and conception. After selecting a couple of the participants’ ideas from this process, we put them in groups and asked them to create a series of still images capturing the central idea, which we then gradually brought to life. Over the course of this first morning, using “All Of Us” as our starting point, we’d created and also explored broader questions of whose stories are seen and yet to be seen, and thus whose voices are heard and yet to be heard.

After our two hour, European-style lunch break, we took a different approach. Leading the participants into the devising process from a different starting point: everyday objects. Through simple improvisations, participants began to explore possible characters, relationships and dramatic scenarios in response to each other’s live offers and responses to chosen objects ranging from a unique Mexican spice mix to a tiny, mysteriously wrapped box that tinkled when shaken. As time passed, these mini-improvisations developed into short scenes, which we shared and discussed, considering what we found most compelling in each and why. It was incredible to see how stories can be built from basically nothing but a single object and two peoples’ openness to play and imagine. We ended our first day having generated an incredible diversity of material stemming from two different starting points: a scene from a ravishing, existing new play and from a collection of random, seemingly insignificant everyday objects. I felt incredibly inspired, and exhausted.

On our second day, we returned to all of the scenes and still images we’d devised the previous day, this time to explore how creative access could be embedded into how they were developed, redrafted and rehearsed, seeking to challenge participants to creatively consider and incorporate access from the very beginning of their making processes. We asked them to consider, for example, how audio description might become part of the script itself, rather than something added on at a later time, and to explore other creative approaches to integrated access such as incorporating a character who speaks via British Sign Language into the heart of the drama. We also discussed who should be involved in these conversations and how disabled artists can lead creative processes from the very beginning instead of being a last minute addition at the end. It was incredible to have the time and space to create and discuss, trial and error, and also to realise just how much could be achieved in two days. Looking back, I know Laura and I only began to scratch the surface of the full potential of creative access, and yet we felt rejuvenated and moved by participants’ openness to play, explore and most importantly question. Within the room, we had encountered numerous new ideas and perspectives on what creative access could be, and been given the opportunity to learn from European theatre-makers’ thoughts and questions of our own practice. It is this two-way, inter-cultural learning that I find most exciting and inspiring as it challenges what you take for granted as normal, pushing the boundaries of new territories.

Above all, this opportunity to represent Graeae at Un-Label’s Creative Lab allowed me to meet and collaborate with German and European artists, gaining a deeper understanding of the current landscape of disability-led practice in other contexts and countries. At the same time, it encouraged me to reflect on the strengths of our own approaches in the UK, as well as the areas where we still have more work to do.

Thank you once again Graeae for holding me with such care.

Onwards!

Find out more about Hana’s work or get in touch via her website: hanapascal.com