Accessible performances start for Sleeping Beauty

The Evil Witch Karen

Taking place on Friday, 9 December at 1.30pm, a relaxed performance of Gala Durham's Sleeping Beauty will see lighting, sound and special effects adapted for people who would benefit from watching the production in a more informal environment.

A quiet space will also be made available to any audience members who need a break during the show.

BSL and captioned performances

Our venue will then be staging a British Sign Language (BSL) performance on Tuesday 13 December, at 7pm, when an interpreter will be integrated alongside the cast.

A second BSL performance will be shown on Wednesday 4 January, at 6pm, which will also be captioned for audiences with hearing impairments.

Festive Fun

Cllr Elizabeth Scott, Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: "We are very proud of our Christmas programme and are committed to ensuring live theatre can be enjoyed by audiences of all needs and abilities. Our accessible performances have been specially adapted so that no one misses out on the festive fun.

"We are delighted that our production of Sleepy Beauty has been so well received by audiences so far, with thousands of people having attended the performances already. Our festive season is full of fantastic productions and is a key part of our culture and events calendar, demonstrating our ambition to make County Durham the culture county."

Hilarious story

Written by Gary Kitching and directed by Rachel Glover, Sleeping Beauty brings together a North East-based cast of new and familiar faces to deliver a hilarious new telling of a classic story.

Audiences will follow the adventures of Briar Rose as she tries to escape a marriage to poetry-mad Prince Chad of Middles-boroughly.

Meanwhile, having not received an invite from King Archibald of Durham-ion to Briar Rose's christening years ago, the Evil Witch Karen has plans to cast a curse which will see the princess sleep for a hundred years.