Audience development through co-creation: a framework for inclusive practices with the blind and visually impaired community

Abstract

Disabled people are generally not seen as audiences when it comes to audience development. Inclusivity is even more difficult when the disability is blindness or visual impairment, since the world is largely ocularcentric. In Estonia, inclusive theatre making is lagging behind and most performances are not reaching the community because the blind and visually impaired audiences have not been engaged in an accessible way. The first part of the thesis is based on secondary research, providing a theoretical foundation for audience development activities. It synthesises and analyses relevant academic and professional literature to establish key concepts and frameworks, which then inform the second part of the thesis, the project concept and its practical implementation. The research found that the problem is rooted in the fact that accessibility is oftentimes seen as tokenistic, something necessary to fulfil cultural policies and secure funding. This, however, means that the adaptations made for accessibility are not systemic and therefore do not result in actual change of cultural habits in the blind and visually impaired community. This thesis offers practical activities that can be included in the audience development plan of any project that wishes to be more inclusive. It also gives theoretical background to audience development in regard to the blind and visually impaired community.