For the first time in forever…access was done right! | Discussing Theatre Royal Drury Lane’s Accessibility

Accessibility in theatres shouldn’t feel like a battle but sadly, more often than not, it is. I have had my fair share of experiences with access – firstly with my brother, Jemil (Jimmy for short!), who has Cerebral Palsy and is wheelchair-bound, but also myself after my two operations this year severely reducing my mobility. When it comes to booking for my brother there is a lot to consider:

• can he get in the building?
• does the seat justify going? I don’t realistically want to take him to a show where he’ll miss 20%/30%/40% of the show
• can he have two carers sat next to/with him? (wherever he goes – school, college, respite etc…my brother requires 2 carers and he is always 2:1 due to his condition & needs).
• is there an accessible toilet either in the theatre or close to it?
• can we afford the access rates?

And that’s just for the show itself – let alone thinking about the access from the second we leave our house to the journey to the theatre and back again. These are issues faced by so many disabled patrons daily as they try and go and see shows. I’ve had some good experiences with access in theatres, some disheartening experiences as I try and book my brother in for a show and realise it’s just not possible…but the experience we had at Frozen is so far to date the best access experience we have both had.

Before I go into our experience itself, here is some context on the show and theatre. I booked in to take my brother to see Frozen the Musical, currently playing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. After 42nd Street, Drury Lane theatre had a £60 million renovation; the renovations included improvements such as a street-level step-free access entry to the main theatre foyer as well as a ramped, step-free access to the stalls. There is now also 20 wheelchair spaces in the auditorium on all three levels, 5 accessible toilets, and a lift that can go to all floors of the theatre and can carry up to 16 people (for the article from which I got these details, see here). This is a huge step for accessibility in theatres, especially considering the venue is the west end’s oldest theatre and has been standing since 1812, proving the whole ‘old buildings can’t be changed’ excuse is no longer acceptable.

When I asked if I could book in for Jemil and two carers, this was no problem. I was told the stalls is an option, but due to the height of my brother’s chair and him in it, the royal circle option was best as it meant he wouldn’t obstruct the view of patrons sitting behind him. Cut to the day of the show and the trip was as stress-free as I could have hoped for.

From the moment we got to the theatre, we were given a designated access staff member who was there to assist us the whole trip with whatever we needed. They were really friendly, aapproachable and made sure we knew that we were the ones to ask them what we needed, not a case of them herding us about like sheep.

We came in the street-level entry into the foyer, which lead you straight into the in-theatre store of frozen merchandise. Instead of whisking us straight to our seats, the member of staff asked us if we wanted time here first, or if we wanted to go straight to our seats. This is a small detail but makes a big difference – so many times, I’ve had to go to the merchandise stand on behalf of my brother and get something for him as the stand is either somewhere he can’t access due to his chair, or the staff haven’t given a chance for him to look and get something if he wishes.

The access staff member helped us lead Jimmy through the busy theatre all the way to the lift, escorted us inside and up to our floor, directing us to our seats. they showed us where the accessible toilet is – a stone’s throw away from our seats -and our allocated seating area. The one improvement I would mention for this is an addition of a hoist in the accessible bathroom. This is something not a lot of accessible bathrooms have yet but is slowly becoming more common. Granted that hoists may be costly to install initially and may not be used huge amounts, but the benefits are worth and more than outweigh the cost of the installation, and is vital for changing someone like Jemil. 

Luckily we are already aware of the changing stations which have hoists in central London so planned accordingly as we had presumed the theatre wouldn’t have hoists, so this did not affect the visit, but this could definitely be something for LW Theatres to consider in the future. 

In the auditorium itself, there was a space for the chair, a seat next to and behind it, and still, room left, so if my brother had taken his power chair (the electric powered that he drives himself, as opposed to his manual chair which we push for him), which is much bigger, it still would have easily fitted in the space. Granted, the corridor space to our seats was slightly narrow, but we navigated it slowly and it was fine.

The view from the seat was insane. When booking access seats – especially for wheelchair users – there is almost this expectation you’ll be given a seat that means you miss some of the show, or you’re given a restricted view. This seat was beautiful. Jimmy was high enough to see over everyone’s heads but not so high he felt distanced from the show. He was so happy and excited to be sat ready to watch his favourite Disney musical live on stage, with a view as good as this.

Before the access staff member left us, they ran through that they would be available throughout the whole show, in the interval and after the show, and if we needed anything to let them know. They checked we knew our way around the theatre – where the accessible toilet & non-accessible toilets were, where the bar was and how we could find them. They asked if we had any questions and then left us to our own devices.

What I do want to add about this member of staff is how amazing they were with Jemil. If you’ve met Jimmy, you’ll know how sociable and chatty he is – to everyone. If you don’t know, he will happily talk to everyone and anyone. It was so nice to see this member of staff talk to my brother the same way they spoke to everyone else. No condescending, no baby-ing him, just chatting away to him normally the same way they would any other patron. When they were going through all the details and such from our arrival, they spoke to my brother as well as us; then when we were settled in our seats, they asked if he was excited, if he liked frozen, what else he’d done with the day. I know this just added to Jimmy’s experience and made him smile. He wasn’t being talked over, he wasn’t being ignored – he was included. And the staff member chatting to him about normal things didn’t make us feel like they were just going through their motions and doing their job, whilst of course, they were doing their job and working, it felt like they’d actually taken time to talk to us about normal things – it’s little details and it’s taking the time for things like this which can just really elevate an access experience for us. This trip was all about Jemil, so it was amazing to see him being included and treated appropriately by the member of staff too.

The show kicked off and it made my heart so full and happy to see Jimmy having the absolute best time. The same staff member came back in the interval to check we were okay, if we needed anything, and most importantly to ask Jimmy if he was enjoying the show! The massive beam on his face was a clear, easy answer! Then at the end of the show, they came and escorted us out the same way we came in. The whole trip – from entrance to exit – we never felt rushed. We could do everything at our pace, we could control our visit, there was no pressure. The staff member allocated to access that day was there to assist us, not dictate, and that made all the difference.

After being so used to theatre trips being stressful and a bit of a headache to organise and ensure everything goes smoothly, Frozen was a breath of fresh air. You can see how much money has been poured into this theatre and you can see the time and effort that has gone into access to try and make visits for disabled patrons as seamless as possible. For once, instead of using the show as a break from the access stress before and after, we all got to not only enjoy the whole day, but enjoy the visit to this theatre and enjoy the show – worry free.

Needless to say, the show was phenomonal. I have seen Frozen before, so I got a lot of joy watching Jimmy watch the show, especially after knowing how excited he was and just how long he’d waited for this day, counting down the days with so much anticipation. I watched him be completely entranced by the show, in complete awe and wonder at the real magic happening on stage. I watched him fall even more in love with the magic of live theatre than he already was (he takes after his sister!), and watched him gasp in amazement at Sven’s entrance, Elsa’s magic transforming the stage and her costume change in Let It Go, and I got to see him dance in his seat to his favourite songs. Theatre is a form of escapism for everyone, but for Jimmy the access can sometimes be a stark reminder he is ‘different’ for want of a better word. Frozen made him feel the same as every other patron and he had as much of a fun and easy experience as everyone else that day. And me? I had one of the best theatre trips ever because I got to see Jimmy so happy. I got to see him have the best theatre exprience he’s ever had so far. And that in itself is the real magic for me.

To everyone who works to make Frozen happen, who helped make the renovation at Drury Lane theatre happen, who works front of house and to the amazing access team at Drury Lane theatre – thank you. You made what could have been a nightmare of a day an absolute dream. I know myself and Jemil will likely never forget it.

*note – every disabled patrons needs are different and thus every disabled patron’s access needs are different. Whilst me and Jimmy had a beautiful experience, others’ experiences may differ, it is entirely individual. I just am writing about our personal experience and how good ours was.