Accessibility and Inclusivity

As well as being trustee of the Passion Trust, Suzanne Lofthus is the Artistic Director of Cutting Edge Theatre, which specializes in working with disabled performers. Cutting Edge aims to improve representation of disabled people in the arts and creating opportunities for learning-disabled individuals in theatre was a key focus of the 2026 Passion Play in Princes Street Gardens. This Passion Play focussed on at Jesus’ relationships with disabled people, how he interacts with them, and what that means for us today. The play also included integrated BSL interpretation, audio description and designated stewards to help disabled audience members.

Suzanne was interviewed in the Edinburgh Reporter and described this in more detail: https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2026/03/easter-play-will-centre-on-disability

The play celebrates how Jesus spent time with people marginalised by society, bringing a message of love, purpose, inclusion and community that is as relevant today as it was then. We are challenging societal expectations of disabled people. Everyone has value, worth and brings their own creativity, irrespective of the barriers that society often places on disabled people. It’s on us as a society to work with them in order for them to achieve their potential.

We are delighted to welcome some of Cutting Edge’s INSPIRE participants into the cast of the Easter Play this year. We have nine disabled actors in the cast which is truly wonderful. This is a big, friendly community company, it’s a very safe and supportive place for them to be. We have learned how to adapt our rehearsals to ensure that everyone feels supported and given the space and time to be creative.

 How can we find out more?

You can listen to Suzanne talk more about the Passion Play in this Mind the Gap podcast  and on Radio Maria and on BBC Radio Scotland.

Thanks so much for all your help and the team over the last few years in helping my son and other budding and talented actors to become more independent and confident! Anon, Edinburgh

I’ve seen many of the productions and I think this was the best yet. The message of inclusivity really came through. Anon, Edinburgh

How can we include more disabled people in Passion Plays?

We have a page dedicated to accessibility and inclusivity which you can see here. It has really helpful links to accessibility videos and materials to use during rehearsals including actor tracks for learning disabled cast members.

We also asked Suzanne for more advice:

If you are directing learning disabled people, one of the simplest things thing to do is give them a buddy in the play so that person is responsible for making sure the learning disabled cast member is getting to the right place at the right time. They might do different things depending on how they can learn or remember lines. Some need a tap on the shoulder when it was their line, others needed line to be whispered to them just before they said it or have their script in a basket so they could see it. Buddy them up. We do that with non-disabled cast members as well if they are new as it speeds the process up.

The other thing we do is create an ‘Actor Track’ for them. For examples, one cast member playing Tobias had very little vocalisation and struggled to remember so I went through each scene and put where are you, what’s your cue and your lines/action highlighted in yellow. They are not rehearsing from the main script, they are rehearsing from their ‘Actor Track’. It simplifies it so he knows where he is standing in each scene of the play and exactly when they will say their lines. The actor playing with him also knew his lines so if he got stuck there would be help available immediately.

It takes a bit more effort, but it is not massive. The whole thing about working with disabled people it is on us to adapt to their requirements so we also do ‘Access Riders’. We have a form so they can let us know if they need to sit down or take a break every hour or find loud noises triggering or have transport requirements etc.  A lot of this is confidential information so as a director I create a spreadsheet with all that information so I can use it in rehearsals. They want to come and be independent in the play. They want to be themselves and we can be here to make that happen.

Hints and tips for accessibility and inclusivity:

• Provide a buddy who will be with them through the rehearsal and the performance. The buddy will know that they need to make sure the learning disability cast member is at the right place in each scene.
• Collect important medical information that is relevant for learning disabled requirements
• Provide an easy-read version with larger print, but only if requested – remember some learning disabled people will not need it and might be offended.
• Safeguarding rules – ‘don’t ever be alone with learning disabled cast members’