A National Pilot of No Dramas

In October 2024, we set out to play our part in building confidence and combating loneliness and isolation through our participatory project: No Dramas. These are a series of drama workshops, delivered by visually impaired drama facilitators, which generate community spirit, collaboration and allow visually impaired adults, with or without any experience of drama to join in.  

Now, to deliver workshops that were confidence boosting, it was important that we trained several visually impaired facilitators across the country, with the skills and confidence to run these sessions. With a drama game or two thrown into the mix on the training day and a new 5 workshop structure, created by Maria Oshodi (Extant Artistic Director) and Ben Wilson (Extant’s previous Trainee Artistic Director). The recruits were trained up and ready to go and said that this “was a dynamic, confidence building-day” and a space to “share great exercises and tactics for running drama session for visually impaired participants.”  

After our group of facilitators were released into the wild (and by wild, we mean London and the West-Midlands), imaginations, creativity and confidence ran high. So far, our participants have created invisible cloaks for mythical dragons, morphed into cowardly ghosts and royal queens, and zapped electric eels through the power of their own voices. Sessions have been a space to improvise, devise, try new ideas and socialise, whether that be in Hereford, Wolverhampton, London or online. The workshops have even gone international, with one attendee regularly Zooming in from Germany for our online sessions.  

The question is, have these sessions boosted participants confidence and combatted loneliness and isolation?  

Our facilitators have said yes, having described a growth in confidence in their regular attendees. At first some were shy and unwilling to jump in, but across the sessions there has been a development in confidence and the delivery of some brilliant performances. It’s been clear that participants have learnt to say ‘and yes’, a key principle, covered in our No Dramas improvisation session.  

And even more importantly, our participants have also said and yes. With all of them either strongly agreeing or agreeing that No Dramas builds their confidence and combats loneliness and isolation. One stated that No Dramas “gave me the opportunity to meet up with, socialise and network with other blind people, and the activities during the workshops helped me to think on my feet which is something I used to struggle with.” And another, “I have made friends at No Dramas; I am surrounded by people that are like me and understand me.” 

So, all in, No Dramas has allowed those with or without any experience of drama to turn up and give our sessions a good go in an accessible and inclusive way. Attendees have had the space to play and conjure all sorts of imaginary worlds, give their confidence a boost, as well as most importantly, make friends.  

With thanks to Fight For Sight, Boshier Hinton, The Courtyard, Arena Theatre and Battersea Arts Centre for making these workshops possible.  

If you would like Extant to deliver a No Dramas workshop to a group of visually impaired adults, please email [email protected]  

Ellen Jupp, Administrator and Project Coordinator, February 2025.