News & Opportunities

Maria standing in front of CKK Jordanki cultural centre with unusual architecture smiling in sun.

Heliocentric Revolutions and Universal Design

Posted on: 23 Jun 2026

Heliocentric Revolutions and Universal Design By Dr Maria Oshodi, Extant Artistic Director & CEO. The regional cultural centre in Torun, Poland invited me to contribute to their international conference, Universal Design in Performing Arts in early June 2026.  This marked the culmination of their Universal Art Design (UAD) project that had worked with 36 artists […]

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Sitting around a firepit, a group of 12 people are smiling and posing for the photo. They are wearing thick jumpers, coats and woolly hats. The group consists of collective dreamers, Extant staff and access workers. A black guide dog is present in the picture.

The Extant Hive -New Roles

Posted on: 17 Jun 2026

Applications are now open for The Extant Hive! About Extant is the UK’s leading professional performing arts company that explores visual impairment to create unique and innovative artistic experiences. We place visually impaired people at the centre of all we do: from the productions we create, to the artists we support to build deeper careers […]

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Two Actors stand on a stage in blue lighting. To the left a black woman holding a folder. She wears glasses and is dressed in a smart red top and black trousers. To the right a white woman holding a folder and speaking in mid sentence. She wears glasses and is dressed in a smart green top and black trousers.

Operations Lead -New Role

Posted on: 17 Jun 2026

Applications are open for our Operations Lead role! About Extant is the UK’s leading professional performing arts company that explores visual impairment to create unique and innovative artistic experiences. We place visually impaired people at the centre of all we do: from the productions we create, to the artists we support to build deeper careers […]

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Extant team on Par Beach, from left to right Maria, Louisa, Tam and Ian. They face towards the camera, Maria holds her white cane. They stand in the water, with the waves behind them. In the backdrop, a blue sky with white fluffy clouds.

Testing The Future

Posted on: 16 Jun 2026

Testing The Future: How organisational R&D and Collective Dreaming informed the new shape of Extant By Ian Abbott, Extant Operations Director. Since 2023, Extant has been working towards a known transition. Our founder, CEO and Artistic Director Dr Maria Oshodi will be stepping down at the end of March 2027. In these intervening years, we’ve […]

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A person with short curly brown hair, glasses, and a nose ring is smiling warmly at the camera. They are wearing a dark sweater and standing on a balcony overlooking a London street lined with terraced houses. The background is softly lit by the setting sun, casting a golden glow over the scene.

Thinker In Residence: Design and Disability / Beyond the Visual

Posted on: 17 May 2026

Design and Disability / Beyond the Visual By Aisling Keavey, Extant Thinker-In Residence. In the last six months at Extant, I have explored recurring themes of access, perception, and knowledge prioritisation across archiving, exhibitions, conferences, symposia, and academic texts. A core tension stands out: while inclusion is attempted, cultural institutions still favour visual conventions. Efforts […]

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Maria is leaning and smiling next to a large Hawkwood wooden sign.

Hawkwood – Matter and the immaterial

Posted on: 17 May 2026

Hawkwood – Matter and the immaterial By Dr Maria Oshodi, Extant Artistic Director & CEO. What is the Matter? It is that in 1998, Blind and partially sighted theatre practitioners, Liam O’Carroll, Damien O’Connor, Maria Oshodi and Liz Porter journeyed to the West Country, having the year before, recently formed the experimental performance research group, […]

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Poster for Marking time, which displays the background of a dark empty prison cell, with a large bright barred window at the top of the cell wall. The window lighting reflects towards the grey floor. Tally markings of various sizes cover the dark bricked wall. Below the window is large white bold text, which reads: ‘Marking Time’. In smaller green text by and below the title, ‘Written by Mandy Redvers-Rowe’ and ‘Directed by Tam Gilbert’. At the bottom of the poster are the Extant and ACE logos on a white backdrop.

Marking Time

Posted on: 8 May 2026

Marking Time – Tam Gilbert’s Artistic Project ‘Marking Time’ – A Research and Development Sharing James Baldwin Studio, Kiln Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Rd, London NW6 7JR. 14th May 2026 Directed by Tam Gilbert, written by Mandy Redvers-Rowe and created by a visually impaired team, Marking Time is a gritty, politically-driven new play exploring the […]

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A collage of 7 visually impaired artists arranged in a variety of differently sized square and rectangle shapes. Featuring the purple Extant logo on a white background at the bottom left.

Extant returns to Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026

Posted on: 6 May 2026

Extant pioneer sector-wide change in visual impairment access We will return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer building on the success of our landmark 2025 programme. We will present two ‘Enhance’ shows alongside a new showcase, in partnership with Underbelly. This momentum is reflected in our rapid year-on-year growth: from an estimated 30–50 visually […]

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A cartoon purple ladder with indigo rungs leans towards a list written in black text. There is a heading in bold font: Ladder of Access for Visually Impaired Audiences, then below, the list reads: Integrated/Creative Audio Description (Enhance Pre-Production), Audio Description via headset, Live audio introduction and touch tour (Enhance Post-Production), Pre-recorded audio introduction, Self-description.

Artist Access Resources

Posted on: 9 Mar 2026

Ladder of Access for Visually Impaired Audiences After the success of our work at Edinburgh Fringe in 2025, Extant will be returning to the Fringe this summer with even more ambitious plans!   We’ll be announcing more details very soon, but in the meanwhile, our Artist Development Manager Louisa Sanfey has been working alongside the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and Visually Impaired Creators Scotland (VICS) to provide training and resources to artists […]

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Purple Extant Logo on a white background.

Access To Work – Statement

Posted on: 26 Feb 2026

Access To Work – Statement Extant is mortified at the current arbitrary and callas attack on disabled artists by the imposition of sudden reductions to their Access to Work support by the Department of Works and Pensions. We are in solidarity with established disabled arts leaders such as Jenny Sealey and emerging disabled artists in […]

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Two Actors stand on a stage in blue lighting. To the left a black woman holding a folder. She wears glasses and is dressed in a smart red top and black trousers. To the right a white woman holding a folder and speaking in mid sentence. She wears glasses and is dressed in a smart green top and black trousers.

Showcase and Festival Callout

Posted on: 25 Feb 2026

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Showcase and Festival Callout Extant have big plans in 2026 and 2027 – and we want to hear from you about how your work and ideas might fit in. In summer 2026, Extant will be working with Underbelly and other partners to present a programme of work at Edinburgh Fringe, including a […]

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Ava is a young white woman. She has long curled light brown hair, wears a necklace and a navy lace-patterned v shaped dress.

Online training from a visually impaired perspective

Posted on: 2 Feb 2026

Attending Online Training as a Visually Impaired Trainee Creative Producer By Ava Brewster, Trainee Creative Producer As a Trainee Creative Producer, I’m keen to learn as much as I can, build my confidence, and develop skills I don’t yet have much experience in. When I was offered the chance to attend two online training sessions […]

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