News & Opportunities

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 three ‘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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Tito Bone, an average build white drag king with a brown and grey mullet and teal glitter beard stands with a big openmouthed smile twirling a colourful ribbon above their head. They are barefoot and wear a pink and blue cat suit.

Dance Description –Phenomenon or Fallacy

Posted on: 21 Jan 2026

Dance Description –Phenomenon or Fallacy By Dr Maria Oshodi, Artistic Director & CEO I’ve witnessed a range of visually impaired accessible dance presentations and am involved on consulting and dramaturgy on some dance R&D’s and up-coming dance performances. The question with this form is always whether something so visual, in motion an often wordless, can […]

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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.

Performing Ethnography and Diaspora

Posted on: 18 Nov 2025

Performing Ethnography and Diaspora: Irish Women Migrants and the Lived Archive By Aisling Keavey, Thinker-In-Residence. My practice-led research uses photography, moving image, and archiving to explore the experiences of Irish women migrants in the UK. In this piece, I look at both the performance and performativity of ethnography and diaspora from an Irish migrant perspective. […]

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Maria is talking in a workshop space to participants.

State of access consultancies – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Posted on: 18 Nov 2025

What is the difference between access consultancy, access dramaturgy and a car crash? By Dr Maria Oshodi, Artistic Director & CEO My experience of three recent AD consultancies has prompted this question in the ever confused, grasping and turbulent world of theatre making, where including integrated audio description (IAD) or VI representation in productions has been a desire, to do […]

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A wide angle shot of the stage space. A simple set showing a grimy room with pipes on the wall and a dirty mattress on the floor is situated at the centre of an all black stage. One person sits in the mattress, one stands near them and one sits on a chair in front of the stage. Above them the set are the arched white walls of the BAC theatre space with a lighting rig.

Book your bespoke Extant Enhance training today!

Posted on: 13 Nov 2025

Calling all venues and theatre companies: why not commission us to tailor your access delivery? Extant the UK’s leading visually impaired theatre company delivers tailored Enhance training for venues and theatre companies. Enhance is a tried and tested two-part access training and consultancy programme, led by professionally trained visually impaired facilitators.   We can Enhance your show […]

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