In modern day society, inclusivity is such an important thing to consider when you put on a show, a rehearsal, auditioning or in any walk of life. When something isn’t inclusive it then becomes incredibly noticeable.

The article was inspired by something that happened on the most recent series of Strictly Come Dancing. They decided to hold a Sambathon – it was apparently the first time in a long time where they decided to bring it back. From what I saw, basically all the competitors have to dace as good as they can whilst they were all on the dance floor whilst the judges called out who they wanted to leave the dance floor whittling it down to a final winner.

I had a major issue with this and it even received a lot of backlash on social media from others who felt the same way I did. There was nothing in place to help someone who was blind and this did not feel inclusive to me as he was out straight away as they did not make it accessible to him in anyway.

This is something we need to stay really focussed on in improv – it is so important to make it accessible and inclusive to everyone – both in a rehearsal environment and a show situation. This article will not be one that lectures you – to be honest it is something that I feel should be accessible for all but it is not something that I know enough about or even feel comfortable to talk strongly about right or wrong as there are so many discussion points however I do feel that shows should be available for anyone who wants to see it or those who want to be part of improv.

I have seen lots of different discussions about this topic over the last year – and a lot have not always been positive even when we live in a world that should be making things available for everyone. I used to host a lot of shows and I don’t think I would want that responsibility in today’s society as I would continuously worry I wasn’t representing inclusiveness enough to include everyone and that I would want to get right.

The one thing I can talk about my own personal experience with inclusiveness is that I used to get really annoyed when some venues did not have disabled access, meaning one of our players of our team could not be part of the show as there was no way for them to reach the venues stage.

When you go to things like Fringe you can see the change slowly happening where shows are becoming more inclusive to all – but is it a topic that is focussed on enough and should it be happening at a quicker pace?

This is a huge topic and I wanted to mention it even though I was nervous to and re-read this article over and over again – the Strictly show angered me due to the situation that happened especially in one watched by millions. However, it is not just that show, I watched a show the other day in a completely different genre and that again was not accessible for some of the people in it competing and it was unfair.

I wanted to highlight this because whether you are putting on a show, hosting or rehearsing try and think of all – like i said it is a huge topic and there is a lot to consider. I just felt passionate enough about what happened on Strictly that I wanted to bring the topic to life.

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