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OneConversation and Ingenious Fools present OneFest Various venues across Mansfield, 13th – 19th September 2021 |
The inaugural OneFest launches in
Mansfield this September with a buzzing programme of performance and
discussions celebrating learning disabilities and neurodiversity. Stemming from a collaboration between OneConversation, an activist
group campaigning for the rights of learning disabled and autistic people, and
Ingenious Fools, a Nottingham-based production company, the week-long event
includes headline comedy acts, lively panel discussions, live music and
workshops. The innovative festival positions itself as an opportunity for
learning disabled and autistic individuals to experience culture like anyone
else, take part in workshops that are usually not on offer to them, create new
friendship networks through raucous parties and social opportunities, and
generally access society in an equitable way.
OneConversation
co-founder Tracy Radford said “We want to ask the question of why society seems to place little
value on the rights and lives of learning disabled and autistic members of our
world: we are not satisfied, and neither should you be! Try your hand at life
drawing (yes, actual naked people!), record a pop song, learn how to have a
voice and become an activist, make new friends and generally start to feel more
satisfied.”
On Monday 13th September, the
annual OneWalk will launch the festivities. Attendees
to the accessible march are encouraged to respond to the theme
#AreYouSatisfied?! and make banners and visual materials which highlight their
frustration with how they are still stigmatised and segregated from the world.
The march will help foster a sense of inclusive community spirit and solidarity
among people who both are and are not learning disabled or autistic.
Alongside Monday’s march, an outdoor
stage will be set up in Mansfield’s Market Square for live performances. Inspired to get those feet moving or arms in the air by pop anthems
and beats from Back Chat Brass, attendees will witness rousing speeches from
influential speakers and enjoy live music and an ‘after party’ at Capo
Lounge.
The festival’s first comedy event takes
place on Tuesday evening at Capo Lounge with performances from the learning
disabled and autistic people who have taken part in a stand-up comedy training
programme. Meanwhile, throughout the week there are free accessible workshops
and events, which are co-curated with the learning disabled and autistic community.
Friday night offers the chance to see Unanima Theatre’s
State of Independence. Join Unanima’s
company of storytellers as they take us through the tensions and messiness of
being learning disabled and autistic. How this is experienced, how this is
ignored, and how this affects aspects of identity and cultural capacity in
society today. Unanima is a Mansfield based, disabled led theatre
company.
Saturday and Sunday see a weekend of
comedy headlined by Britain’s Got Talent winner Lee Ridley (aka Lost Voice Guy) come to
Mansfield. The individually ticketed programme of
one-hour long comedy and theatre shows opens on Saturday afternoon with Jonny
Awsum’s The Kids Show, a music-filled family show suitable for everyone aged
five and over. Jonny is followed by Juliette Burton: ReDefined, a solo show that
evolved out of her earlier piece, Defined, which – along with the rest
of her life – was dramatically disrupted when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred.
Saturday closes with a performance by Lost Voice Guy, which comes after the
runaway success of his sold-out debut tour in 2019.
Sunday’s events open with panel
discussion Are You Satisfied? A panel
discussion in which some of the stars of OneFest and the OneConversation
activists debate why society seems to find it so difficult to value learning
disabled and autistic people. Get involved and help us maintain our movement
for change.
Comedy comes from Cerys Bradley at 3.30pm, who is
performing Sportsperson, a show about playing sport, fitting in and
being bad at both. Aaron Simmonds then brings Hot Wheels to
OneFest, a raucous comedy show that includes commentary on the positive aspects
to being disabled. Finally, comedian and mental health advocate Harriet Dyer who closes the evening with a performance of new material.
OneFest is also offering five learning
disabled and autistic people the chance to have arts industry mentoring and
become OneFest creative leaders. The scheme will help the five
people build their careers and help mould the future cultural landscape of
Mansfield.
More details can be found at: onefest.oneconversation.co.uk
OneFest, Mansfield, 13th – 19th
September 2021
The Old Library Theatre, Leeming Street, Mansfield, NG18 1NG, 07713
498 708
OneWalk and outdoor stage
ACCESSIBLE MARCH
Market
Square
Monday 13 September, 11am
Opening this year’s festival is the annual OneWalk.
The accessible march invites everyone to join together with the learning
disabled and neurodiverse communities and campaign in solidarity. For 2021,
marchers are given the opportunity to create banners connecting to the theme
#AreYouSatisfed?! which highlight their personal dissatisfaction with how
society treats them. Throughout the day, live music will be performed on an
open-air stage in Market Square.
OneWalk after party
AFTER PARTY
CAPO LOUNGE Monday 13 September [from 4PM.
FREE]
The opening day’s festivities
conclude with a welcoming after party for people to chat, share a beer and
enjoy the ‘Guilty Pleasures’ disco hour
Comedy night COMEDY
CAPO LOUNGE Tuesday 14 September [8pm, £5]
Showcasing the learning
disabled and neurodiverse talent that OneFest has been developing through a 6
week stand up comedy course, this night will see new comics take to the stage
for the very first time and show us what they are made of. Who will be crowned
as OneFest’s New Comedian of the Year?
Jonny Awsum: The Kids Show COMEDY
THE OLD LIBRARY THEATRE Saturday
18 September [2pm, £5]
Family favourite, Jonny Awsum opens the weekend
comedy line-up with a warm and welcoming interactive show suitable for those
aged five years and over. Featuring music, jokes and lots of chances to
singalong – or even take part in the show – this bubbly peice from a Britain’s
Got Talent contestant is sure to put a smile on everyone’s face. Recommend age
5+. BSL interpreted.
Juliette Burton: ReDefined COMEDY
THE OLD LIBRARY THEATRE Saturday 18 September [4pm, £7/£6]
In March 2020, Juliette Burton was on tour with her
show Defined. Then, everything changed. Like many of us, Juliette saw
her life and work radically restructured due to the coronavirus pandemic. So
why not change everything a little bit more? Juliette’s back with a show about
re-defining all areas of your life, from the small and personal to the large
and political. Recommended age: 14+. BSL interpreted.
Lost Voice Guy: Work in Progress COMEDY
THE OLD LIBRARY THEATRE Saturday
18 September [7:30pm, £10/£9]
Drawing on his success as a
Britain’s Got Talent winner and his first-hand experiences as a disabled
person, Lost Voice Guy (Lee Ridley) is here to get everyone laughing again
after a tough 18 months. He still doesn’t have a Georgie accent, but he does
have some brilliant brand-new material which will have the audience in
stitches. Recommend age: 16+. BSL interpreted.
Are You Satisfied? PANEL
DISCUSSION
THE OLD LIBRARY THEATRE Sunday 19 September [2pm, FREE]
A selection of comedy stars from the OneFest join
up on stage with some of the activists who masterminded the festival, as well
as local leaders to get down and dirty discussing why society finds it so easy
to treat learning disabled and autistic people like they are worth so much less
than everyone else. A provocative examination of who or what is to blame, and
most importantly what we can all do to end this vicious cycle. Not to be
missed. Recommended age: 14+. BSL interpreted.
Cerys Bradley ‘Sportsperson’ COMEDY
THE OLD LIBRARY THEATRE Sunday
19 September [3.30[m, £7]
A show about playing sport,
fitting in and being bad at both. Also about being non-binary, embarrassed
about wearing lycra and how spending your childhood in a car whilst your
parents watch your brother play football definitely doesn’t leave you with a
chip on your shoulder.
Recommended age 16+ BSL interpreted
Aaron Simmonds: Hot
Wheels (Work in Progress) COMEDY
THE OLD LIBRARY THEATRE Sunday
19 September [5:45pm, £7/£6]
Aaron Simmonds was given a nickname. And he thinks
he hates it because it reduces him to just being a man in a wheelchair. But he
also kind of loves it because it’s a great nickname. Join Aaron as he discusses
the untold positives to being disabled, whether that’s blue badges or having
sex in disabled toilets. Recommend age: 18+. BSL interpreted.
Harriet Dyer (Work in
Progress) COMEDY
THE OLD LIBRARY THEATRE Sunday 19 September [7:30pm, £7/£6]
Award-winning comedian and
mental health advocate Harriet Dyer takes to the stage with a work-in-progress
show based around her unique ability to find humour in tricky situations. Silly
and serious all at once, Harriet’s new memoir Bipolar Comedian was released during lockdown. BSL interpreted.
Supported by Arts Council England
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