THE fourth annual Bounce! Arts Festival Weekender begins today and runs until Sunday. Over the next four days in Belfast there will be a host of comedy, theatre, music, art, workshops and circus skills on display from some of the top disabled performers in Ireland and Britain.
One of the main attractions will be Backstage in Biscuit Land, an acclaimed stage show that uses humour to give an insight into Tourette's syndrome. It comes to the Lyric Theatre tomorrow at 7.30pm and is performed by writer, artist and part-time superhero Jess Thom (touretteshero.com). One high-profile fan of the show is Stephen Fry.
Reassembled... Slightly Askew should be a hot ticket, considering that there can only be four people in the audience for each show. It runs 14 times at the Lyric between today and Sunday and is the brainchild of Shannon Yee. The audience members lie on beds and wear headphones in what is described by The Stage as "a real-life ordeal, captured by a daring, disorientating artistic collaboration… it should be available on prescription”.
There will also be a poetry reading by former British judo champion Owen Lowery, who was paralysed from the neck down after an accident in a charity tournament when he was 18.
Sean Goldthorpe’s photo exhibition ‘11 Million Reasons’ – on display at the ADF Gallery in Royal Avenue – portrays disabled people in iconic dance roles – among them The Full Monty and The Sound of Music.
Sure to be a hit is the Big Bouncy Sound Castle – which makes sounds when you jump on it. It will be at Belfast City Hall today from 11am to 4pm.
The festival launches at the Arts & Disability Forum at 5pm today, followed by a performance at the Lyric by singer Catherine Hatt – launching her new album Lost and Found with four string musicians.
:: The Bounce! Arts Festival Weekender runs from today until Sunday across Belfast (adf.ie).
