Developing emerging talent and championing accessibility in Manchester

Grace Ng is an access producer based in Manchester, England, and her work allows persons with disabilities to experience theatre as fully as anyone else. She also supports emerging artists to develop their work and to create a runway for success, with one such production winning two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award.

Grace’s creative journey began at 17, when she saw a solo performance by Ivan Heng at The Substation. This theatrical moment has been imprinted on her psyche ever since. She saw how stories could be conveyed using just the body and knew then that she wanted to work in the arts.

While she was not a performer, she wanted to enable talented people to make great art. She began this important work as a programme manager at the National Youth Council, where she was instrumental in the set-up of *SCAPE and their work with young artists.

Her desire to reach more audiences led her to pursue an MSc in Marketing with Festival and Event Management in Edinburgh. As she deepened her knowledge and expertise, she continued her mission to develop artists when she moved to Manchester to join the team at the Royal Exchange Theatre in 2017.

She also continued to learn more about access needs in her brief stint as joint artistic director and CEO of DaDa (Deaf and Disability Arts) Festival in Liverpool.

All of her experiences have been invaluable to the work she currently does as artist development and access producer at the Lowry performing arts centre. She is also a board member of New Earth Theatre, an award-winning British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) theatre company which brings BESEA representation to a wider audience.

Grace shares how accessibility enhances an artistic vision and the lessons she has learnt while starting over in a new place.

Tell us about what you do.

I work on artist development programmes to support emerging artists. One of these is Developed with Lowry, an 18-month initiative that provides grants to artists, built on the belief that investing in their careers first will naturally lead to stronger work.

Separately, I also work on access programmes. We livestream shows to the homes of people who can’t attend in person, including children in hospitals and hospices. This year, for the first time, we’re reversing it and bringing housebound artists into our theatre to perform live.

As an access producer, I work with artists to weave accessibility into the production itself and frame it as a creative endeavour. For example, I encourage them to write scripts that are rich in audio descriptive text—which transcribes descriptions of visual information like actions, costumes and body language—that allows the audience to experience what’s happening visually. This way, you don’t really need to tag on the sign language, touch tour or extra audio description. And if they have projections, why not add creative captions? I want to ignite the imagination of the artist with a creative challenge. How can they make work that can be enjoyed by a visually impaired person? How can they ensure what is heard also helps to describe the nuances of emotions in the story? How can they include sign language cues as part of the movement vocabulary? All of these details don’t just make work accessible but enhance the artistic aesthetics. This is how art and access needs complement each other so beautifully.

What were some of the challenges you faced when you first moved?

When I first moved to the UK, I had 10 years of experience in Singapore but had to have the humility to start over. I volunteered at Traverse Theatre and Dance Base while doing my master’s. I wanted that experience so that my CV would have the relevant skills for a British context.

After graduation, I was hired at Dance Base where I’d volunteered. When I moved to Manchester, it took me six months of soul-destroying job applications to find something. I interviewed for a position which I didn’t get, but I learnt a lot from there. The artistic director then offered me another role. It was a junior position and they told me I was probably overqualified but I didn’t mind, I took it. That was where I gained my experience in artist development. It was a challenge but I learnt not to be discouraged.

What is the biggest difference you found?

I find the pace very much slower here. It’s not a criticism—it’s just different to what I’m used to back in Singapore. People here work at a very set time. They guard their after-hours really well, which is good. I think that’s something Singaporeans could learn.

Any memorable projects?

We have Scratch Nights which we’ve been running for 10 years. This platform allows artists to test new performance ideas in front of a supportive live audience. We offer four opportunities to test four artists’ ideas at the start of their ideation process. Some of them might not have worked in such a setting before and have to learn to communicate their artistic vision directly to our designers and technicians. That is always fun.

One of the productions from this initiative, Operation Mincemeat, has made it all the way to the West End and Broadway, winning two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award along the way.

When the artists come back and say thank you for that beginning opportunity—this is why I’m still here, why I do what I do.

What are some valuable lessons you’ve learned?

I’ve really learned to appreciate collaboration. But that also comes with needing to communicate more with one another. I have to move away from the mindset of “I don’t have time to explain and it’s faster if I do it myself,” and think about giving someone else the pleasure of doing the work with you.

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to move overseas to work in the arts?

If you’re thinking of moving to the UK, think of it from the point of view of: “I’m going to sow a seed and I want to see its fruits grow out of a particular area of the arts.” It could be programming, curation, technical theatre, design, it could be being an artist yourself. Think about that particular seed you want to sow that would make this country better than before you arrived.